rowth can be an indicator of future economic performance. Qatar had the highest growth rate in the region, and, at 12 percent, was the only nation in the region posting a GDP increase of more than 10 percent. Saudi Arabia had a GDP increase of 4.5 percent, placing it in the middle of the progress of the region as a whole (Yemen, the UAE, Tunisia, Sudan, Oman and Kuwait all had more substantial increases than Saudi Arabia between 1999 and 2000, although none exceeded growth rates of seven percent during the time in question) ("Databank," 2001, p. 32).
Aside from having one of the highest GDPs in the region, Saudi Arabia also has one of the lowest inflation rates. In 2000, inflation in Saudi Arabia was running at an annual rate of 1.2 percent. This was low even among oil producing nations in the region, and was surpassed only by Jordan (at 0.7 percent) and Bahrain, which was experiencing deflation (the rate of inflation in Bahrain was --1.0 percent). Lebanon also had a low (one percent) inflation rate, but that rate cannot be attributed to oil o
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