Construction workers walk past the Astana Expo 2017 Sphere in Astana, Kazakhstan. Economic activity is picking up in the country, says the IMF's report (photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
May 4, 2017
Growth in the Caucasus and Central Asia is expected to pick up this year to 3.1 percent from 2.4 percent in 2016 as the external environment improves—firmer growth in Russia, an upgraded outlook for China, and a partial recovery in commodity prices, says the IMF’s latest regional forecast.
But, to bring growth back to the levels of the previous decade, the region will need to embark on fundamental reforms to build economic resilience and reduce dependence on commodity exports and remittances.
The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia, officially launched on May 2 in Dubai and May 4 in Almaty, outlines the six things to know about the region’s current growth prospects and the policies to strengthen them.
"Capital and investment flows can be the lifeblood of an economy, and so it is important that the countries in the region take decisive steps toward rectifying their financial sector weaknesses,” said Jihad Azour, the Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department.
