RABAT: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is holding a two-day regional conference from Monday in Morocco with a message of reform amid growing “frustration” among the population of some Arab states.
“Rising social tensions and protests in several countries across the Middle East and North Africa are a clear indication that the aspirations of the people of the region, for opportunity, prosperity and equity, remain unfulfilled,” said Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department.
“Reforms are the key to address the fundamental problems that have plagued so many countries of the region for so long: Low growth, high unemployment and corruption,” he wrote in an analysis ahead of the conference in Marrakesh.
Unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ranks among the highest in the world, with a jobless figure of more than 50 percent, largely due to the low participation of women in the workforce in conservative Arab countries.
In Marrakesh, government officials, business leaders and civil society figures will hear the IMF’s priorities: To fight corruption, create jobs for the young, bring more women into economic life and boost the private sector.
The IMF said: “Frustration runs high over the lack of job opportunities and access to affordable, high-quality public services.
“With over 60 percent of its population under the age of 30, the region desperately needs higher growth and more jobs,” it said, adding that around 5.5 million young people will join the job market each year over the next five years.
In a region at the center of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, born largely out of economic hardship and discontent among the young, reforms have proved a delicate balancing act.
To benefit from IMF loans, countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan have had to reduce their budget deficits, result- ing in cost-of-living rises for their citizens.
An austerity budget in Tunisia, along with increases in VAT, sent demonstrators out onto the streets in early January.
“The frustration the Tunisian people are feeling is understandable,” said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice, speaking on the seventh anniversary of the Tunisian uprising which launched the Arab Spring.
However, he defended the institution against the “outdated” view that it is the IMF itself that causes the suffering.
“Speaking for the IMF, we do not want austerity. We do want well-designed, well- implemented, socially balanced reforms,” he said.
Egypt, whose economy was also hit hard in the turbulence of its own uprising, in 2016 launched a reform program in exchange for a $12 billion IMF loan.
It has since floated its currency against the dollar, triggering sharp price rises.
Jordan on Saturday increased the price of bread by up to 100 percent after lifting subsidies on the staple in an effort to redress its debt-riddled economy.
Past price hikes have sparked riots in the cash-strapped country, which has a public debt of some $35 billion, equivalent to 90 percent of its gross domestic product.
In 2016, Jordan secured a $723-million three-year credit line from the IMF to support economic and financial reforms.
IMF invites Arab nations to tackle public ‘frustration’
IMF invites Arab nations to tackle public ‘frustration’
India and US release a framework for an interim trade agreement to reduce Trump tariffs
- Under the deal, tariffs on goods from India would be lowered to 18 percent, from 25 percent, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Trump had said.
NEW DELHI: India and the United States released a framework for an interim trade agreement to lower tariffs on Indian goods, which Indian opposition accused of favoring Washington.
The joint statement, released Friday, came after US President Donald Trump announced his plan last week to reduce import tariffs on the South Asian country, six months after imposing steep taxes to press New Delhi to cut its reliance on cheap Russian crude.
Under the deal, tariffs on goods from India would be lowered to 18 percent, from 25 percent, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Trump had said.
The two countries called the agreement “reciprocal and mutually beneficial” and expressed commitment to work toward a broader trade deal that “will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.” The framework said that more negotiations will be needed to formalize the agreement.
India would also “eliminate or reduce tariffs” on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, Friday’s statement said.
The US president had said that India would start to reduce its import taxes on US goods to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products over five years, part of the Trump administration’s bid to seek greater market access and zero tariffs on almost all American exports.
Trump also signed an executive order on Friday to revoke a separate 25 percent tariff on Indian goods he imposed last year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Trump “for his personal commitment to robust ties.”
“This framework reflects the growing depth, trust and dynamism of our partnership,” Modi said on social media, adding it will “further deepen investment and technology partnerships between us.”
India’s opposition political parties have largely criticized the deal, saying it heavily favors the US and negatively impacts sensitive sectors such as agriculture. In the past, New Delhi had opposed tariffs on sectors such as agriculture and dairy, which employ the bulk of the country’s population.
Meanwhile, Piyush Goyal, Indian Trade Minister, said the deal protects “sensitive agricultural and dairy products” including maize, wheat, rice, ethanol, tobacco, and some vegetables.
“This (agreement) will open a $30 trillion market for Indian exporters,” Goyal said in a social media post, referring to the US annual GDP. He said the increase in exports was likely to create hundreds of thousands of new job opportunities.
Goyal also said tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of Indian goods exported to the US, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts, further enhancing the country’s export competitiveness.
India and the European Union recently reached a free trade agreement that could affect as many as 2 billion people after nearly two decades of negotiations. That deal would enable free trade on almost all goods between the EU’s 27 members and India, covering everything from textiles to medicines, and bringing down high import taxes for European wine and cars.
India also signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Oman in December and concluded talks for a free trade deal with New Zealand.
