News

By Simon Neaime Emerging economies are often subject to currency crises and foreign debt crises around the same time. This column explores the links between these phenomena in five MENA economies..more

ByKhalid Abu-Ismail and Bilal Al-Kiswani Extreme poverty is rising in Arab states and the outlook is concerning. This column outlines the latest figures and the implications for policies to promote..more

By Mahmoud Mohieldin and Rabah Arezki The Arab world's state-led development model may be set to reach a breaking point, as hundreds of millions of young people prepare to enter the labour market in the coming decades. This Project Syndicate... Read More

By Bilin Neyapti Recent changes in Turkey’s economic, social and political environment have not only failed to generate the potential for sustainable growth, but they have also made the country prone to both economic and social crises..more

By Mohamed Arouri , Sabri Boubaker and Wafik Grais What are the key objectives of the sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) of Arab countries? This column presents the results of new quantitative analysis, which reveals that these institutions typically pursue a... Read More

By Khalid Abu-Ismail A sense of ‘defeat’ among the Egyptian middle class was the main motivation for the uprising of 25 January 2011. In a tribute to economics professor Galal Amin, who passed away last month, this column explores..more

By Magda Kandil and Minko Markovski The fall in the oil price to a ‘new normal’ has had a negative impact on four indicators of banks’ performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): return on assets; return on equity; and growth..more

IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD), in collaboration with IMF Innovation Lab, seeks participation by economics students in the Fund Challenge for MCD Countries.   Teams may consist of up to two students per institution of higher learning.... Read More

By Sulayman Al-Qudsi Policy-makers, business leaders and forecasters can all benefit from access to data on historical economic and financial cycles as well as the current state of the economy in real-time..more