IMF: Insecurity poses risk to Mideast economic growth

Dubai, Oct. 28 (Xinhua): Economies in the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2014, but the economic situation is delicate due to the various security crisis proliferating in the region, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Middle East director said yesterday.
Masood Ahmed, the director for the Middle East and Central Asia at the Washington-based IMF said that conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Libya were mitigating growth efforts by the other Arab countries not hit by violent turmoil.
Regional growth could only improve in 2015, if the security situation improves, the top official said.
The real gross domestic product in the Gulf Arab countries around Saudi Arabia will grow by 4.5 percent this year and could grow by the same rate in 2015, Ahmed said.
However, the oil exporting countries in the region are also facing risks amid declining oil prices, which translates into lower fiscal revenues, leading the IMF to predict slightly lower growth rates for the Gulf countries after 2015.