Dubai: The World Bank on Tuesday said in a report that political turmoil will adversely impact the developing economies of the Middle East and North Africa, which remain depressed.
According to the World Bank’s twice-yearly “Global Economic Prospects”, political turmoil in Egypt, stalemate in Tunisia and an escalation of the civil war in Syria, with spill overs to neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan, have weakened activity in the oil importing countries.
“At the same time, security setbacks, strikes, infrastructure problems, and in the case of Iran, international sanctions, have negatively affected oil exporting countries,” the report states.
The report forecasts that regional growth, which contracted by 0.1 per cent in 2013, is expected to remain weak with the outlook shrouded in uncertainty. Aggregate growth for the region is projected at 2.8 per cent in 2014, firming to 3.3 in 2015 and 3.6 per cent in 2016, well below the region’s potential.
The report has predicted global gross domestic product will expand 3.2 per cent this year, from 2.4 per cent in 2013. In the bank’s last forecast in June, it expected global growth to reach 3 per cent in 2014.
