Even with a better outlook for 2024, global growth will remain well below its historic average of 3.8 percent, she said at the China Development Forum. Uncertainties are exceptionally high, including because of risks of geo-economic fragmentation which could mean a world split into rival economic blocs.

Lebanon and the IMF reached a conditional agreement in April 2022 on a $3-billion-dollar loan needed to save the country's economy, in free fall since 2019. But nearly a year after Beirut signed the agreement, officials have yet to enact the substantial changes required to kickstart the 46-month financing program.

International Monetary Fund predicts economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa will fall to 3.2% this year from 5.4% in 2022, before rising to 3.5% next year.

Global economic challenges have led the UAE to review priorities and investment trends, with a focus on five key sectors: healthcare, transport and logistics, agriculture and food security, technology and green energy.

Around one-third of countries are likely to go through a recession, Sir Masood Ahmed, President of the Center for Global Development, tells TRENDS in an interview.

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa faced violence and many were made homeless since Saied ordered "urgent measures" against them. In response, World Bank defers a key board meeting on Tunisia.

Colombo, Sri Lanka--Sri Lanka's president said Tuesday that China had agreed to restructure its loans to the bankrupt island nation, clearing the final obstacle to an International Monetary Fund bailout.China's state-owned Exim Bank "sent a letter to the IMF" on Monday night expressing Beijing's willingness to "restructure" credit to Sri Lanka,...

In the message sent on Sunday evening, the bank's outgoing President David Malpass said Saied's tirade had triggered "racially motivated harassment and even violence," and that the institution had postponed a planned meeting involving Tunisia until further notice. Hundreds of migrants have flown home from Tunisia, fearful of a wave...

The region's biggest economy, Saudi Arabia, was projected to accelerate to 8.3 percent in 2022 before moderating to 3.7 percent and 2.3 percent in 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, some Middle Eastern economies appear to be more resilient than most developed markets, Maroun Kairouz, Director for MENA at the World Economic Forum, tells TRENDS.

Washington, United States--The IMF said Friday it has reached a staff-level agreement with Ukrainian authorities that opens doors to a full-fledged loan, which would also support the country's bid to join the European Union.Ukraine was seen to have "strong" performance under a four-month program with the International Monetary Fund, meeting its...

Speaking at the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, the head of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva stated that public debt in MENA is a "concern" and that governments in the region ought to create resilience by way of fiscal policies in order to protect against shocks. She also called for boosting...

Ismail was sworn in as prime minister in 2015 before resigning in 2018 as Sisi began his second presidential term, after a landslide victory against one of his supporters.

ABU DHABI, UAE - The UAE recently participated in the first Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) meeting within the G20 Finance Track for 2023, which was held for the first time under the Indian Presidency.The meeting, which was held at Guwahati, Assam, India, sought to discuss the 2023 SFWG work...

After almost three years of stringent health restrictions, Beijing in December abruptly ended the zero-Covid policy that had battered the economy and provoked widespread protests. The Asian giant posted growth of just three percent in 2022, hammered by stringent lockdowns and a deepening crisis in the key property sector.

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 package...

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 16.75...

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 subsidies,...

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 SDRs,...

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.