Oil price crash 'costs Middle East countries $390 billion'
The International Monetary Fund reported that the dramatic fall in oil prices last year cost oil-exporting countries in the Middle East $390 billion.
The fund has estimated losses for exporting countries at $150 billion next year.
Slow economic growth will be one of the consequences of this economic loss.
Read more: IMF predicts rising unemployment in Iran
The International Monetary Fund says that Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries will be forced to cut spending in the coming years to offset this economic loss.
Within a year, the price of oil went from around $115 a barrel in mid-2014 to less than $30 and has now risen back to over $40.
This price drop has clearly had a negative impact on the economies of major exporting countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, causing their budget deficits.
In its previous report, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the amount of money that exporting countries would lose from falling oil prices would be $360 billion, but the fund's new forecast is $30 billion higher than the previous figure.
OPEC predicts oil prices will reach $70 per barrel in the next four years. Read more.
The Saudi government has also approved a reform plan to reduce dependence on oil sales revenues.
Source: BBC Persian
