The agency emphasized that the impact of large investments will be most evident in Saudi Arabia. Shutterstock  Oil production and large investment projects will accelerate annual economic growth across the Middle East and North Africa by 0.8 percentage points in 2025, according to Moody’s. The global credit rating agency forecasts growth of 2.9 percent this year, up from 2.1 percent in 2024, and also  maintained a stable outlook for the credit fundamentals of sovereigns in the region over the next 12 months. The agency emphasized that the impact of large investments will be most evident in Saudi Arabia, driven by high government and sovereign wealth fund spending linked to the Vision 2030 diversification program. The projections align with those of global consultancy Oxford Economics, which expects regional gross domestic product to grow by 3.6 percent in 2025, outpacing the firm’s global forecast of 2.8 percent.  Moody’s added that the pickup in the MENA economy will be driven primarily by “stronger growth in the region’s hydrocarbon exporters because of a partial unwinding of strategic oil production cuts under the OPEC+ agreement.” Alexander Perjessy, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s, said: “Large-scale investment projects, many of them part of longer-term […]