Middle East’s chronic woes exacerbate COVID impact, IMF says

Week in Review

Iraq's is economy is expected to shrink by 12.1% for 2020 due to the coronavirus, and then only grow 2.5% in 2021. Here, Pakistani and Bengali workers clad in face masks work as tailors at a small factory in Karrada, in the central area of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on June 23, 2020. As a result of the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of foreign migrant workers became stranded in Iraq with no income or way to get back home. — AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East lags global economic recovery

There is (finally and sort of) some positive news on the global economic front this year: The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may be slightly less horrible than what was expected in June, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That’s in large measure due to what one IMF official referred to as a "significant upgrade" for the US economy.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, however, doesn’t have it so good. Indeed, the IMF warns that the region’s economic performance is likely to be worse off than originally anticipated, lagging even further behind already-negative forecasts. The MENA economy is complicated by a host of legacy issues that predate the pandemic and have only gotten worse because of it.

By the numbers

Middle East’s chronic woes exacerbate COVID impact, IMF says

Also: Israelis back Trump, Palestinians (kind of) tilt toward Biden.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish

Read By