IMF: Social unrest threatens Mideast economic recovery

IMF: Social unrest threatens Mideast economic recovery

DUBAI: The Middle East and North Africa is on track for a recovery, but rising social unrest is threatening the “fragile” progress of low-income economies, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. The MENA region, which includes Arab countries and Iran, saw real GDP growth shrink by 3.2 percent in 2020 due to weak oil prices and sweeping lockdowns to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

But with rapid vaccination campaigns, especially in oil-rich Gulf nations, the IMF predicted GDP growth would rise to 4.1 percent this year, up 0.1 of a percentage point from its last projection in April. “The region is going through recovery in 2021. Since the beginning of the year, we see progress in the economic performance,” said Jihad Azour, director for the Middle East and Central Asia at the IMF. But “this recovery is not the same in all countries. It is uncertain and uneven because of the divergence in vaccination… and geopolitical developments”, he told AFP.

The IMF said in a report that while the prospects for oil-exporting economies improved with higher oil prices, low-income and crisis-hit countries were witnessing “fragile” recoveries. It warned of “a rise in social unrest” in 2021 that “could pick up further