TEHRAN, Iran, May. 5
Trend:
International Monetary Fund reviewed the Middle East and Central Asia`s Economic indicators, a year after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This international body addressed the transformational challenges to build forward better and accelerate the creation of more inclusive, resilient, sustainable, and green economies, adding that regional and international cooperation will be key complements to strong domestic policies.
The IMF Regional Economic Outlook varied significantly across countries, depending on the pandemic’s path, vaccine rollouts, underlying fragilities, exposure to tourism and contact-intensive sectors, and policy space and actions, Trend reports citing IMF official Website.
A total of 32 the Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) countries and territories covered in this report were divided into three (nonoverlapping) groups, based on export earnings and level of development: (1) Oil Exporters (MCD OE), (2) Emerging Market and Middle-Income Countries (MCD EM&MI); and (3) Low-income Developing Countries (MCD LIC). Iran named at the first group known as MCD OE.
According to the IMF report, Iran suffers from the limited advanced Covid-19 vaccine purchase agreements or lack of financing, amid the race between vaccine and virus.
IMF anticipated that the MCD countries with Slow Inoculators will pose challenges to mass vaccinations. According to the report, 13 countries and territories in this group including Iran, Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, West Bank, and Gaza started inoculations with limited coverage and are generally not expected to inoculate a significant portion of their population until at least mid-2022, barring additional efforts, such as help from the international community.
At the same time, the report expressed hope that the recent increase in oil prices will boost confidence, supporting non-oil GDP, which is projected to expand by 3.3 percent in 2021.
Oil activity will remain subdued in the short term, reflecting the OPEC+ production curbs and continued US sanctions on Iran, the report said adding that while oil GDP is projected to expand by 5.8 percent in 2021.
IMF predicted that the real GDP growth in the MENA region is projected to pick up to 4.0 percent in 2021, an upgrade of 0.9 percentage point relative to October.