While China's easing of coronavirus restrictions paves the way for a faster-than-expected recovery, the rise in central bank rates to fight inflation and Russia's war in Ukraine continue to weigh on economic activity, the Washington-based crisis lender said in its report. But "adverse risks have moderated" since October's forecast, the...

Supply of diesel to Europe from the US and the emerging refinery hub in the Middle East may make up some of the missing barrels from Russia, but a shortfall seems likely, not least considering the prospect for a strong recovery in China leading to lower export quotas, he adds.

The Gulf country expects the average amount of oil production to increase to 2,701,000 barrels this year, the latest Institute of International Finance report points out.

Public resistance to a carbon tax has prevented many nations from establishing carbon pricing via taxation, but taxation is not the only way to deter emissions, she highlights, while pointing out to numerous barriers that have impeded the flow of private capital to decarbonization projects around the world.

Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins University who measures inflation based on purchasing power parity and factoring in black market exchange rates, estimated Egypt's real inflation rate at 101 percent. The economy, dominated by state and military-owned enterprises, had already struggled after successive blows, from years of political unrest...

The world, according to the latest World Bank report, may be edging toward a global recession this year. Here is the GDP growth forecast for the GCC countries.

Cairo, Egypt--Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday approved a document outlining 62 economic activities the state will withdraw from and turn over the private sector, a cabinet statement said. The document’s approval was required by the International Monetary Fund, which this month approved a 46-month, $3 billion financial support...

Cairo, Egypt-- The Central Bank of Egypt has raised the overnight interest rates by 300 basis points, exceeding expectations. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt raised the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation to 16.25 percent, 17.25 percent, and...

Cairo, Egypt--The IMF's new $3 billion financial support package for Egypt aims to reduce government debt to less than 80 percent of the gross domestic product in the medium term, according to a cabinet report released on Saturday.  The IMF did not require the Egyptian government to cut spending on...

Washington, United States--The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a $3 billion loan to Egypt, with an immediate disbursement of $347 million, the IMF said in a statement. Egypt will benefit from the loan over 46 months under the Extended Fund Facility. The agreement is for 2,350.17 million...

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has regretted the shortage of funds needed to help low-income countries tackle the impacts of climate change. Although IMF has secured $40 billion worth of commitments, its chief still feels that the amount is "nothing in comparison with the needs."

Saudi Arabia's GDP witnesses 9.3 percent increase in the third quarter of this year as the rally in oil prices has fuelled economic growth across the Gulf region.

Doha, Qatar---The foreign currency reserves and liquidity of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) increased by 6.82 percent to reach QR 223.985 billion ($61.51 billion) in November compared to QR 209.675 billion in November 2021. The figures issued by the QCB show the bank's official reserves increased by the end of...

Thanks to high oil prices, Saudi Arabia has recorded its first annual budget surplus in almost a decade, beating its own projections. The kingdom's finance ministry said that the surplus for 2022 touched $27 billion, representing 2.6 percent of GDP.

Thanks to a strong rebound in domestic activities and higher oil prices, the latest IMF report suggests the GCC economies to expand further than previously expected.

Nour al-Janabi, 29, designs, makes and mends in her south Baghdad workshop go from rustic style to Louis XV. She recently launched her business, Nour Carpentry.

The country's inflation has risen with global trends and is expected to average just over 5 percent this year, while fiscal and external surpluses have increased further, benefiting from the higher oil prices as well as the removal of the temporary COVID-crisis related fiscal support, IMF said.

Inflation has a significant cost-push pressure on cost of living and will impact the daily set of requirements of people in the region, one of the experts had said at the event.

UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed Hadi Al Hussaini met with Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dr. Jihad Azour.

Aoun's six-year term, that came to a close on Sunday, was marred by mass protests, a painful economic downturn and the August 2020 mega-explosion of ammonium nitrate that killed hundreds and laid waste to swathes of the capital Beirut.

Despite soaring inflation and murky economic prospects worldwide, the IMF maintained its projection of 5.0 percent growth for the region in 2022, dropping to 3.6 percent in 2023. But the figures, although higher than elsewhere in the world, don't reflect the region's "challenges", Middle East and Central Asia director Jihad...

The license will allow investors to buy or rent lands, operate and manage the projects and allocate the necessary facilities for it with just a single approval.

Michel Aoun was vacating Lebanon's presidential palace, amid acclaim from his supporters, a day before his mandate expires without a designated successor, threatening a new power vacuum in the crisis-torn country. Several well-wishers gathered to pay tribute to the former army chief and head of the Free Patriotic Movement.

Egypt and International Monetary Fund have reached a staff-level agreement on the economic policies to be supported by a 46-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, IMF Mission Chief for Egypt Ivanna Vladkova Hollar said.

