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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 22 July 2020:
The African Development Bank (ADB) expects negative effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on Libya’s economic growth rates in 2020 and 2021, citing expected fluctuations in GDP growth rates and a budget deficit due to the double oil crisis.
A report on ‘‘Economic Prospects in North Africa 2020 – Dealing with the Covid-19’’ referred to a “pessimistic scenario in the event of a continuing outbreak of the Coved 19 epidemic”.
It predicted a deficit in Libya’s budget of 10.9% of GDP in 2020, noting a 22.5% decline in the budget balance in 2020 and 16.3% in 2021. The African Bank noted the repercussions of the security situation in Libya on oil production and exports, which caused a fluctuation in the growth rates of GDP in Libya reaching 59.7%, pointing out that agriculture in Libya is not important for nominal GDP (0.9%) compared to Mauritania (25.9 percent).
“Economic growth in North Africa was expected to rebound to 4.4% and 4.5% in 2020 and 2021, respectively,” Emmanuel Pinto Moreira, Country Director of the African Development Bank’s Department of Economics said during the report’s launch webinar.
According to the African Development Bank, the uncertain global environment, the Corona pandemic, and the expected downturn in developed economies, are negatively affecting growth prospects in the region.
