According to its recent regional economic report, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for growth in the Middle East and North Africa region once again due to the “extraordinary high level of uncertainty surrounding the region.”
The IMF now expects the economies of the Middle East and North Africa region to deflate by 5.7% in 2020. Its prediction last April was that the region’s economies would deflate by 3.3% this year.
The report said that the outlook is dominated by unusually high levels of uncertainty regarding the length of the epidemic and its impact on strict closures, and the resulting negative risks, including social unrest, political instability, and potential renewed fluctuations in global oil markets.
The International Monetary Fund also lowered its forecast for the global economy last month, and is now seeing a 4.9% contraction of global GDP in 2020.