[ad_1]
Agencies:
The World Bank expects economic activity in the Middle East and North Africa to experience a moderate recovery in 2021, indicating that many challenges are due to the emergence of the corona virus pandemic.
The Washington-based bank said today in a report that “the epidemic has resulted in a 5% reduction in the region’s economies in 2020, resulting in the loss of many jobs and a strong increase in the number of people living below the poverty line of less than $ 5.5 per day. “
The bank added that it expects growth in oil-exporting countries to return to 1.8% this year, “supported by the return to normal oil demand, the expected easing of production cuts. oil in the group (OPEC +), in addition to the gradual removal of local restrictions linked to the epidemic. “
Saudi Arabia’s economy, the largest in the Arab world, will benefit from the resumption of public projects that were postponed at the start of the crisis, and the recovery in demand after a sharp hike in the value tax added, which means an increase of 2%.
Growth in the rest of the region will reach 3.2% in 2021 with the easing of travel restrictions and a slow recovery in domestic demand.
The World Bank has warned that the region’s economies face a series of hurdles as they seek to get back on their feet.
The report stresses that “the recovery depends on the containment of the epidemic, the stabilization of oil prices, not the escalation of geopolitical tensions and the assumption that the vaccine will be launched in the second half of this year.”
[ad_2]
Source link
