Tensions in the region have prompted the International Monetary Fund to cut its growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa region by half a point. As part of the World Summit of Governments lIMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva calls the impact of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, whose economy has declined by 80% and in the West Bank by around 22% since the October 7 Hamas attacks, “terrifying”.
While more than half of Gaza’s population lived below the poverty line before the war, four months later the International Monetary Fund is warning of a worrying deterioration in its economic situation. Recognize that too The risk of an escalation of the conflict and recent tensions between the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the US in the Red Sea are causing international concern. And be careful: the consequences could be worse depending on the direction of the conflict. “As a woman, mother and grandmother,” Kristalina Gorgieva hopes that peace will soon reign in Gaza.
The agency for its part Moody’s has lowered Israel’s rating for the first time since the evaluation of its bonds by international agencies to assess investment risk began three decades ago. Behind these rating agency forecasts are the budgetary burden of the war, defense spending, payments to the military and the closure of the Israeli economy (after the mobilization of 360,000 reservists who had to give up their jobs). And that puts a strain on the Netanyahu government’s finances and debts.
Moody’s assigns the country a “Negative perspective” due to the risk of escalation in violence by Lebanese Hezbollah militias operating on Israel’s northern border.