Times of economic crisis in the MENA region

P. 44–49.

Dominguez-Jimenez M., Dabrowski M.

In the second half of the 2010s, the economic situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) deteriorated as a result of lower oil and other commodity prices, a new round of domestic political instability, continuous intra-regional conflicts, stalled economic and governance reforms and, finally, the COVID-19 pandemic. The deteriorating macroeconomic trends manifested themselves in slower growth rates (which in 2020 turned negative almost everywhere), worsening fiscal and external balances, increasing public debt and, in several cases, higher inflation. There has been no visible progress in resolving long-term structural and institutional challenges such as high unemployment, especially among youths, low female labour market participation, poor quality of education, costly and ineffective public sector activity, high military and security spending, high energy subsidies and others.

Keywords: Middle East and North Africa, economic crisis, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, COVID-19 pandemic

In book

Talbot, Valeria (editor): MED Report 2020: Navigating the Pandemic: The challenge of stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean, ISPI (The Italian Institute for International Political Studies), Milan

Milan: Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), 2020.