Is MENA exceptional?

In Chapter 3, Julia Devlin follows on the same topic by addressing the overarching question of whether the MENA region is indeed exceptional in terms of its growth pattern and experiences. She points out that, despite achieving higher growth rates, significant gains in living standards and deeper integration with global markets for much of the 2000s, MENA countries’ experiences, nevertheless, suffered from underlying patterns of weak total factor productivity growth, high fiscal and current account deficits and a lingering import ‘bias’, raising questions about the sustainability of their economic performance in this period. Devlin explores the structural features of MENA countries relative to its comparators and proposes several unique aspects of these economies. Among the problems and challenges she highlights are high levels of public sector employment and economic activity; weak growth prospects and lack of access to finance for many private firms; concentrated markets and low exports; limited labour market opportunities for youth, particularly female workers; inefficient social transfers; and lacklustre agricultural productivity growth together with rising freshwater scarcity.