THE ARAB MONETARY FUND ORGANIZES AN EXTRAORDINARY REMOTE MEETING FOR THE MANAGERS OF BANKING SUPERVISION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN CENTRAL BANKS AND ARAB MONETARY INSTITUTIONS ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CORONA VIRUS ON FINANCIAL STABILITY

by **claud39** Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:50 am

THE ARAB MONETARY FUND ORGANIZES AN EXTRAORDINARY REMOTE MEETING FOR THE MANAGERS OF BANKING SUPERVISION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN CENTRAL BANKS AND ARAB MONETARY INSTITUTIONS ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CORONA VIRUS ON FINANCIAL STABILITY

2020-04-07

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

From 15:00 to 17:00 Abu Dhabi time

The meeting discusses:

The role of macroprudential policy and other economic policies in the next stage

Ways to protect the corporate and individual sectors during this phase

Assessing systemic risks that may threaten financial stability

The implications of the virus on the application of the requirements of the Basel III International Standard for Financial Reporting (IFRS9)

Corona virus effect on credit information industry

The Arab Monetary Fund is organizing this afternoon, Tuesday, 7 April 2020, a virtual (remote) virtual meeting to discuss the implications of the Corona virus on financial stability, banking supervision and credit information. The meeting will be attended by directors of the departments of financial stability, banking supervision and credit information at the central banks and Arab monetary institutions, in addition to the Arab Monetary Fund, which is responsible for the technical secretariat of the committees and work teams emanating from the Board of Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions.

The meeting will also be attended by representatives of regional and international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision.

The holding of this meeting comes at a time when the Corona pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the economic, social, financial and banking risks and ramifications are increasing. This unexpected situation has created additional pressure on supervisory and supervisory work, and the authorities are seeking to limit the negative impact of the virus implications on the financial and banking sector and its safety.

In this context, the meeting is held in these exceptional circumstances, to discuss the implications of the Corona virus on the fundamentals of financial stability in the Arab countries. The meeting will contribute to dialogue and exchange of experiences on developing policies and tools related to enhancing financial stability in Arab countries, in order to reduce the effects of the virus on financial stability.

The meeting will also discuss ways to protect the productive sectors, especially the MSME sectors. In addition, the meeting will address the role of macro-prudential policy tools in the coming stage, and how to coordinate with other economic policies. Many other topics of financial stability issues will be discussed such as assessing systemic risks at this stage, ways to protect the retail sector from defaulting, mitigating credit risks with the banking sector, assessing the risks of the non-bank financial sector, and assessing cyber risks in this delicate phase.

On the other hand, the meeting will discuss a number of important topics that are important to the aspects of banking supervision, including the role of banking supervision in the next stage under the current circumstances, and ways to develop partial stress tests in the next stage, as these tests are considered important tools for managing risk and measuring the sector's ability Banking to withstand potential shocks.

The meeting will also discuss the impact of the Corona virus on the implementation of Basel III requirements and the International Financial Reporting Standard. In addition to addressing the assessment of operational and cyber risks in the banking sector in the current stage, in light of the increased reliance on modern financial technologies in implementing banking operations at this stage.

On the issue of credit information issues, the meeting will discuss the implications of the Corona virus for the credit information industry, including the impact on customer credit rating and credit reports.

The meeting will hear presentations from the Financial Stability Board, the World Bank and the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision on the latest developments related to the implications of the Corona virus on the fundamentals of financial stability, aspects of banking supervision and the credit information industry.

In this context, His Excellency the Director General of the Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund pointed out that holding the extraordinary meeting comes to confirm that maintaining financial stability in the Arab countries is one of the priorities of the central banks and Arab monetary institutions, given the close financial stability linked to economic and social stability in the countries.

