Coronavirus: Experts warn of expat exodus in GCC, rest of the world | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Coronavirus: Experts warn of expat exodus in GCC, rest of the world | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

The deepening impact of the coronavirus pandemic will force expat workers in the Gulf and around the world to leave their host countries and remittance flows to poor economies will dry up, as a result, experts have warned.

Immediate action is required from host countries to protect the welfare of foreign employees and ensure they remain employed despite the downturn, otherwise, the economic shocks caused by coronavirus will be “magnified,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a note published late Monday.

“In Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which rely on migrant labour from the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, the drop in the price of oil and economic activity could result in migrants returning home,” authors of the note Antoinette Sayeh, IMF deputy managing director, and Ralph Chami, assistant director of the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, said.

“They are likely to join the jobless in their home countries - in labour markets already brimming with unemployed youth - as well as put more pressure on already fragile public health systems. This could heighten social pressure in countries already ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic and possibly also fuel spillover beyond their borders,” they added.