Arab Monetary Fund: Reforms Increase Chances of Growth in Arab Economies

Deputy Prime Minister Jafar Hassan addresses the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arab Financial Institutions at the Dead Sea on Tuesday (Petra photo)
Deputy Prime Minister Jafar Hassan addresses the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arab Financial Institutions at the Dead Sea on Tuesday (Petra photo)
TT

Arab Monetary Fund: Reforms Increase Chances of Growth in Arab Economies

Deputy Prime Minister Jafar Hassan addresses the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arab Financial Institutions at the Dead Sea on Tuesday (Petra photo)
Deputy Prime Minister Jafar Hassan addresses the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arab Financial Institutions at the Dead Sea on Tuesday (Petra photo)

Arab economies have grown by 1.3 percent in 2017, with upward projections of a 2.2 percent growth in 2018 and a 2.9 percent in 2019, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and Director General at Arab Monetary Fund Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah AlHamidy said.

The growth hike is considered possible as expectations of the recovery of the oil sector gained traction. More so, continues positive effects of economic reforms in all Arab countries.

However, Arab economies are still facing challenges in reducing unemployment and establishing comprehensive and sustainable growth, AlHamidy said during the joint annual meetings of the Arab financial institutions held in the Dead Sea region of Jordan.

Participants at the meeting will discuss many topics of interest to the Arab financial bodies, mainly related to decisions adopted by individual financial bodies, annual plans and budgets, and prospect programs to be carried out by financial entities.

AlHamidy said that it was necessary to raise growth rates to 5-6 percent per year so that Arab labor markets could absorb new employment and achieve a relative reduction in unemployment rates, particularly among young people and university graduates.

Rates for youth unemployment registered around 29.1 percent in 2017.

Yemen's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mohammed Saeed Al-Saadi said that economic conditions in Arab countries recorded what he labeled a ‘limited’ growth rate last year, according to preliminary estimates, hitting a mark of 1.3 percent rather than the 2 percent witnessed in 2016 previous year.

Saddi traced back the slowdown in growth in Arab oil-exporting countries to the cut back of output levels in the oil sectors.



Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis
TT

Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Houthi militias in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah, following several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel.

The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports at Hodeidah, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib along with Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations. It came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned.”

Netanyahu monitored the new strikes along with military leaders, his government said. The Iran-backed Houthis' media outlet confirmed the strikes in a Telegram post but gave no immediate details. The US military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days.

Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeidah, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Houthis designated as a terrorist organisation.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday.