2024-02-11T09:48:14+00:00
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/ The Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, expressed her concern about the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East, which could lead to an exacerbation of economic damage at the global level.
Georgieva’s remarks came during a speech she delivered at the World Government Summit in Dubai, where she stressed that “the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on the global level is evident in the rise in shipping costs, the decrease in the volume of traffic through the Red Sea, and it also affects tourism in neighboring countries.”
Georgieva announced that “the International Monetary Fund is monitoring the financial impacts of conflicts in the Middle East on the world, and will publish a document tomorrow, Monday, showing that the gradual elimination of energy subsidies could save $336 billion combined, equivalent to the economies of Iraq and Libya combined,” she said.
The Director of the International Monetary Fund explained that “the gradual elimination of energy subsidies will reduce pollution, help improve social spending, and support reducing the global inflation rate by 2024.”
The International Monetary Fund has reduced the expected growth in the Middle East and North Africa region this year by 0.5 percentage points to 2.9 percent from 3.4 percent in last October’s forecast, as a result of conflict factors, most notably the conflict in Gaza, the reduction in oil production, and the continuation of strict policies in various aspects of the economy.
At the beginning of this year, the International Monetary Fund published a report entitled “Middle East and North Africa: Conflicts and Economic Challenges,” in which the report showed that the conflict in Gaza and Israel constitutes another shock to the Middle East and North Africa region, and represents a blow to economies facing increasing challenges and uncertainty.
The report expected that the decline in growth in the region would lead to an economic slowdown, due to the conflict in Sudan, in addition to natural disasters, such as floods in Libya and the earthquake in Morocco, which had devastating effects on the human and material levels.