https://arab.news/zjewx
When top economists were recently asked to weigh in on the trajectory of the global economy, they painted an unsettling picture. Disruption and uncertainty have taken a toll, according to responses gathered for the World Economic Forum’s latest “Chief Economists’ Outlook.”
Yet, one region stood apart: the Middle East and North Africa. Thirty-seven percent of the chief economists surveyed for the September edition expect strong or very strong growth for the region in the year ahead, up sharply from 22 percent in May. Chief economists were not as optimistic about any other region. The next-highest percentage expecting strong or very strong regional growth was 31 percent for South Asia. For some prominent regions in the West, optimism about growth was negligible or nonexistent.
That divergence reflects that MENA’s economic moment is being powered less by global economic cycles or the region’s access to natural resources, but by something more fundamental: a forward-looking strategy by regional governments, especially those in the Gulf, for deliberate diversification and far-reaching investment into innovation, inclusion, sustainability and resilience — the fundamental pillars of long-term, higher-quality economic growth.
