The recipe for “international criticism” to avoid “trap” declining growth and high debt

The Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Christina Georgiva, said that the Middle East can avoid falling into the trap of low growth and high debt, by building more flexible and adaptive economies and focusing on structural changes that enhance the elasticity of the economy, and its capabilities to grow in the long term.

She pointed out during her participation, “The General Finance of the Arab States” in Dubai today, the importance of speeding digitization, encouraging the diversification of trade, and enhancing the flow of capital to dynamic companies, explaining that the countries in the region that have higher rates of digitization have a much higher productivity than that of the least digital.

She stressed the need for economic diversity, as current transformations provide an excellent opportunity to stimulate resource resources towards new economic sectors and services.

She said: The countries need to search for opportunities to cooperate in new ways. In many cases, this means strengthening regional cooperation. The Gulf Cooperation Council is an excellent example of the benefits of regional integration.

She stressed the need to adopt a wise financial policy to ensure total economic stability.

She stated: Many countries will need to implement the policy of reducing the financial deficit. It is necessary to design budget reforms according to the circumstances of each country.

It indicated that with the increasing population of working age, the region must benefit from this demographic feature. Creating more special functions, especially for women and youth, can lead to more vital and comprehensive economies.

She noted that there are great possibilities to enhance local tax systems, and this requires the expansion of tax rules, especially with the diversity of economies.

She indicated that in a world that witnesses rapid transformations, it is necessary that countries become more flexible and adaptive and must search for new engines for growth, which will also help avoid falling into the trap of low growth and high religion.

She said: The International Monetary Fund remains completely committed to supporting the Middle East and North Africa. Since the beginning of 2020, we have agreed to about 33 billion dollars of financing for the region.

The Public Finance Forum for Arab States, in its ninth edition, which started during the preliminary day of the World Government Summit 2025, focuses on designing future financial policies to be more efficient, ensuring improving the various challenges facing current policies, including debt challenges and future challenges, in light of Strict financing restrictions worldwide.

The forum is organized in cooperation between the “Arab Monetary Fund” and the “International Monetary Fund” and the Ministry of Finance in the UAE.