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Agencies
Dollar pegs in the Gulf have proven effective in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and the crash in oil prices, the International Monetary Fund has said.
“Billions of dollars worth of stimulus packages were rolled out to cushion regional economies after the pandemic, but growth for the remainder of the year will depend on whether “the global economy will recover fast or not,” IMF Middle East and Central Asia Director Jihad Azour said in an interview with a TV channel.
Still, dollar pegs in the Gulf have been “serving very well,” he said, “and it’s still appropriate, especially countries that have buffers that have the ability to use their reserves in order to address the shock.”
Oman, often deemed to have the weakest economy among the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, is at the forefront of concern.
“Oman has a higher level of debt and may be fewer buffers,” Azour said, “therefore, for Oman, the policies have to be maybe less expensive.”
International Monetary Fund on Tuesday urged governments in the Middle East to offer temporary tax relief and cash transfers to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the public and economies.
Azour advised governments in the Middle East and Central Asia that attempts to stimulate economies will not work at this time and the effort would rather eliminate the limited fiscal space that is available to them.
The impact of the global coronavirus pandemic will be “quite severe”, but a long expansionary period and high employment rates mean the global economy should weather the current shock, IMF said in a report earlier.
Dollar pegs in the Gulf have proven effective in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and the crash in oil prices, the International Monetary Fund has said.
“Billions of dollars worth of stimulus packages were rolled out to cushion regional economies after the pandemic, but growth for the remainder of the year will depend on whether “the global economy will recover fast or not,” IMF Middle East and Central Asia Director Jihad Azour said in an interview with a TV channel.
Still, dollar pegs in the Gulf have been “serving very well,” he said, “and it’s still appropriate, especially countries that have buffers that have the ability to use their reserves in order to address the shock.”
Oman, often deemed to have the weakest economy among the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, is at the forefront of concern.
“Oman has a higher level of debt and may be fewer buffers,” Azour said, “therefore, for Oman, the policies have to be maybe less expensive.”
International Monetary Fund on Tuesday urged governments in the Middle East to offer temporary tax relief and cash transfers to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the public and economies.
Azour advised governments in the Middle East and Central Asia that attempts to stimulate economies will not work at this time and the effort would rather eliminate the limited fiscal space that is available to them.
The impact of the global coronavirus pandemic will be “quite severe”, but a long expansionary period and high employment rates mean the global economy should weather the current shock, IMF said in a report earlier.
