The economy of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council will shrink 7.6% in 2020, worse than April projections, due to weak oil prices and the coronavirus outbreak, an International Monetary Fund official said on June 30. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The Gulf regions’ GDP was initially forecast to contract 2.7%, according to the IMF’s April projections. The GCC countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. Growth is expected to return next year at a 2.5% pace, which will be among the highest economic recoveries the region will witness, Jihad Azour, the IMF’s director for the Middle East and Central Asia department, told a webinar organized by the IMF […]