According to a recent article in Indian daily The Economic Times, Dubai’s financial crisis has caused a ripple around the Arab world, “eating away at the money many Middle East families depend on, sent home from relatives who work in Persian Gulf countries.” Worker wages from the Gulf account for 15 to 20 percent of the economy in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Remittances to Egypt have already fallen by 25 percent over the last year, according to the article. The World Bank estimates that remittances are expected to decrease by over seven percent this year across the Middle East and North Africa. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that a decline in remittances combined with a drop in trade could leave many of the poorer Arab countries slower to recover from the global financial crisis than other parts of the world.

By: Stefanie Rubin, Research Assistant

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Source Article: The Economic Times: Dubai Downturn Sends Ripples Throughout Arab World: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International-Business/Dubai-downturn-sends-ripples-throughout-Arab-world/articleshow/5419918.cms?curpg=2