IMF update

In an update to its April economic Outlook, the international Monetary Fund (iMF) has lowered its Middle east growth forecast for 2009 by half a percentage point, as oil exporters draw on financial reserves to prop up domestic demand. The IMF has said that Middle East economies will expand by 2%, compared with 5.2% in 2008, while the growth forecast for 2010 was raised 0.2 percentage point to 3.7%.