Dubai’s escape from economic funk hinges on retail, tourism

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DUBAI: Dubai is looking to retail and tourism to break free of its weakest economic expansion in almost a decade.

Growth in the city’s gross domestic product is set to accelerate to 2.1% in 2019 and 3.8% the following year before slowing to 2.8% in 2021, according to projections released on Sunday by the emirate’s department of economic development. GDP expanded only 1.9% in 2018, substantially below forecasts made by the International Monetary Fund.