Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia
Regional Economic Outlook, October 2021
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- Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia
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Bibliographic details
- Published: October 19, 2021
Overview
- A fragile recovery continues in the Middle East and Central Asia region.
- The region has made good progress since the beginning of the year, but new challenges have emerged.
- Divergent recoveries and concerns about economic scarring persist.
- Inequities are also on the rise.
Current challenges and constraints
- Pandemic wave in countries with weak vaccination progress.
- Rising inflation, which has contributed to declining monetary policy space.
- Limited fiscal policy space adds to policy difficulties.
- The pandemic’s impact on debt, labor markets, and the corporate sector will need to be tackled.
- Countries will face difficult tradeoffs amid this challenging environment as they continue to manage the current crisis.
Short-term priorities and policy guidance
- Ramping up vaccine acquisition and distribution remains the most urgent short-term priority.
- Additional support should be well targeted.
- Central banks may need to raise interest rates if inflation expectations start to increase.
- Improving policy frameworks will be important to reduce policy tradeoffs.
Medium- to long-term transformational priorities
- Preparing for a new chapter by investing in a transformational recovery will be vital to the region’s future.
- Important priorities include:
- Reorienting the role of the state toward health, education, and social safety nets.
- Leveraging global trends like digitalization.
- Investing in climate-resilient technology.
Regional Economic Outlook — Middle East and Central Asia, October 2021
Content in this bundle
- Chapter 3 — Online Annexes: COVID-19 and the Corporate-Sector Outlook
- Regional Developments and Outlook: From Crisis Management to Transformational Recovery
- MCD October 2021 Regional Economic Outlook — Key Messages
- Reo October 2021 Labor Market Chapter Online Annexes
- October 19, 2021: MCD Press Briefing — Jihad Azour
- Dataset overview
- reo-october-2021-statistical-appendix