International Monetary Fund African Dept : 20 books

Provides a broad synopsis of recent economic developments in the Middle East and Central Asia region, highlighting common trends and policies among countries in the region, and reviewing prospects and policies for the coming year. Includes a statistical appendix.

The region's prospects continue to be promising, but global developments pose increased risks to the outlook. Growth in sub-Saharan Africa should again average about 6½ percent in 2008 with oil exporters leading the way; meanwhile, growth in oil importers is expected to taper off, though only modestly....

The economic slowdown in sub-Saharan Africa looks set to be mercifully brief. Recovery is now under way across the region. The region's relative resilience during this global recession, compared with previous global downturns, owes much to the health of its economies and the strengthening of policy frameworks...

Sub-Saharan Africa's economic recovery is well under way, although among country groups there is variation in the speed of the recovery. In most of the region's low-income countries and among the seven oil exporters growth is almost back to precrisis levels. However, in the region's middle-income countries,...

The five Regional Economic Outlooks published biannually by the IMF cover Asia and Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. In each volume, recent economic developments and prospects for the region are discussed as a whole, as well as for specific...

The macroeconomic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa continues to strengthen with higher growth, easing inflation, and stabilizing public debt ratios with some countries improving their fiscal balances. But there are concerns on the quality of the fiscal adjustment and underlying vulnerabilities have yet to be decisively addressed.