MENA Economies Set for Slow Growth in 2021

  • Date: 06-Jan-2021
  • Source: Al Bawaba
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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MENA Economies Set for Slow Growth in 2021

The coronavirus pandemic is currently the focus for the coming year and furnishes the biggest question mark regarding the region's economic recovery.

 

The Palestinian Authority

 

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The Palestinian economy, as measured by gross domestic product, shrunk by 14% in 2020. However, the GDP dropped by over 20% between the second quarter of 2019 and the same quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic erupted and the West Bank and Israel entered into their first lockdowns.

“COVID-19 exposed and highlighted existing economic problems and challenges for the Palestinian economy. One could say these are now ‘in your face,'” stated Prof. Wifag Adnan of the Economics Department at New York University Abu Dhabi.

 

“During the pandemic, especially the second quarter of 2020, establishments lost their supply chains, could not bring in raw materials and were forced to let workers go, while close to 78% of Palestinian migrant or day laborers in Israel lost their jobs,” she told The Media Line. This estimate is based on a study she coauthored on legally employed cross-border commuters.

 

Because wages in Israel are three times higher than those in the Palestinian areas, Adnan noted, this drop was significant for the Palestinian economy.