COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects Arab states: Report

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - The coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected the economic and social structures of Arab countries, according to a report Wednesday by a Turkish think tank.

As the pandemic slowed economic production and mobility at the global level, it reduced the demand for petroleum and petroleum-derived products, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM) in Ankara said in “Socioeconomic Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arab World.”

The decline in oil revenues has led to a decrease in incomes of oil-producing Gulf countries and other Arab nations, including Iraq, Algeria, Sudan and Libya.

It also affected the developmental processes in some Middle Eastern countries whose citizens work as migrant workers in oil-rich countries as it caused a decrease in migration remittances.

Underlining that tourism was an important source of income for Gulf and North African countries, the report said that there was a significant decrease in foreign exchange revenues as the pandemic negatively affected the tourism sector.

The pandemic has caused more devastating effects on Arab countries which were already facing economic difficulties well before the coronavirus outbreak, some having trouble even in providing basic services to their citizens.