Iraq, UAE’s Crescent Activate Energy Deals to Develop Three Oil and Gas Fields

Iraq, UAE’s Crescent Activate Energy Deals to Develop Three Oil and Gas Fields

Azour: Efforts to Diversify Incomes in Saudi Arabia Boosted Revenues, Supported the Economy

Amid major global changes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest reports, reduced growth expectations for the current year in a number of countries in the world, including China and the Eurozone. The new forecasts also extended to a number of countries in the Middle East, as a result of recent developments.

The IMF expected Saudi Arabia to achieve growth of 4 percent in 2024, compared to 2.8 percent in the previous estimate, adding that growth in the Middle East and Central Asia region would reach 3.4 percent next year, recovering from an expected growth of 2 percent this year.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, talk broadly about his vision of the situation in the region, and the reasons for lowering Saudi Arabia’s expectations for this year and raising them by a large percentage for 2024.

Azour noted that reducing growth expectations was based primarily on the decision taken in OPEC Plus to curb production, in addition to Saudi Arabia’s voluntary decision to commit to more reductions.

However, this decline was compensated for by the