World Bank: Uneven Growth of Arab Economies in 2021

  • Arab Countries
  • 8 October 2021
1

A report issued by the World Bank indicated that the Middle East and North Africa region is witnessing a limited and uneven economic recovery in 2021 as the Coronavirus crisis continues. Revealing that the Corona pandemic caused the economies of the region to shrink by 3.8 percent in 2020, due to the lack of readiness of its health systems to deal with the crisis caused by the virus.

The World Bank expected the region's economy to grow by 2.8 percent in 2021, with estimates that the losses caused by the pandemic will reach about $200 billion by the end of this year. Whereas, the per capita GDP is expected to grow by 1.1 percent this year after declining about 5 percent last year.

According to the report, the combination of pressures on health systems and global economic factors, such as fluctuations in the prices of basic commodities, especially oil, led to an uneven recovery and limited expectations. According to the report, the performance of each economy depends largely on its vulnerability to fluctuations in commodity prices and the way it manages the epidemic. The WB warned that recovery will also depend on the rapid and equitable release of Covid-19 vaccines, especially with the emergence of new variants.

Source (Al-Arabiya.net Website, Edited)