No country in the Middle East and north Africa is immune to contagion from the political unrest that has hit countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, according to Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency.
The fact that the protests have spread from oil importers such as Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan to oil exporters such as Bahrain, Libya and Oman was a sign that the wealth earned from natural resources was not enough on its own to contain the intense political pressure, S&P analysts said. The analysts also underlined the danger that Iran continued to pose to stability in the region.
“We consider that the possibility of political unrest can’t be excluded for the remaining Mena [Middle East and north Africa] sovereigns where political upheaval has as so far been modest or absent. Still, in our view, the likelihood of such events decreases with levels of wealth and fiscal resources.”
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