Saudi Finance Minister: Coming period to be difficult for Middle East

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 Oct 2022 15:10

The Saudi Arabian Finance Minister says that the next six years will be very good for the Arab Gulf states, but very difficult for the Middle East.

Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh

Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Muhammad Al-Jadaan said, on Wednesday, that "the next six months, and perhaps six years, will be very good for the Arab Gulf states, but will be very difficult for the broader Middle East."

As Al-Jadaan spoke during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, he added that "the next six months will be difficult on a global scale, and that the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to help the region."

The Saudi Arabian minister pointed out that "the transition in the field of energy away from dependence on fossil fuels will take years, perhaps up to 30 years."

The sixth Future Investment Initiative Conference, an economic initiative that discusses the future of global investment, was launched in Riyadh, on Tuesday, with the participation of hundreds of CEOs and leaders of the financial and investment sector.

The theme of this edition of the conference is "Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New World Order." It will address pressing topics that will shape the future of the global economy over three days.

This comes at a time when the global economy is witnessing a widespread slowdown that exceeded expectations, with inflation rates exceeding the levels recorded during previous decades. The projections to the future appear to be overburdened by the cost of living crisis and adverse financial conditions in most countries.

Regarding the Middle East and North Africa region, the World Bank forecasts that the economies of the region will grow by 5.5% in 2022, the fastest rate since 2016. However, the World Bank also stated that this growth will be uneven across the region.

The IMF explained that "many countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are still seeking to overcome the lasting effects of the Corona pandemic, the additional pressures caused by the sharp rise in oil and food prices due to the war in Ukraine, and high interest rates globally, as well as the slowdown in the economies of the United States, China and the Euro region."