The Middle East and North Africa and Dependence on the Capital-Intensive Hydrocarbon Sector
MENA felt the impact of the financial
and economic crisis to a much lesser extent than developed
economies and emerging markets outside Asia, however, the
economic recovery in MENA has also lacked vigor. Before the
recent uprisings, MENA was expected to return to pre-crisis
growth rates of 4.8 percent by 2011-12, but growth rates in
this range are not high enough to address the key challenges
facing the region, including high unemployment rates -