The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, like the rest of the world, remains in a pandemic-spawned crisis. The disaster relief demanded by the pandemic, combined with the decline in government revenues during the pandemic has led to further accumulation of debt in a region with already high public debt.
The average public debt in MENA countries is expected to rise 8 percentage points, from about 46% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 to 54% in 2021. Notably, debt among MENA oil importers is expected to average about 93% of GDP in 2021. And the need to keep spending — and borrowing — will remain strong for the immediate future.
This seminar on debt aims to start a dialogue on what MENA countries could do going forward to deal with elevated debt levels following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Debt Trap in MENA? presents the "big picture" and is the first in a programmatic series of seminars on public debt and its developmental consequences in MENA.
