WASHINGTON, May 22 – The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that a possible prolonged decline of oil prices would involve “major risks” for the oil producing countries in the Middle East and North African Region, recommending to limit increases of the public expenses such as salaries and the subsidies to counter any sharp fall of oil prices.
In its new report on MENA (Middle East and North Africa) economic prospects, the IMF said that even if the risks on world economy outlook have diminished, during recent months they remain high, Algeria’s Press Service (APS) reported.
Regarding MENA oil exporting countries, the Breton Woods Institution notes that some of them show a low public debt and may use their reserves of exchange and other external assets to support the overall demand in case of brief decrease of oil prices, “but a prolonged decrease would involve major risks.”
According to the IMF, in the case of slow growth in the emerging countries, besides a weak recovery in the Euro zone, this situation would bring oil prices below the required level to balance the budget of most MENA oil exporting countries.
For Algeria, IMF maintained the forecasts published last April in its world report: a 3.3 per cent growth in 2013 (against 2.5 per cent in 2012), an inflation of 5 percent (against 8.9 per cent), a negative budgetary balance of -1.8 per cent (against – 3.4 per cent) and a positive balance of current accounts of 6.1 per cent of GPD (against 5.9 percent).
– BERNAMA
