Debt doubled in past decade to reach about $1.2 trillion
NEW YORK, Dec 30, (KUNA): A new UN report said that the unemployment rate in the Arab region is expected to rise to 12.5 percent in 2021. “Unemployment will reach its regional high in Palestine (31 percent) and Libya (22 percent); it will exceed 21 percent in Jordan and Tunisia, and hover around 5.8 percent in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,” said the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in its a new report on the economic and social developments in the Arab region.
The report warned that, although growth is expected to be positive in both scenarios, it will not be enough to yield decent job opportunities. Moreover, after having decreased by 50 percent in 2020, the region’s exports are expected to rise again by 10.4 percent in 2021, the report forecast. “The crisis faced by the Arab region goes beyond the economic realm to encompass major social challenges,” explained Lea
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ESCWA: Arab region faces two scenarios for 2021
Beirut, 29 December 2020–The Arab region faces two economic scenarios for 2021: an optimistic one projecting a growth rate of 3.5% and one that is less optimistic, limiting growth prospects to 2.8%. The actual path will hinge on the ability of Arab countries to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused losses of about $140 billion for the region, resulting in an estimated -3% growth contraction in 2020.
These figures and more were released today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in the 2019-2020 issue of its annual “Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region“.
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