The Middle East will enter an extra 1.29 trillion until 2026 due to the higher price of crude oil and gas, according to the IMF

MADRID, 19 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The nations of the Middle East will register an increase in their income of 1.3 trillion dollars (1.29 trillion euros) until 2026 due to the increase in the prices of crude oil and natural gas, according to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF).

In an interview with the British economic newspaper 'Financial Times', the director of the IMF for the Middle East and North Africa, Jihad Azour, has indicated that this increase in income is in relation to the energy price forecasts that existed before the war in Ukraine.

The IMF technician has also indicated that it is "important" that the oil and gas exporting countries use this extraordinary income to "invest in the future", as well as in internal productivity.

Unlike most Western countries, most oil and gas companies in the Middle East are owned by their respective states. In this way, it is the countries that directly benefit from the increase in income due to a rise in energy prices.

"What is going to be really important is how [Middle Eastern countries] manage this new cycle and how they maintain at the same time the benefits of additional liquidity and policies that do not lead them to a procyclical state," Azour stressed.