The Pandemic of Poverty
Report: 1 to 15 December 2020
Poverty is on the rise, NGOs are struggling with donor fatigue, and the rest of the world is watching. photo credit: Qantara.de
As Christians around the world brace themselves for Christmas and all the joy the holidays bring, the MECC would like to remind our readers that poverty has reached dangerously high levels in the Middle East. According to UNICEF, the Middle East is experiencing one of the most fraught situations in the world, with more than 32 million children in need of humanitarian assistance. The organization also claimed that the region along with North Africa, will account for one third of the very high severity crisis countries globally in 2021. As such, the MECC asks its readers to join it in praying for all those that have no roof over their heads so that God may deliver us into a brighter 2021.
THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION
A man takes a picture of fishing boats docked along the Mediterranean Sea, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Alexandria, north of Cairo, Egypt December 6, 2020. (REUTERS)
Egypt
Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait stated that the Egyptian economy is praised by international institutions, since it is the only country in the MENA region to have a stable credit rating.[1]
Egypt and the UK signed a Egyptian-UK Association Agreement to ensure the continuation of preferential trade treatment for goods of the two countries, after UK finally leaves the EU in January.[2]
Jordanian Chamber of Commerce, Nov. 4, 2020, photo credit: Mana Fn
Jordan
During a visit to the Jordan Chamber of Commerce and meeting with its president and board members, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh stated that his government is striving to reach a stable epidemiological situation while ensuring the sustainability of businesses and economic activity until the COVID crisis is over.[3]
According to recent figures by the Department of Statistics (DoS), Jordan’s unemployment rate rose to 23.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 from 19.1 in the same quarter of 2019.[4]
Flare stacks at Nahr Bin Umar oil field north of Basra, Iraq. (File photo: Reuters)
Iraq
Oil minister Ihsan Ismael, during his attendance of the Iraq Oil and Gas Show in Baghdad claimed that 2021’s budget will be based on an oil price of USD 42/bl. [5]
Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar called for maximizing the production of light crude oil to achieve additional financial revenues that support the treasury and the national economy.[6]
A cat sits next to a homeless man in Beirut as poverty rises within the country. Dec 1, 2020, photo credit: AP News
Lebanon
The World Bank released a statement that Lebanon is in “Deliberate Depression” and warned that the country is headed towards a protracted crisis unless the politicians enact reforms.[7]
A logo of Swiss and Palestinian cooperation. Photo credit: www.birzeit.edu
Palestine
The Palestinian Authority and Switzerland agreed to establish a joint business council in order to enhance the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, to strengthen the relations between Swiss and Palestinian businesses, and to improve the career prospects of the Palestinian youths.[8]
Syrians buy bread at a shop in the town of Binnish in the country's northwestern Idlib province in June. Nowadays, people say they're waiting up to six hours in line for a meager government bread ration photo credit: Omar Haj Kadour /AFP via Getty Images
Syria
It has been reported that Syria is suffering from grain shortage as people, in many parts of the country, wait up to 6-hours in lines to get a few bags of bread.[9]
A Chinese state-run company has made an offer to finance, build and develop a railway project that would link the Syrian capital with its suburbs through four rail lines.[10]
Finance Minister Constantinos Petride, photo credit: Ministry of Finance
Cyprus
Following the scandal involving the golden passport issue, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides during a lecture on the state of play of Cyprus will not bring back the Cyprus Investment Scheme either in the same or similar form of the one
[1] Egypt Today, Dec 6, 2020, https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/3/95025/Egypt-s-economy-praised-by-int-l-institutions-Finance-Min
[2] Arab News, Dec 7, 2020, https://www.arabnews.com/node/1773506/business-economy
[3] Mena Fn, 12/6/2020, https://menafn.com/1101240943/Jordan-PM-Govt-pursuing-public-health-economy-balance&source=28
[4]Zawya, Dec. 14, 2020, https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/economy/story/Sound_economic_measures_a_panacea_for_unemployment_problem_in_Jordan__experts-SNG_195132650/
[5] Argus Media, Dec. 6, 2020, https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2166469-iraq-to-base-2021-budget-on-42bl-oil-price-update
[6]Aawsat, Dec. 6, 2020, https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2667326/iraq-resorts-light-crude-oil-increase-financial-resources
[7] AP News, Dec. 1, 2020, https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-lebanon-coronavirus-pandemic-financial-markets-financial-crisis-f2b564de3fd25526979b21d1c2c11a00
[8] Xinhua Net, Nov. 30, 2020, http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/30/c_139553838.htm
[9] NPR, Dec. 3, 2020, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/03/941382003/imagine-waiting-6-hours-to-buy-a-couple-of-bags-of-bread
[10] https://www.syria-report.com/