Mideast oil exporters' foreign reserves to rise in 2010: IMF
Oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to increase their international reserves by over USD 100 billion in 2010 as oil prices rebound, the IMF said today.
Oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to increase their international reserves by over USD 100 billion in 2010 as oil prices rebound, the IMF said on Sunday.
The rebuilding of reserves will help governments of the region maintain public spending, which has mitigated the impact of the global financial turmoil on their economies, the International Monetary Fund said in report released here.
"With higher oil prices and the anticipated re-emergence of global demand, oil revenues are expected to increase, allowing oil exporters to rebuild their international reserve positions by over 100 billion dollars in 2010," the Middle East and Central Asia Regional Economic Outlook said.
Oil exporters -- Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen -- have suffered as oil prices dropped to near USD 30 per barrel around the turn of the year from an all-time high of USD 147 per barrel in July 2008.
As a result, the current account surplus of these countries dropped by nearly USD 350 billion.
Since then, the price of oil has rebounded to around USD 70 per barrel.
"The use of reserve buffers for countercyclical spending by oil exporters mitigated the impact on their own economies and generated positive spillovers for their neighbours," IMF Middle East and Central Asia department director Masood Ahmed said in a press release.
