GCC countries will lose $300bn from oil exports revenue this year due to lower oil prices, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.
“The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the GCC, which are most strongly affected by the oil decline, their export earnings are expected to decline this year by about $300 billion which is about a fifth of their economy compared to the projections that we were making in October,” a transcript of the the press conference on the Middle East and Central Asia 2015 Outlook read.
In non-GCC countries losses will reach $90bn, the IMF said in an update to its outlook.
Qatar, Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia will be hit hardest by the oil price decline due to their overreliance on petroleum revenue, the IMF added.
Almost all oil exporting countries in the Middle East are expected to run a fiscal deficit this year because of the oil price crisis.
Oil importers are said to be the biggest winners from the oil price slump. However, importers in the Middle East will not immediately feel any major gains, the outlook added.
Morocco and Lebanon are expected to gain most from falling crude prices, while Lebanon and Egypt are likely to have their fiscal balances improved.
