External Finance in the Middle East: Trends and Prospects

Abstract This paper examines recent financial flows to and from the Middle East with two objectives in mind: first, to assess the levels and types of recent flows in order to understand their past contribution to investment and growth, and thereby to gain a better sense of what might be feasible in the future; and second, to explore the need for a new approach to external finance and identify the related actions that should be pursued by domestic policy makers and the international community. Throughout, the main focus is the process of change - change in the character of the financial flows, change in the nature of the development process, and by implication, the need for change in the strategy pursued by the region and in the support provided by the international community. Arabic Abstract: