IMF Representative Explores Regional Economic Trends

The Faculty of Business and Economics at Birzeit University organized a November 17, 2016 lecture on the regional economic outlook in the Middle East and Palestine by the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in the West Bank and Gaza.

The session was planned alongside chairperson of the Department of Economics Yousef Nasser.

Ragnarsson Gudmundsson and the representative office’s economist Hania Qassis, who also joined him at the lectern, highlighted the most significant economic and political developments within the region. They tackled the upheaval in Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen and how it has influenced the price of oil.

They also gave a broader economic perspective on the developments in Middle Eastern and North African countries, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

The speakers discussed the issuance of government bonds and privatization of traditionally state-owned companies such as Aramco in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, explaining how these factors would impact the region’s growth rate, expected to be, according to Gudmundsson and Qassis 1.75% for the GCC, compared to 3.75% the year before.