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IMF sees Mideast to expand slower
By Adam Schreck |
May 11, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ECONOMIC growth in the Middle East and Central Asia could slow by more than half this year, but the region should still fare better than most others thanks to government intervention and stockpiles of oil wealth, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.
The assessment highlights the challenges facing some of the region's biggest oil exporters, which are grappling with a steep slide in energy profits. It also underlines the risk for countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan, which do not have the benefit of large oil reserves and are particularly vulnerable to a decline in global trade.
Masood Ahmed, the IMF's Mideast and Central Asia department director, said the region as a whole was likely to weather the financial crisis better than other parts of the world because of "prudent financial and economic management" and the ability of oil-exporting countries to draw upon hefty cash stockpiles accumulated during boom times.
Oil exporters can use their reserves "to cushion the impact of the global slowdown on their own economies and the economies of their neighboring countries with whom they have growing economic links," he said.
Non-exporting countries are at greater risk, particularly if the recession dragging on the economies of trading partners in the West and elsewhere proves lengthy. A drawn-out global downturn could lead to significantly higher levels of unemployment and poverty, Ahmed added.
Slower growth
In the report released yesterday, the IMF forecast the economy of the 22-country region stretching from the northwest edge of Africa through Afghanistan and Pakistan would slow to 2.6 percent this year, down from 5.7 percent in 2008.
The latest forecast is a full percentage point lower than a similar one that Ahmed made in February, when he predicted region-wide growth of 3.6 percent. He acknowledged in a speech to bankers in Dubai that the rapid shrinking of the global economy is making forecasting more difficult.
"This is quite an unprecedented time," he said.
OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab neighbors such as the United Arab Emirates have helped stimulate the world economy by pumping billions of dollars into ambitious real estate and infrastructure projects in recent years. But a prolonged global slump and weak demand for oil could strain those spending plans, as is already happening in the regional financial hub of Dubai.
Faced with this possibility, these nations "need to enhance oversight of the financial system and support economic activity while preserving fiscal sustainability," the IMF said.
The region's oil exporters have faced a tough time with crude prices now about 60 percent below their mid-2008 peak of US$147 per barrel.
Together, these nations account for 65 percent of global oil reserves and 45 percent of natural gas reserves.
The assessment highlights the challenges facing some of the region's biggest oil exporters, which are grappling with a steep slide in energy profits. It also underlines the risk for countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan, which do not have the benefit of large oil reserves and are particularly vulnerable to a decline in global trade.
Masood Ahmed, the IMF's Mideast and Central Asia department director, said the region as a whole was likely to weather the financial crisis better than other parts of the world because of "prudent financial and economic management" and the ability of oil-exporting countries to draw upon hefty cash stockpiles accumulated during boom times.
Oil exporters can use their reserves "to cushion the impact of the global slowdown on their own economies and the economies of their neighboring countries with whom they have growing economic links," he said.
Non-exporting countries are at greater risk, particularly if the recession dragging on the economies of trading partners in the West and elsewhere proves lengthy. A drawn-out global downturn could lead to significantly higher levels of unemployment and poverty, Ahmed added.
Slower growth
In the report released yesterday, the IMF forecast the economy of the 22-country region stretching from the northwest edge of Africa through Afghanistan and Pakistan would slow to 2.6 percent this year, down from 5.7 percent in 2008.
The latest forecast is a full percentage point lower than a similar one that Ahmed made in February, when he predicted region-wide growth of 3.6 percent. He acknowledged in a speech to bankers in Dubai that the rapid shrinking of the global economy is making forecasting more difficult.
"This is quite an unprecedented time," he said.
OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab neighbors such as the United Arab Emirates have helped stimulate the world economy by pumping billions of dollars into ambitious real estate and infrastructure projects in recent years. But a prolonged global slump and weak demand for oil could strain those spending plans, as is already happening in the regional financial hub of Dubai.
Faced with this possibility, these nations "need to enhance oversight of the financial system and support economic activity while preserving fiscal sustainability," the IMF said.
The region's oil exporters have faced a tough time with crude prices now about 60 percent below their mid-2008 peak of US$147 per barrel.
Together, these nations account for 65 percent of global oil reserves and 45 percent of natural gas reserves.
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