IMF report on the region

The IMF has released a regional report on the economic challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa ahead of the IMF meeting in Dubai this month.

It focused on the need to stimulate more growth
across the region and called on government action to tackle widespread unemployment. The report said economies in the region had underperformed since the 1970s, failing to integrate with the rest of the world and reap the benefits of globalisation.

The report highlighted that the region was challenged not only by chronic unemployment but also by bloated public sectors, isolated financial markets, trade restrictions and lagging political and institutional reforms.

Also, economic reforms had not gone far enough to address deep-rooted structural and governance problems. "There is a need for action on this front, including a fundamental reassessment of the role of the state in the economy and the creation of a rules based regulatory environment," the report concluded.

Many of the reports findings are valid, in particular the coming employment challenge from the region's young demographics.

However the report suffers from too much generalisation. The region it seeks to discuss includes the oil rich Gulf, poor African countries such as Sudan and Somalia and war torn Afghanistan.

There is probably more diversity within this group of countries than outside it. On a purchasing power parity basis per capita GDP ranges from Qatar with USD 38k, making it one of the richest countries in the world, to USD 930 in Yemen, one of the poorest.

Setting a uniform list of reform objectives for the whole region is misplaced. The report
also fails to highlight where reform has worked - as in the UAE or in Jordan.

There is no doubt that countries in the region face a challenging time ahead but as Dubai will demonstrate at the IMF meeting the region holds many successes as well as failings.