The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast oil prices to average $50 per barrel in 2021, approximately 20% higher than they averaged in 2020.
This comes as the IMF revised it global economic growth forecast up to 5.5%, up 0.3% compared to its expectations in October 2020. This follows a contraction of 3.5% in 2020.
While the report cited “raised hopes of a turnaround” because of recent vaccine approvals, it noted that new variants of the virus added concerns to the economic outlook in a period of “exceptional uncertainty”.
Meanwhile, global growth in 2022 is expected to slow to 4.2%, with oil prices to average $48.80 per barrel that year.
The IMF estimated that Saudi Arabia would see 2.6% growth in 2021, jumping up to 4.0% in 2022.
