The Arab Region Needs $230 billion to Finance Sustainable Development

  • Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt
  • 24 April 2019
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Mahmoud Mohieldin, the World Bank's First Vice President revealed the need of the Arab region to 230 billion dollars to finance the sustainable development, pointing out that the Arab countries can secure $130 billion through its internal and external resources, which means a deficit of $100 billion.

He said in a speech at the 10th Arab Federation of Arab Stock Exchanges held in Cairo with the participation of 34 countries, "the economic growth rate in the Arab region is 2 percent and the most prominent problems facing the region are the high budget deficit in some countries and how to manage the public debt”.

"We see in the Arab region that the poverty rate rose from 2.6 to 5 percent between 2013 and 2016, and the Arab economy is the worst in the distribution of income inequality and unemployment is 10.6 percent, twice the world average," he said.

Mohieldin estimated the value of financial flows to the Arab countries at about $217 billion, while 260 billion of them would go out, causing a deficit, and here comes the role of the stock exchange.

Source: (Al-Hayat newspaper, Edited)