His Excellency also affirmed the increasing interest shown by Excellencies and Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions for the work of the committees and work teams and the prominent role they play as a platform for dialogue and the transfer of knowledge and exchange of experiences and experiences between Arab countries regarding this important issue. His Excellency renewed his wishes to save our dear Arab countries and the world from this epidemic, and to quickly overcome the repercussions of this crisis.

https://www.amf.org.ae/ar/content/%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AB%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A

by **claud39** Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:54 am

Developing policies and tools for enhancing financial stability

08/2020

THE ARAB MONETARY FUND ORGANIZES AN EXTRAORDINARY REMOTE MEETING FOR THE MANAGERS OF BANKING SUPERVISION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN CENTRAL BANKS AND ARAB MONETARY INSTITUTIONS ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CORONA VIRUS ON FINANCIAL STABILITY %D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%AB-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7

Developing policies and tools for enhancing financial stability

The Arab Monetary Fund organized a virtual (remote) virtual meeting to discuss the implications of the Corona Virus on financial stability, banking supervision and credit information, with the participation of managers of financial stability and banking supervision and credit information departments at central banks and Arab monetary institutions, in addition to the Arab Monetary Fund, which holds the technical secretariat of the committees The work teams emanating from the Board of Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions.

This meeting came at a time when the Corona pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the economic, social, financial and banking risks and repercussions increase, as this unexpected situation has created additional pressures on supervisory and supervisory work, and the authorities are seeking to limit the negative impact of the virus repercussions on the financial and banking sector. And his safety.

The meeting discussed developing policies and tools related to enhancing financial stability in the Arab countries, in order to reduce the effects of the virus on financial stability, ways to protect the productive sectors, especially the micro, small and medium-sized sectors, the role of macro-prudential policy tools in the next stage, and how to coordinate with economic policies The other.

His Excellency the Director General of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund pointed out that holding the extraordinary meeting comes to confirm that maintaining financial stability in the Arab countries is one of the priorities of the central banks and Arab monetary institutions, given the close financial stability linked to economic and social stability in the countries.

He also stressed the increasing interest shown by the central bankers and Arab monetary institutions to the work of the committees and work teams and the prominent role they play as a platform for dialogue, knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences and experiences between Arab countries regarding this important topic.

https://uabonline.org/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%81-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d8%a8%d8%ad%d8%ab-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a8%d8%b9%d8%af/

by **claud39** Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:32 am

THE ARAB MONETARY FUND ORGANIZES AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING REMOTELY FOR MANAGERS OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION DEPARTMENTS, PAYMENT SYSTEMS AND FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN CENTRAL BANKS AND ARAB MONETARY INSTITUTIONS ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CORONA VIRUS ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

2020-04-08

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

From 15:00 to 17:00 Abu Dhabi time

The meeting discusses:

Aspects of enhancing financial inclusion and improving financial services in light of the implications of the Corona virus

Measures to ensure the business continuity of banks and the provision of basic financial services to individuals and companies

Measures to ensure consumer protection and mitigate credit risks for families and companies

Improving the response of electronic payment systems and tools to face the consequences and respond to the needs

Promote opportunities for digital financial services transition

The Arab Monetary Fund will organize, on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, a virtual (remote) virtual meeting to discuss the implications of the Corona virus on financial services and financial inclusion. Managers of financial inclusion departments, payment systems and digital financial infrastructure at central banks and Arab monetary institutions participate in the meeting, in addition to the Arab Monetary Fund, which is responsible for the technical secretariat of the committees and work teams emanating from the Board of Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions.

Representatives from regional and international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank, the German Development Agency, the Global Alliance for Financial Inclusion, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Charity, along with a number of Arab Monetary Fund partners in the areas of financial inclusion and payment systems, will also attend the meeting.

The holding of this meeting comes at a time when the Corona pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the economic, social, financial and banking risks and ramifications are increasing. This resulted in additional pressures on core financial services, and clearly highlighted the importance of accelerating the transition to digital financial services and the need to continue efforts to enhance access to finance and financial services.

The meeting will contribute to enhancing dialogue and exchanging experiences on developing policies and tools related to improving financial inclusion in the Arab countries, in order to reduce the effects of the virus on families, individuals, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

The meeting will also discuss ways to ensure the continuity of the business of banks and provide basic financial services, especially for individuals, companies, and micro, small and medium enterprises. In addition, measures will be discussed at the meeting to ensure the protection of consumers of financial services in these current circumstances and the mitigation of credit risks, while discussing ways to improve the mechanisms and tools of government payments and small payments. On the other hand, the meeting will discuss ways to enhance the role of electronic payment systems in responding to the needs of consumers of financial services, as well as recovery prospects and mechanisms for digital financial transformation and the promotion of digital financial services in the Arab countries.à.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Director General of the Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, indicated that the holding of this extraordinary meeting comes to confirm that strengthening financial inclusion in the Arab countries is considered a priority for central banks and Arab monetary institutions, and what can contribute It includes financial inclusion in enhancing the capabilities of the financial sector to meet current challenges.