The IMF had demanded the devaluation as a condition of the loan and the North African nation is among the top five countries in the world most at risk of defaulting on its foreign debt, according to the international credit rating agency Moody's.

ABU DHABI, UAE - In the UAE the revenues at the federal level increased by 26 percent from US$100 billion (AED367.9 billion) in 2020 to $126.3 billion (AED463.9 billion) in 2021, says the Ministry of Finance (MoF) data released Tuesday. The MoF released the preliminary government finance statistics data for...

Inflation was up 8.9 percent on the year in September, fuelled by rising prices of food (up 11.4 percent) and energy (up 44.5 percent), causing pain for households and businesses alike. While many countries face similar issues, the pressures are set to send Italy into technical recession next year, alongside...

Now is the time for emerging market policymakers to batten down the hatches. Eligible countries with sound policies should urgently consider improving their liquidity buffers by requesting access to precautionary instruments from the Fund, adds the IMF's Economic Counsellor Gourinchas.

The agreement in principle, reached between IMF staff and Tunisian authorities meeting this week in Washington, still requires the approval of the Fund's board, which is scheduled to discuss the matter in December.

Washington, US-- International Monetary Fund and Egyptian authorities have agreed to finalize their work to reach a Staff-Level Agreement very soon, the IMF has said. Director of Communications at the IMF Gerry Rice said in a statement that "IMF staff and the Egyptian authorities have held very productive in-person discussions...

The fund trimmed its world growth forecast to 2.7 percent in 2023, and its chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas cautioned that the next year would feel like a recession for many people. Throughout its meetings of financial chiefs this week, the crisis lender stressed that the priority was for central banks...

Most of the respondents in the poll feel that GCC will weather the gathering economic storm and come out unscathed, a view corroborated by the IMF and the World Bank.

Qatar ranks first in the Arab world and the Gulf region with an annual per capita share of around $183,000, followed by Kuwait and the UAE.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva urged global policymakers to take concerted action as the risks of a worldwide recession are driven ever higher by repeated economic shocks. In a speech ahead of the fund's annual meetings next week, the IMF's managing director said it was critical to address challenges including inflation.

Prime Minister Liz Truss on Sunday conceded she should have better prepared Britain for her plan, which went further than many had expected.

At the end of her two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, she hailed the kingdom's strong “economic performance and impressive progress in implementing their Vision 2030 reform agenda, notably the doubling of the share of women in the labor force in just four years”.

UAE's Ministry of Finance (MoF) participated in the third Framework Working Group (FWG) meeting within the G20 Finance Track for 2022.

IMF expects the Kingdom to become one of the world's fastest-growing economies, recording a growth of 7.6% this year

The kingdom recovered quickly from Covid-induced recession and is reaping the rewards of high global energy prices and increased energy production.

The exchange rate has been officially pegged at 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar since 1997, but will drop to 15,000 to the greenback at the end of October. The pound, however, traded at more than double that value on the black market on Wednesday, selling for more than 38,400...

Prodded by the IMF to implement reforms, Lebanon's parliament has approved the 2022 budget setting expenditures at $1.2 billion. The crisis-stricken country and the IMF had reached a conditional agreement on a $3 billion loan in April to help the country tackle its economic crisis.

Depositors scuffled and long lines formed at Lebanese banks Monday as they partially re-opened after a week-long closure following a slew of heists by customers desperate to access their money. But most banks remained shuttered and there was anger from those seeking to withdraw frozen funds desperately need to weather...

Hundreds of billions of euros and counting have been shelled out so far since Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbor in late February. Governments have gone all out: from capping gas and electricity prices to rescuing struggling energy companies and providing direct aid to household to fill up their cars.

Lebanon and the IMF reached a conditional agreement on the loan in April to help the country stem its economic crisis, which the World Bank has branded one of the planet's worst in modern times. But Lebanon has yet to enact the reforms needed to unlock the funds.

With four out of five Lebanese now considered poor according to the United Nations, the country has been desperately seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

India, the incoming President of the Group of Twenty (G-20) announced that it will invite the UAE as one of the "guest countries" to the G-20 summit in New Delhi on September 9-10 next year.

Prioritizing labor market reforms, boosting employment and ease of doing business is likely to make the Kingdom one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year, says expert.

The fiscal situation, high political, security and social tensions, rising inflation, movement and access restrictions and an unfinished structural agenda all weigh on the medium-term outlook, said the team in a statement. The fiscal challenges are largely structural.

An economic crisis spurred by the Ukraine war is casting darkness upon Egypt's streets, as the government dims lights to free up energy for export and bolster hard currency reserves.

The gains, due to high oil prices, will provide 'firepower' to the region's sovereign wealth funds, said Jihad Azour, IMF's director for MENA. Most of the oil-rich countries in the region have established large SWFs and use them to invest oil revenues in various sectors both within the countries and...