Syria’s Economy to Shrink 2% as Protests Persist, IMF Says
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Syria’s economy will shrink and oil importers across the region face “chronically high unemployment” amid social unrest and economic stagnation, the International Monetary Fund said today.
Output in Syria will contract 2 percent in 2011, the IMF said in its biannual World Economic Outlook today. In April, it had forecast 3 percent growth for the country, where 3,600 civilians have been killed by security forces during protests. Tunisia, which ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January, won’t expand this year and oil importers in the Middle East and North Africa will grow an average 1.4 percent, accelerating to 2.6 percent in 2012, the IMF said.