Conference Paper
Economic Consequences of COVID-19 Pandemic in MENA Region: Do Country Specific Characteristics Matter?
Date
March, 2021
Topic
I. Health, Education, and Welfare
E. Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly brought about permanent changes to the world economies due to sundry shocks that the outbreak has caused. More probable is the fact that the pandemic has exacerbated the susceptibility of vulnerable countries. The proclivity of this outbreak becomes more pronounced in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) scheduled to fruition by 2030 (Farayibi & Asongu, 2020). In particular, the shocks and disruptions in economic activities caused by the pandemic has necessitated the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region to consider reprioritizing their approaches towards achieving the SGDs. These, among others could be to leverage on new sets of macroeconomic and developmental policies that would reposition their economies to cope with the new economic realities brough about the pandemic (Coibion, Gorodnichenko, & Weber, 2020).
In effect, the covid-19 pandemic generates a simultaneous effect on the economy of MENA region. First, as an external shock, the pandemic creates disruptions in economic activities and challenges the region’s level of economic resilience (Briguglio et al., 2006). Second, the containment measures, aggravated by the second wave of the pandemic, serve as potential disruption of global oil market as it causes serious prices fluctuates. This unprecedented shock thus has serious implications for the inflow of foreign direct investment into the region during this period.
While the economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic portend significant effect on MENA region, country specific characteristics would determine the trajectory of the developmental policies in middle income countries like Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia. The ostensible impacts of the shocks generated by the pandemic would include the negative effects on employment, poverty rates, demand and production activities; which are the hallmarks of SDG1, SDG8 and SGD 9 respectively.
Given the renewed interests in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on regional economic growth, most especially the implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative to understand the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in MENA region; in comparison to the country specific characteristics in the selected middle income countries in the region.
2. Research Question
This study seeks to answer the following questions: what is the medium and long run impact of COVID-19 pandemic on economic growth in MENA region? Do these consequences have implications for the achievement of SDGs? What effect does the pandemic have on economic resilience and sustainability in the region? Has the pandemic caused fluctuations in global oil prices and volume of foreign direct investment inflow into the region?
Research Fellows
Ilham Haouas
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, Abu...
Authors
Hai Hong
Massey University, New Zealand
Authors
Adesoji Farayibi
University of Ibadan, Nigeria