Against the backdrop of a slowing globaleconomy and lower commodity prices, economic growth in theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) is stagnating. The WorldBank 2015 MENA economic monitor report projects overallgross domestic product (GDP) growth to be less than 3percent for the third year running - about 2.8 percent for2015. Low oil prices, conflicts, and the global economicslowdown make short-term prospects of recovery unlikely. Ina positive scenario of decreasing tensions in Libya, Iraq,and Syria, together with recovery in the Euro area that canboost external demand, growth in the region can rebound to4.4 percent in 2016 and the following year. However, ifcurrent circumstances persist, overall growth is notexpected to recover any time soon. Since the 2011 Arabspring, though not necessarily because of it, the MENAregion has seen a slowdown in economic growth, an escalationof violence and civil war and, more recently, substantialmacroeconomic imbalances from lower oil prices.
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