DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Economies across the Middle East are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic faster than anticipated. That’s largely due to an increase in oil prices and the acceleration of mass inoculation campaigns. But the International Monetary Fund warned in a report Sunday that an uneven vaccine distribution would derail the region’s rebound, as the prospects of rich and poor countries diverge. The IMF again revised upward its 2020 economic forecast for the Mideast and North Africa, now expecting just a 3.4% contraction, with growth for the region’s oil exporters buoyed by a boom for commodities and rise in oil price. Elsewhere in the region the damaging effects of the pandemic will drag on.
