Middle East economies have plunged into decline in the years since the Arab Spring, creating daunting economic and development challenges, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report released Friday (September 16th).
According to the report, nose-diving growth, soaring fiscal imbalances and decimated labour markets across the region call for newly concerted efforts from donor countries and co-ordination among humanitarian aid groups and development bodies, AFP reported.
While the world's attention has been drawn to the humanitarian impact of wars, economic disasters also were unfolding, said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.
"Much of the productive capital in conflict zones has been destroyed, personal wealth and income losses are enormous, and human capital deteriorates with the lack of jobs and education," she wrote in a blog post accompanying the report.
The IMF report followed Thursday's release of World Bank research which said the burden of refugees and displaced persons was largely borne on the shoulders of poor countries.
"To varying degrees, these countries face large numbers of refugees, weak confidence and security and declining social cohesion that undermines the quality of institutions and their ability to undertake much-needed economic reforms," the IMF report said.
The report laid out the economic costs of war for countries plagued by conflict, noting that after four years of war, Syria's gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen by more than half, and in the last year alone, Yemen's economy contracted by 25 to 35%.
Meanwhile, neighbouring countries have been heavily impacted, such as Lebanon, which has seen swelling classroom sizes and a reduction in the quality of education, and Jordan, where funding has not kept pace with the needs.
