The International Monetary Fund has revised its growth forecast upward for the Middle East and North Africa region, as countries recover from the coronavirus crisis that began in 2020. Real GDP in the MENA region is now expected to grow 4% in 2021, up from the fund’s October projection of 3.2%. However, the outlook will vary significantly across countries depending on factors such as vaccine rollouts, exposure to tourism and policies introduced, the IMF said in its latest regional economic report published on Sunday. Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, said the recovery would ... (full story)