International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. (Source: Reuters)

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai (UAE), Director General Georgieva stated that she made the above assessment based on the fact that the global economy has shown effective resilience to conflicts and is in the process of rapid recovery.

She expressed concern that the conflict between Israel and the Hamas Islamist movement in Gaza continues to escalate and cause serious and widespread consequences, affecting the economy.

The IMF official stressed that the current period of uncertainty is posing additional challenges for economies still recovering from previous shocks.

The IMF is expected to release a paper on February 12 that highlights that phasing out energy subsidies could save $336 billion in Middle Eastern countries, equivalent to the combined economies of Iraq and Libya. In addition, eliminating energy subsidies could free up money for social spending.

In its latest regional economic update released last month, the IMF revised its forecast for Middle East and North Africa GDP growth down to 2.9% this year, partly due to short-term reductions in oil production in the region.

(according to Reuters)