Jihad Azour's guest appearances

Jihad Azour

IMF Podcasts

Business Extra

Babel: Translating the Middle East

OwlTail

Nadia Fettah

Like so many countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco faced successive shocks over the past three years including a devastating drought. But the country managed well thanks to an aggressive reform agenda. In this podcast, Morocco’s Finance Minister Nadia Fettah, and IMF Regional Director Jihad Azour, discuss how Morocco is keeping reforms on track despite the challenging circumstances, and what lessons other countries in the region might learn from Morocco’s experience. Their conversation was part of the Governor Talks series hosted by the IMF during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, and a preamble to the Annual Meetings to be held in Marrakesh this fall. Watch the webcast at IMF.org

Like so many countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco faced successive shocks over the past three years including a devastating drought. But the country managed well thanks to an aggressive reform agenda. In this podcast, Morocco’s Finance Minister Nadia Fettah, and IMF Regional Director Jihad Azour, discuss how Morocco is keeping reforms on track despite the challenging circumstances, and what lessons other countries in the region might learn from Morocco’s experience. Their conversation was part of the Governor Talks series hosted by the IMF during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, and a preamble to the Annual Meetings to be held in Marrakesh this fall. Watch the webcast at <a href="http://IMF.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IMF.org</a>

Nadia Fettah and Jihad Azour: Morocco Gives Voice to the Global South

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Jihad Azour, the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They talk about the Middle East's economic outlook, the impacts of COVID and the Ukraine war on local economies, and the political consequences of economic reforms. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Danny Sharp, discussing popular attitudes to IMF-supported reforms and the potential consequences of greater Gulf state investment in the region.Transcript, "The Middle East's Economic Outlook," CSIS, January 10, 2023.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Jihad Azour, the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They talk about the Middle East's economic outlook, the impacts of COVID and the Ukraine war on local economies, and the political consequences of economic reforms. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Danny Sharp, discussing popular attitudes to IMF-supported reforms and the potential consequences of greater Gulf state investment in the region.<ul><li>Transcript, "<a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/middle-easts-economic-outlook" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Middle East's Economic Outlook</a>," CSIS, January 10, 2023.</li></ul>

Jihad Azour: The Middle East's Economic Outlook

The Middle East and North Africa responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with swift and stringent measures to mitigate its spread and impact but continue to face an uncertain and difficult environment. The latest outlook for the region shows oil exporters, in particular, were hard hit by a “double-whammy” of the economic impact of lockdowns and a sharp decline in oil demand and prices. Jihad Azour heads the IMF's outlook for the region. In this podcast, he says while containing the health crisis is still the priority, governments must also start laying the groundwork for an economic recovery that will allow countries to emerge stronger. Jihad Azour is Director of the IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department.

The Middle East and North Africa responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with swift and stringent measures to mitigate its spread and impact but continue to face an uncertain and difficult environment. The latest outlook for the region shows oil exporters, in particular, were hard hit by a “double-whammy” of the economic impact of lockdowns and a sharp decline in oil demand and prices. Jihad Azour heads the IMF's outlook for the region. In this podcast, he says while containing the health crisis is still the priority, governments must also start laying the groundwork for an economic recovery that will allow countries to emerge stronger. Jihad Azour is Director of the IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department.

Jihad Azour: Policies to Help Middle East, North Africa Emerge Stronger

No region has been spared the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. And with the high level of oil-dependency and informality of many countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour says the economic impact of COVID-19 has been dramatic. Azour heads the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, which has just published the region's  economic outlook that shows formidable challenges in the face of the pandemic. You can read Azour's’s blog and others about the global impact of the pandemic at Blogs.imf.org  TRANSCRIPT

No region has been spared the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. And with the high level of oil-dependency and informality of many countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour says the economic impact of COVID-19 has been dramatic. Azour heads the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, which has just published the region's <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/REO/MECA/Issues/2020/04/15/regional-economic-outlook-middle-east-central-asia-report" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> economic outlook</a> that shows formidable challenges in the face of the pandemic. You can read Azour's’s blog and others about the global impact of the pandemic at <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blogs.imf.org</a> <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/imfpodcast/Jihad_Azour-MCD_REO-transcript-IMF_Podcast.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TRANSCRIPT</a>