Oljeras has cost 3200 billion for the Middle East – Swedish Dagbladet

Photo: Hasan Jamali / AP

the decrease in revenue is the direct consequence of that crude oil prices have fallen from about $ 115 per barrel to below $ 30 in early 2016, and now is just over $ 40. The foregone revenue hit hardest the countries that are most dependent on oil exports, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

In order to cover the rising budget deficits have been the Persian Gulf countries have taken a range of measures, from reducing energy subsidies to higher taxes . Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have made off with much of their foreign exchange reserves and started to borrow money internationally.

– 2016 year number two in a multi-year adjustment process to achieve balanced budgets. Probably need another four or five years of action, both in terms of expenditure and revenue, before a comfortable financial position achieved in many countries, said Masood Ahmed, director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia, the Wall Street Journal.

growth for the region Petroleum exporting countries is expected to be 3 percent in 2016, compared with 2 percent last year. It depends primarily on the improved situation in Iraq, which has increased its oil production, and Iran, which is favored by the sanctions against the country gradually abolished. For other countries expected activity contracted further as governments reduce spending.

Masood Ahmed calls the Persian Gulf countries to abandon the economic model in which states are the main employer, a model in which the private sector plays a important role. Among the countries that have succeeded in this, according to him, Malaysia, Indonesia and Chile.

According to the IMF expected the population of the Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries increase by 10 million young people in the next five years. One worry is that the current pace of job creation, there is no work for newcomers.

– If jobs continue to be created at the same pace as in recent years, there will be 3 million more unemployed at the end of this five year period said Masood Ahmed.