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Mideast economies to see biggest downturn in four decades, IMF projects

Almost every country in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia is expected to have negative gross domestic product this year, and the overall GDP for the region is expected to contract by an average of 3.1%.
Investors walk under a stock index board at the Dubai Financial Market in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC2NBE9J9TZ4

The economy of the Middle East and North Africa region will witness its biggest slump in four decades amid the global coronavirus pandemic and historic declines in oil prices, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund. 

The Washington-based lender forecasts the economic impact of the coronavirus will be substantial and long-lasting, with the economy of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia expected to contract by an average of 3.1% in 2020. In a region that has so far recorded more than 172,000 cases of the virus, the IMF called on governments to spend what’s necessary, regardless of fiscal space, to save lives. 

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