The emphasis on investment as a basic and strategic component of a country's economic and social development should perhaps not be overdone. It is not, of course, the only component, for there are other strategic factors, such as entrepreneurial ability, the required skills and know-how, the efficient utilization of resources, political and social stability, and other elements
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Abstract This paper aims, on the one hand, to investigate the impact of corruption on economic diversification in 11 oil-abundant Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and three successful diversifiers (Canada, Norway, and Malaysia) over the period 1996-2019. This is done using the Arellano-Bond difference Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator that is effective
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Acknowledgments The Middle East and Central Asia Regional Economic Outlook (REO) Update is prepared each spring by the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD). The analysis and projections contained in the MCD REO are integral elements of the department’s surveillance of economic developments and policies in member countries. It draws primarily on information gat
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When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq’s debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker’s job “a noble mission.” At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker’s extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts
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Sunday was a festive day in Baghdad. The last time Iraqis had received an Egyptian president 30 years ago, the region was gearing up for war and uncertainty as the late President Hosni Mubarak shuttled between Baghdad and Gulf capitals prior to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The circumstances were quite different on June 27, when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el
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