In partnership with the International Monetary Fund

In 2021, Gulf Cooperation Council policymakers moved quickly to mitigate the health and economic impacts of twin coronavirus and oil price shocks. Although Gulf countries have experienced successive waves of the coronavirus, economic recoveries have begun to take hold. Nevertheless, GCC policymakers must navigate a challenging and uncertain landscape as the pandemic continues to cloud the recovery outlook with each Gulf country in a different phase of recovery and with varied growth prospects.

What are the immediate priorities of GCC policymakers beyond protecting public health and supporting the most vulnerable? Should macroeconomic policies be adjusted as recoveries become more firmly established? What are some of the medium- and long-term challenges made pressing by the pandemic that need to be addressed by policymakers at this stage? Are ongoing reforms to drive productivity and diversification accelerating fast enough to balance a longer-term decline in global demand for oil? And how can Gulf governments make genuine progress in diversifying government revenue when many of the hardest-hit sectors of their economies are pillars of Gulf economic diversification efforts?

AGSIW co-hosted the launch of this International Monetary Fund report on these issues and more.