Please join us for the launch and presentation of the World Bank’s latest Middle East and North Africa Economic Update, a twice-yearly forecast that looks at growth prospects for the region. Titled “A New State of Mind: Greater Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa,” the most recent edition underscores how many MENA countries are struggling to overcome the lasting impact of the pandemic while facing new shocks from high oil and food prices, rising global interest rates, and slowdowns in major world economies.
The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host the World Bank for the launch and presentation of its latest Middle East and North Africa Economic Update, a twice-yearly forecast that looks at growth prospects for the region. This latest edition, titled Reality Check: Forecasting Growth in the Middle East and North Africa in Times of Uncertainty, highlights that uncertainty reigns with compounding risks from ongoing variants of COVID-19 to inflationary pressure added by the war in Ukraine.
COVID-19 challenged healthcare systems across the Middle East and North Africa, many of which were overburdened even before the pandemic began. High public wage bills crowded out investments in social services such as health, a syndrome described as “fiscal myopia” by a new World Bank report. The report predicts a tenuous and uneven recovery as countries emerge from COVID-19, which will also be influenced by the widely varying pace of vaccination rates across the region.