Arab Monetary Fund

The forty-fifth edition of the Joint Arab Economic Report addresses economic developments in Arab countries during 2024.

The Productivity and Growth Assessment Framework (PGAF) is an analytical tool that provides a comprehensive assessment of the contributions of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and the other production factors, capital and labor, to economic growth across 183 countries from 1990 to 2023. Moreover, PGAF introduces an insightful and informative description of the countries’ economic characteristics using various macroeconomic indicators.

This study aims to assess the contribution of productivity to economic growth in Arab economies and to identify the key factors influencing this contribution. The findings reveal that, despite the relative advantage Arab countries enjoyed in terms of capital accumulation and labor availability during the period 2000–2023, they were not able to utilize these inputs efficiently.

This study sheds light on BCS agreements, their motives, and usefulness, and suggests a methodology for assessing the relevance of establishing BCS agreements within the Arab region.

The way public debt affects economic growth in the Arab region is heterogeneous and depends on the country's income level group.

For middle- and high-income Arab countries, public debt helps improve long-term growth with a very limited impact in the short term.

There is no evidence that public debt improves economic growth in low-income Arab countries in the short or long term.

For all groups, the Arab countries' public debt is inefficient regarding investment.