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Oil Exporting States to Face Slowdown

DUBAI — Oil exporting countries across the world will suffer a sharp slowdown in economic growth as global recession pulls down commodity prices even lower from their recent lows, said economist Nouriel Roubini, who was nicknamed “Dr Doom” when in 2005 he predicted that a crisis in the US housing market would sink the economy into a deep recession.

Roubini, who teaches economics and international business at the Stern School of Business, New York University, will be in Dubai next week to speak on the sharp fall in oil and energy prices and its effect on regional oil exporting countries at ‘The World in 2009 Executive Forum,’ organised by Economist Conferences, with Istithmar as the forum’s lead sponsor and Qatar Airways as the official airline.

In a statement issued by Economist Conferences, Roubini said that aggressive policy response in the United States and other countries might help the world economy recover in 2010, “but it may still feel like a recession in 2010 even if we may be technically out of it.”

He said the current credit crunch is expected to persist due to the impaired financial system, leading to a very weak recovery.

“This is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the global economy will experience its worst recession in decades in 2009,” Roubini said.

“Even emerging market economies will experience a sharp slowdown of growth that will be the equivalent of a hard landing. In severe recession oil, energy and commodity prices will fall further even from current levels. Thus, oil exporting countries around the world and in the Middle East will suffer from this very sharp fall in oil and energy prices.”

The World in 2009 Executive Forum, at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai on January 20, 2009, will feature detailed discussions from innovative thinkers from business, finance and politics on the latest key trends which are set to dominate the world in 2009, the statement said.

With the global economy expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2009 — the first such shrinkage since the Second World War — the Middle East and North Africa region is expected to witness a sharp slowdown in growth.

· business@khaleejtimes.com