IMF: Gulf economies to shrink by 7.6% this year

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will see their economies shrink by 7.6% this year, an International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday, revising downwards April forecasts of nearly 3%.

“We expect the GCC economies to contract by 7.6% this year, the contraction will be across all sectors, oil and non-oil,” Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, said on Tuesday at a virtual economic forum.

He said oil-producing countries in other regions were likely to see even larger drops.