The economic activity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has shown surprising resilience in 2016 despite mounting political and economic headwinds, according to a report recently released by the economic analysis and forecasts provider FocusEconomics. The report reviews the performance of the region throughout 2016. While the region managed to accelerate despite a challenging economic and political climate, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have performed poorly in 2016. The figures of 2016 are the results of the diverging economic trends within MENA. FocusEconomics expected a gradual increase of US dollar inflows and investors as well as an expansion of GDP by 3.5% in 2017.

Source: Daily News Egypt January 17, 2017 16:01 UTC