The Institute of International Finance (IIF) expects the economies of Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and Syria to go into a deep recession this year due to decreasing economic activity index in the wake of the Arab uprisings. According to IIF, Yemen's economy will be the most vulnerable to recession and could drop by 4 percent, while Egypt's economy is expected to drop by 2.5 percent. It is expected that the economy of Arab petroleum importing countries will lowered by 0.5 percent in 2011 comparing to last year, which witnessed 4.4 percent growth. If, however, political stability is restored in the next year, those countries' economies could increase by 4.2 percent, the IIF added. The Institute predicted that the economies of countries where uprisings succeeded will go up by 11 percent in 2011 and 11.5 percent in 2012. The IIF also predicted that the price of oil will go as high as $155 per barrel this year, nearly double of last year's price of $80 per barrel. IIF is the world's only global association of financial institutions. It was created by 38 banks of leading industrialized countries in 1983 in response to the international debt crisis of the early 1980s. Arabic here.
