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to increase their international reserve positions by over 100
billion dollars in 2010 as oil prices rebound, the IMF said on
Sunday. The rebuilding of their international reserve positions would
help governments of the region maintain public spending, which has
helped mitigate the impact of the global financial turmoil on their
economies, the International Monetary Fund said in report released in
Dubai. "With higher oil prices and the anticipated re- emergence of
global demand, oil revenues are expected to increase, allowing oil
exporters to rebuild their international reserve positions by over
100 billion dollars in 2010 ," the Middle East and Central Asia
Regional Economic Outlook report said. Oil exporters -- Algeria,
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
United Arab Emirates and Yemen -- have suffered as oil prices dropped
to near 30 dollars per barrel around the turn of the year from a
life-time high of 147 dollars per barrel in July 2008. Since then,
it has rebounded to around 70 dollars per barrel. The IMF projected
that the economies of all countries of the Middle East and North
Africa in addition to Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected to grow
4.0 percent in 2010.
