IMF cuts MENA growth forecast to 1.1% on Iran war

DUBAI/WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund sharply reduced its 2026 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa to 1.1 percent on Tuesday as war chokes Gulf oil and gas exports. Iran, Iraq and Qatar will be particularly hard-hit, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook warned, as it revised down its January prediction of 3.9 percent regional growth this year. Growth should rebound next year, as long as energy production and transport are “normalized” over the next few months, the IMF predicted. The region’s economies grew 3.2 percent in 2025, it said.