Cost of Mideast’s Dual Crises Seen at $116 Billion by World Bank - Bloomberg:
The shockwaves set off by the crash in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic have been so fast-moving that economists can barely keep up.
Changes in forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, put the toll inflicted on the region as of April 1 at approximately $116 billion, or about 3.7% of last year’s gross domestic product, relative to the outlook on March 19, according to the World Bank.
In its latest regional economic update, released on Thursday, the lender highlighted the lack of clarity. “Estimates of the costs of the current crisis are fluid, because it is difficult to predict how the global economy, national policies, and societies will react as the pandemic spreads,” it said.
The region is near the epicenter of both crises besetting the global economy. Home to some of the world’s largest oil producers, the Middle East is also contending with a rising number of coronavirus cases and in Iran has one of the biggest outbreaks of the disease outside China.
The shockwaves set off by the crash in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic have been so fast-moving that economists can barely keep up.
Changes in forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, put the toll inflicted on the region as of April 1 at approximately $116 billion, or about 3.7% of last year’s gross domestic product, relative to the outlook on March 19, according to the World Bank.
In its latest regional economic update, released on Thursday, the lender highlighted the lack of clarity. “Estimates of the costs of the current crisis are fluid, because it is difficult to predict how the global economy, national policies, and societies will react as the pandemic spreads,” it said.
The region is near the epicenter of both crises besetting the global economy. Home to some of the world’s largest oil producers, the Middle East is also contending with a rising number of coronavirus cases and in Iran has one of the biggest outbreaks of the disease outside China.
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