Washington, Apr 11 (PTI) Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is putting the brakes on economic growth in the region that had been expected to accelerate this year, the World Bank has said.
Justin Lin, the World Bank's chief economist, said that research by the development lender's economists showed that economic output in the Middle East and North Africa, was paying a heavy price for the recent wave of anti-regime upheaval.
In its January economic forecasts, the World Bank projected that the region, recovering from the 2009 global downturn, would see gross domestic product (GDP) growth rise from a 3.3 per cent rate in 2010 to a 4.3 per cent pace in 2011.