IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020
The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gulf economies will shrink more than twice as much as predicted, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said today.
The dual threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and price drops in oil threaten economic growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, according to the institution’s Middle East department director.
“We expect the GCC economies to contract by 7.6% this year; the contraction will be across all sectors, oil and non-oil,” said Jihad Azour at a forum today, according to Reuters.
In April, the IMF’s forecasts for GCC economic contraction were around 3%.
