Global lender and one of Zambia’s traditional partners, the International Monetary Fund predicted conflicts in North Africa and Middle East may probably boost other economies in the region and other parts of the continent.
In an IMF regional April 2011 outlook report for Middle East, and North Africa Afghanistan and Pakistan the lender noted that the changes taking place in the Middle East and North Africa provided an opportunity for the region to lay the foundation for a socially inclusive and more dynamic growth model.
Mr Masood Ahmed the director in charge of Middle East and Central Asia Department said that the detailed report revealed that in the near term, countries could face multiple pressures stemming from higher commodity prices and disruptions to economic activity. It added that in the long run, the uprisings could give a boost to the economies in the region by setting a more inclusive growth agenda, improving governance and providing greater and more equal opportunity for its young and growing population.
He noted though that the near term outlook looked challenging and there is a pressing need to address unemployment and improve social safety nets, the immediate challenge facing oil-importing countries in the Middle East is to maintain social cohesion and macroeconomic stability in the face of multiple pressures.
The report projected overall growth in the MENAP region at 3.9% per annum. Ahmed stated that within the same picture, the economies of the oil exporting countries, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were expected to expand by 4.9% excluding Libya.
It cited reasons largely to higher oil prices and oil production. Oil importers, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan Syria, and Tunisia were set to grow a mere 2.3%. Recently IMF warned that the crisis engulfing the Middle East and North Africa werea potential risk for other African countries particularly those that depended on these regions for crude oil imports to run their industries.
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