The International Monetary Fund (IMF) prepared a report for the G8 summit which was held at the end of last week in Deauville, France which stated that the oil-importing nations in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) will need a boost of at least $160 billion of external funding to get them through 2013 in an economically stable fashion.
G8 Supports Pro-Democracy Movements
The Group of Eight met for two days to discuss many issues of strategic international concern, including how the global community can assist countries in the area to strengthen their economies, especially after the de-stabilizing effect the pro-democracy movements can potentially have on those economies.
IMF Says Outside Funding Needed
The IMF’s Middle East director Masood Ahmed explained to journalists that although there will be and expectation that a large part of the needed funds will come from the countries themselves, “over the next two to three years there is a need to rebuild confidence,” which will surely lead to an economic transformation of those countries which will benefit the entire world.
“Our role is to provide support early and use that as a catalyst to give private investors confidence,” Masood Ahmed added.
The G8 leaders were in agreement with the head of IMF’s Middle East director, promising their “strong support” for the pro-democracy movements which have been sprouting up across MENA. No specific aid was mentioned; however earlier in the week the World Bank had already announced its own plans to fund the economies of Tunisia and Egypt to the tune of $6 billion. Tunisia and Egypt were the catalyst countries which toppled their own regimes at the beginning of 2011, inspiring a general movement across the Middle East to bring political reforms to their own oppressive regimes.
IMF Pledged Support for Egypt
The IMF has already pledged $35 billion as aid for the region, and is currently negotiating with Egypt about providing the needed financing to stabilize the economy. According to Ahmed Egypt will require from $9 billion to $12 billion in external financing this coming year until the end of June 2012.