His Excellency also affirmed the increasing interest shown by Excellencies and Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions for the work of the committees and work teams and the prominent role they play as a platform for dialogue, knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences and experiences between Arab countries regarding issues of financial inclusion. His Excellency renewed his wishes to save our dear Arab countries and the world from this epidemic, and to quickly overcome the repercussions of this crisis.

https://www.amf.org.ae/ar/content/%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AB%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%B9

by **claud39** Fri Apr 10, 2020 8:32 am

THE ARAB MONETARY FUND ORGANIZES THE FOURTH WORKSHOP REMOTELY TO PLACE COMMERCIAL BANKS ON THE "BENI" PLATFORM FOR ARAB PAYMENTS
2020-04-09

Wide participation of Arab and international banks

Discussing platform products, services, and incentives offered to bank participants

Thursday 9 April 2020

After announcing the launch of the "Beni" platform for Arab payments of the regional institution for the clearing and settlement of Arab payments owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, the Arab Monetary Fund continues its efforts in following up the process of procedures for attaching central and commercial banks to the platform. In this context, the Fund organized this fourth Thursday afternoon, April 9th, the workshop to join banks, in which senior officials from more than 40 banks operating in the Arab region and abroad participated, which expressed their willingness to join the platform in the early stages of its launch.

The workshop reviewed the different services provided by the platform to the participants, where its various advantages were highlighted by what constitutes an important development in the Arab financial markets. This workshop is considered the first stop of a series of focused workshops, which address several strategic issues and are organized over a number of weeks in a digital format from a distance, given the current conditions.

It is worth noting that the "Bani" platform represents a multi-currency payment platform that provides clearing and settlement services in Arab currencies and international currencies that meet the eligibility requirements, for clearing and settling inter-Arab financial transactions as well as financial transactions between Arab countries and the main trading partners of the Arab countries.

The platform aims to enable financial and banking institutions in the Arab region, including central and commercial banks, to send and receive inter-payments across the Arab region and beyond in a safe and reliable manner at an appropriate cost and high effectiveness. The Bani platform provides participants with modern payment solutions that comply with international standards, principles and international compliance requirements. The platform contributes to enhancing opportunities for economic and financial integration in the Arab region and supporting investment links with the trading partners of Arab countries on various continents.

It is mentioned that the platform is available to all banks that meet the criteria and conditions for participation in it, at the forefront of which are the standards and procedures for compliance aspects.

On this occasion, the Director General of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, expressed his happiness for the great response from central and commercial banks in the Arab region to participate in the platform, highlighting the interest of financial and banking institutions in the services of the platform and its strategic importance. His Excellency also renewed his sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Excellencies, Governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions for their support to the Fund's efforts in establishing the platform.

https://www.amf.org.ae/ar/content/%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%88%D9%83-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%89

by **claud39** Fri Apr 10, 2020 8:36 am

THE ARAB MONETARY FUND LAUNCHES THE APRIL EDITION OF THE ARAB ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORT

2020-04-09

Monetary

The April version of the "Arab Economic Prospects" report will be launched .

Arab governments adopt incentive packages of about $ 180 billion to face the repercussions resulting from the spread of the new Corona virus and maintain local consumption levels that support economic growth in Arab countries.

The rate of growth of Arab economies has halved, according to an optimistic scenario of the emergence of the emerging Corona virus and the registration of Arab countries to economic stagnation if the impact of the virus extends to the end of the year.

Expectations of doubling levels of the combined public budget deficit of Arab countries to GDP in 2020 in light of high levels of public spending and declining oil and tax revenues

The surplus recorded in the current account balances of Arab countries in 2019 turned into a deficit during 2020 reflecting the decline in Arab exports and income and services receipts

In the context of the efforts made by the Arab Monetary Fund to support decision-makers in the Arab countries, the Fund launched the April edition of the "Arab Economic Prospects" report, which includes an update of economic performance expectations for Arab countries on several levels, including economic growth, trends in the development of domestic prices, and monetary conditions, And finance, and expectations regarding the external sector in the Arab countries during the years 2020 and 2021.

