LOC21:51
18:51 GMT
(with photos)
TUNIS, June 17 (KUNA) -- Deputy Director of the Middle-East and Central
Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Amor Tahari
attributed on Wednesday the slow of economic growth in the oil-rich countries
to the retreat of oil and gas exports.
Briefing reporters here on the IMF report on the outlook of the Middle East
region, Tahari said it is difficult to predict the future economic tendencies
especially those relating to the economies that depend heavily on oil exports.
The main indications of the IMF show that the world economy is likely to
resume growth in early 2010, he said.
The cash flows from the oil-rich countries of the Middle East to overseas
investment are pivotal to the world economic recovery as they helped prod
demand in the developed economies in 2009, Tahari pointed out.
He expected the unemployment and poverty rates in the oil-importing
countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to keep going up,
thus adding to economic and social strains in these countries.
The average economic growth rate in countries of the region dropped from 5.
7 to 2.6 percent in 2008.
These countries need to maintain growth rates ranging between 6 and 7
percent for several successive years in order to alleviate their social and
economic strains, he said, noting that a 2 - 2.5 percent growth rate is
insufficient.
The IMF report, of which KUNA received a copy, predicts that the
oil-exporting countries of the Middle East would achieve growth rates ranging
between 2.3 and 3.8 in 2010.
The IMF officials recommended adoption of good-governance in the financial
and economic institutions in the region in order to overcome the current
challenges. (end)
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