The coronavirus pandemic, the food and energy consequences of the war in Ukraine, the effects of climate change, a new and progressive polarisation of the international community… Over the last two years, the world has faced, one after another, an almost endless series of events that have put the brakes on its economic growth. The forecasts of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been steadily corrected month by month, and look increasingly bleak for most of the world’s countries.
“World trade growth in 2022 and 2023 is likely to decelerate more than initially expected due to lower global demand and supply chain problems,” stated the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook Update.
However, in this scenario, a small group of powers have managed to dodge the economic repercussions of all these setbacks – at least at the macroeconomic level. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and…