Two weeks into the war between Israel and Hamas, simultaneous cross-border clashes with Hezbollah in the disputed Shebaa Farms in the Golan Heights have sparked fears of an emerging second front on the southern border of Lebanon. With rising tensions between the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group and the state of Israel, what are the prospects that Hezbollah will formally enter the war?
Several countries in the MENA region have been facing financial crises of unprecedented gravity. The MENA Commission on Stabilization and Growth Report describes how debt ratios started rising after the Arab Uprisings as fiscal policies became more expansionary, and how this was further precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the rise in global interest rates. The financial crises are especially acute in Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia, where external shocks have exacerbated deeply embedded structural weaknesses.
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.
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.