The world and the Arab region live in an exceptional circumstance in light of the spread of the Corona virus and the wide-ranging economic effects that it entailed on several levels in light of the impact of global supply chains, the movement of international trade, consumption and investment and manufacturing activities, high levels of uncertainty, and low consumer and investor confidence. The virus also imposed restrictions on the activities of many economic sectors in light of the tendency of a number of countries to impose a ban on traffic, which affected the sectors of tourism, aviation, trade, manufacturing and other other economic sectors. At the beginning of the year, forecasts indicated that the impact on the global economy would be limited in the range of 0.1 percentage points in the event that the virus was contained during the first quarter of the year. However, other hypotheses suggested a further decline in global economic activity, expecting the rate of global GDP growth in 2020 to drop to half of the expected levels before the virus spread.

Regarding the Arab countries, the report indicated that the Arab countries recorded a growth rate of about 2 percent for 2019, reflecting the impact of both the slowdown in global demand in light of trade tensions between China and the United States of America, and the decrease in oil production quantities in a number of Arab oil exporting countries in compliance with the agreement "OPEC +", while the economic reforms implemented in many Arab countries helped to support the levels of growth recorded last year in a number of Arab countries. The developments related to the virus will have tangible effects on the Arab economies through several channels, the most prominent of which is the external demand, which contributes about 48% of the total total demand in the Arab countries.

On the other hand, the Arab economies will be affected by the partial cessation of the levels of local production in a number of economic sectors due to the spread of the virus, the most important of which are the productive services sectors, especially the tourism, transport and internal and external sectors. It will also have an impact on other industrial sectors. Together, these sectors contribute about 40 percent to GDP.

The Arab oil exporting countries were also affected by developments in the global oil markets, which are witnessing a decline in levels of oil demand growth, as a result of the activity of a number of economic sectors used for fuel affected by the repercussions of the virus and the conditions of imposing a ban on the movements of individuals inside and outside the borders in the shadow of markets controlled by increasing the quantities of supply The oil sector, which will result in an overall decrease in world oil prices in 2020, affecting the oil sector, which contributes about 27 percent of the gross domestic product of Arab countries, 42 percent of total exports, and 62 percent of total The public revenue.

As for the Arab oil importing countries, they will be affected by the decline in foreign exchange receipts in light of an expected decrease in the levels of exports due to the spread of the virus, as well as the remittances of workers abroad that contribute to some of these countries by more than 10 percent of the gross domestic product, which may generate Pressure on local currencies for some countries that have flexible exchange rate regimes, and increases the cost of paying installments and interest on external debt.

In total, these developments will have an impact on unemployment rates in Arab countries that are expected to see a rise during 2020, especially in light of the damage to a number of economic sectors that provide employment opportunities, foremost of which is the tourism sector, which contributes between 12 and 19 percent of the output The gross domestic product in a number of Arab countries that are global tourist destinations. It will also deepen the impact of these developments on the labor market in many Arab countries, affected by the activity of the MSME sector, which contributes about 45 percent of the gross domestic product and about a third of the job opportunities generated in the formal sector.

Based on the above, and in order to overcome the economic effects associated with the spread of the virus, the governments of the Arab countries, represented in the central banks and ministries of finance, have adopted incentive packages of approximately $ 180 billion (9.5 per cent of the GDP of the Arab countries) to date with the aim of supporting the affected sectors and groups, and reducing The magnitude of the expected impact, resulting from the restriction by the virus of the movement of activity in a number of basic economic sectors, on the income of families and companies. The stimulus packages included several interventions that ranged from directing more financial allocations to support health systems, reducing interest by rates ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 percentage points, reducing mandatory reserve ratios, pumping liquidity into the banking sector to support credit, and postponing loan installments and interest due to affected sectors And the affected groups. Interventions also included the application of generalized basic income programs in some Arab countries.

