IMF: Mideast oil producers buoyed by higher prices, for now

IMF: Mideast oil producers buoyed by higher prices, for now:

Higher oil prices are helping to offset increases in public spending by the Middle East’s oil exporting heavyweights like Saudi Arabia, with these countries narrowing their budget deficit by $77 billion, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

However, the rosier outlook for some oil exporters is not consistent across the region. In Iran, the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions last week on oil exports is expected to drive up inflation there to more than 40 percent by year’s end.

The findings, which came in the IMF’s new regional outlook report, said the overall fiscal deficit for the Mideast’s oil exporters is projected to decline from around $118 billion last year to $41 billion this year, before narrowing to $3 billion in 2019.