IMF slashes Middle East and Central Asia growth forecasts - Reuters:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised downwards its growth projections for the Middle East and Central Asia as economies were hurt worse than expected by the double blow of lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.
The region, which includes around 30 countries spanning from Mauritania to Kazakhstan, will see real, or inflation-adjusted, gross domestic product (GDP) fall by 4.7% this year, 2 percentage points lower than IMF forecasts in April, the fund said in a report on Monday.
The pandemic has hit sectors such as tourism and trade, while low oil prices and crude production cuts have strained the finances of regional oil exporters and impacted remittances.
“These factors have led to a stronger-than-anticipated impact on activity in the first half of 2020, and the recovery is expected to be more gradual than previously forecast, in line with a weaker global recovery,” the IMF said.
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