The International Monetary Fund has advised Gulf nations to adjust to the ‘new reality’ of low oil prices, estimating that growth in the region will slow to 3.25 percent this year, with an average deficit of 13 percent. The IMF also announced that it expects oil prices to remain in the low to mid $60 range through 2020. TheStreet’s Energy Analyst Dan Dicker said the news is problematic for countries such as Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia, many of which will need to diversify their income away from oil and cut public spending and energy subsidies. The IMF said reforms in the Gulf countries that create more jobs and diversify economies outside of the oil sector are all much more urgent. One other suggestion to cut spending is to reign-in public sector wages. TheStreet’s Amelia Martyn-Hemphill reports from New York.
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