Growth in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) is forecast at 2.1 per cent for the first half of 2024, according to the latest Regional Economic Prospects report, published today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This is slightly down on the 2.7 per cent in the same period last year. However, growth is expected to pick up to 2.8 per cent in 2024 as a whole and 3.9 per cent in 2025.
This moderation is also a downward revision on the previous forecast for 2024 owing to a slower-than-expected recovery in private and public investment and disruptions in the energy sector in Egypt, severe droughts in Morocco and Tunisia, and the impact of the war in Gaza on the economies of Jordan and Lebanon.