Oil exporting Mena countries to lose Dh991 billion in 2020: IMF

Oil exporting Mena countries to lose Dh991 billion in 2020: IMF

It also projected a 7.3% contraction in oil-exporting Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan in 2020 and a 3.9 per cent rebound in 2021.





Oil-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa will lose $270 billion (Dh991 billion) in oil export receipts in 2020 compared to last year due to the drop in oil prices and production cuts under the Opec+ agreement, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.

It warned that beyond pandemic risks, continued declines in oil prices or production could further erode oil exporters' policy space and potentially affect these countries' banking systems.

"Any tightening of financial conditions could complicate debt rollovers for firms and sovereigns in the region," the IMF said in an update on the region's economic outlook.

Sovereigns face about $21 billion in maturing external sovereign debt in the second half of 2020.

The IMF projected that real GDP of GCC economies will contract 7.4 per cent this year but will recover 2.6 per cent next year, while non-oil GDP will shrink 7.1 per cent and grow 3.4 per cent in 2021.

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It also projected a 7.3 per cent contraction in oil-exporting Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (Menap)