IMF, World Bank & IFI Round-Up

North African countries should overcome political obstacles and cooperate more closely to ensure their economies grow, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Nov. 18. There is huge potential for the five member countries of the Arab Maghreb Union to spur growth and trade for their more than 80 million people but lack of greater cooperation is stunting growth possibilities, he told a news conference in Tunisia, Reuters reported. Kahn said the global financial crisis would cut growth in the region by between 1 and 1.5 percentage points, with OPEC members Algeria and Libya more affected by the crisis because their oil-dependent economies were more linked to the ailing global economy.