According to an optimistic hypothesis, and assuming that the economic impact of the emerging corona virus is expected to contain during the first half of 2020 and that there are no large-scale closures over time, the growth rate of Arab economies is expected to drop to half of the expected rates before the spread of the virus. But if the impact of the spread of the virus extends to the whole of 2020, it is expected that the Arab economies will witness an economic recession during the current year. On the other hand, it is expected that a relative recovery in the performance of Arab economies will take place in 2021, reflecting the improvement in the levels of global demand and international trade and the increase in international oil prices.

In terms of trends in the development of domestic prices, in 2019, the rate of inflation in the Arab countries continued to decrease to about 5.0 percent, compared to about 9.4 percent achieved in 2018. This is due to the decrease in domestic demand in some countries, and the changes in international oil prices And raw materials, in addition to the gradual decline in inflationary pressures resulting from the financial reform measures implemented by some Arab countries during the past two years. Inflation rates in 2020 are expected to be affected by the implications of the Corona virus on the levels of supply and demand, and by the decrease in world oil prices, while it is expected to rise in 2021 in light of the expected recovery of global and domestic demand and world oil prices.

Regarding monetary conditions, in light of the number of Arab currencies linked to the US dollar and the trend of these countries to fully or partially accompany the three rounds of cuts adopted by the US Federal Reserve in 2019, expansionary trends overcame the monetary policy position - measured by changes in official interest rates - in A number of Arab countries, while other Arab countries adopted neutral monetary policies by keeping official interest rates unchanged. Regarding the Arab countries that adopt more flexible exchange rate regimes, the monetary policy situation varied in these countries, as some of the group’s countries tended to raise the interest rate in order to absorb inflationary pressures, while the success of inflation targeting frameworks in other Arab countries helped to contain inflationary pressures, which It enables its central banks to make a shift in the monetary policy situation towards adopting facilitative monetary policies to support economic activity and stimulate credit granted to the private sector.

In light of the repercussions related to the emergence of the emerging Corona virus, facilitation trends dominated the position of monetary policy in most of the Arab countries during the first quarter of 2020, which differed in their exchange rate systems by reducing official interest rates by between 1.5 and 3 percentage points to support the ability of the financial sector Providing credit to economic sectors, especially those affected by the crisis. Central banks and Arab monetary institutions also played a prominent role in providing adequate support to Arab economies in these exceptional circumstances by ensuring adequate liquidity, encouraging expansion of credit, and reducing debt burdens on the affected sectors. The reforms adopted in the Arab countries in the field of monetary policy will continue during the forecast horizon, focusing on increasing levels of monetary policy efficiency in achieving their goals through developing some existing monetary policy tools, introducing new monetary tools to ensure liquidity management, and increasing levels of efficiency of operational frameworks of monetary policy. Central bank interventions will also continue to focus on ensuring the stability of foreign exchange markets, and enabling the banking sector to meet the challenges related to the limited resources of foreign exchange in some countries in a way that ensures the stability of exchange markets.

In terms of financial conditions, the report pointed to a decrease in the combined budget deficit of Arab countries to output - in dollars - from 3.8 per cent in 2018 to 3.4 per cent of output during 2019. Coronavirus-related developments will affect Arab budgets that are expected to Its oil and tax revenues are declining, while the governments of these countries will need to increase spending levels to support health systems, and to fund spending packages intended to mitigate the negative effects of the virus on the economy. Accordingly, the combined Arab budget deficit levels for Arab countries are expected to double in 2020, while the deficit is expected to decrease during 2021.

As for the external sector, the preliminary data for 2019 indicate that the current account balance of Arab countries as a group has been affected by the changes witnessed in the international oil prices and developments in the performance of the global economy, especially the euro area countries, the most prominent trading partner for a number of Arab countries. As a result of the aforementioned developments, it is estimated that the surplus in the current account balance decreased during the year 2019 to reach $ 42 billion, which constitutes about 1.6 percent of GDP. It is expected that the surplus recorded in the balance of payments of Arab countries during 2019 will turn into a deficit of 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2020, reflecting the impact of the expected decline in world oil prices, as well as the impact of the corona-related consequences on the economy, while the deficit is expected to turn into a surplus in In 2021, it made up about 2.6 percent of GDP.

The full version of the report is available through this link e

https://www.amf.org.ae/sites/default/files/AEO_Apr_2020.pdf

https://www.amf.org.ae/ar/content/%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%8F%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82-%D8%A5%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A2%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A