On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund released its Middle East and Central Asia Regional Economic Outlook which shows a divergent picture in 2022 for the region, with oil exporters such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia expected to experience robust rates of growth thanks to higher oil prices.
Uncertainty is also increasing with the duration of the war in Ukraine a significant factor on how the rest of the Middle East and North Africa will fare amid rising inflation and growing food insecurity.
Jihad Azour, the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, told Business Extra policymakers will be required to take decisive action as vulnerable groups experience another crisis after “the huge impact” of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner
In this episode:
Impact of Ukraine-Russia war (1m 53s)
Uncertainty factors (4m 35s)
Is the Gulf insulated from uncertainty? (7m 8s)
Food crisis and solutions (9m 24s)
Iraq (11m 21s)
Egypt (14m)
Lebanon (16m 15s)
Tunisia (18m 45s)
Is the Middle East building resilience? (21m 20s)
Read more
Global action needed to prevent food crisis in Middle East and North Africa, warns IMF
Surging inflation and Russia-Ukraine war threaten Mena economic momentum, IMF says
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
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