Mideast, North Africa Economies to Expand 5.1% in 2011 on Oil, IMF Says - Bloomberg

The International Monetary Fund said economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa region may accelerate to 5.1 percent next year as oil prices rise.

Growth is forecast at 4.1 percent this year, more than double the 2009 pace, the Washington-based lender said in its World Economic Outlook. It predicted a “robust” expansion in the region’s oil-importing economies, which suffered limited damage from the global financial slump, and “modest” rises in crude prices that will boost exporters. Saudi Arabia’s economy, the region’s biggest, is forecast to grow 4.5 percent next year.

“The recent economic recovery in the MENA region is largely underpinned by the rebound in oil prices from their trough in 2009,” the IMF said in the report published today. “The region has largely been bypassed by the recent surge in capital flows to emerging markets, with the notable exception of Egypt and Lebanon.”