The worst-case scenario envisions an economic downturn not seen since the early 1990s. <\/p>\n
The war between the US and Israel against Iran could cost Arab countries between $120 billion and $194 billion in GDP. This estimate comes from a new study by the United Nations Development Programme, which warns of the loss of millions of jobs and a new wave of poverty in the region.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Bloomberg.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Also read: <\/strong>Is the landing close? US paratroopers are arriving en masse in the Middle East, – Reuters<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The report states that the conflict, which has been ongoing since February 28, could have serious economic and social consequences for Arab states even in the event of a relatively quick end to hostilities.<\/p>\n The authors of the study note that a brief escalation in the Middle East could “trigger deep and widespread socio-economic consequences throughout the Arab states region.”<\/p>\n According to UN estimates, the cumulative losses could push regional unemployment up by 4 percentage points. This means a loss of about 3.6 million jobs and a risk of poverty for another 4 million people.<\/p>\n “This crisis is a wake-up call for the countries in the region,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General and head of the UNDP regional bureau for Arab states Abdallah Al-Dardari.<\/p>\n The most vulnerable regions<\/p>\n According to forecasts, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Levant will be hit hardest. In each of these regions, losses could exceed 5.2% of GDP.<\/p>\n “This crisis is a wake-up call for the countries in the region,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General and head of the UNDP regional bureau for Arab states Abdallah Al-Dardari.<\/p>\n One of the main reasons cited is the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is already limiting oil and gas exports from Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n According to Goldman Sachs, if hostilities continue until the end of April, the GDP of Qatar and Kuwait could shrink by 14% this year. For these countries, this would represent the worst economic downturn since the early 1990s, when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War.<\/p>\n Consequences for Saudi Arabia and the UAE<\/p>\n Analysts believe Saudi Arabia and the UAE will weather this crisis somewhat better due to their ability to partially redirect oil flows around the Strait of Hormuz. However, the consequences will still be serious: Saudi Arabia’s economy is likely to lose about 3%, while the UAE’s will drop by approximately 5%. This will be the biggest blow to their growth since the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Separately, the UN assessed the war’s impact on Iran itself. According to UNDP forecasts, Iran’s GDP could shrink by 10.4%, and more than 3.5 million people risk falling into poverty.<\/p>\n Who will pay for the war with Iran<\/p>\n It is worth noting that amid the war with Iran, discussions in the US have already begun regarding a sharp increase in defense spending. Earlier, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had approached the White House to request approval from Congress for more than $200 billion to fund the campaign against Iran.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Additionally, the Pentagon intends to reallocate about $1.5 billion of previously approved funding for the purchase of critically important interceptors for the Patriot, THAAD, and Standard Missile systems.<\/p>\n In this context, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt stated that US President Donald Trump is also interested in proposing that Arab countries take on part of the expenses related to the war against Iran.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The worst-case scenario envisions an economic downturn not seen since the early 1990s. The war between the U.S. and Israel against Iran could cost Arab countries between $120 billion and $194 billion in GDP. This assessment was made in a new study by the United Nations Development Programme, which warned of the loss of millions of jobs and a new wave of poverty in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-en"],"yoast_head":"\n