🔺IMF: Apart from Iran, the region’s economy will recover next year

▪ The International Monetary Fund predicts that the economies of Middle Eastern and North African countries will shrink by 2% this year due to disruptions caused by the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but will grow by 7% next year.

▪ Based on the institution’s new report, Iran’s economy will shrink by 7.6% this year compared with last year, and will grow by only 3.6% next year; a growth rate that is not sufficient to make up for this year’s decline.

▪ By contrast, the economies of Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar—which have a high dependence on the Strait of Hormuz due to their exports of liquefied oil and gas—will shrink by about 16% this year, but are forecast to grow by between 17% and 19% next year.