Growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is projected to decline to 2.6% in 2023 from 5.4% in 2022, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook update.

Saudi Arabia is expected to witness a steeper-than-expected growth slowdown from 8.7% in 2022 to 1.9% in 2023.

The downgrade for the kingdom is driven by production cuts announced in April and June in line with an agreement through OPEC+ despite private investment, including from giga projects, supporting robust non-oil GDP growth.

However, the kingdom, the largest economy in the Arab world, will likely see growth increase to 2.8% in 2024.      

(Editing by Brinda Darasha; brinda.darasha@lseg.com)