Arabs lost $2.5 trillion from credit crunch: Kuwait

[LahoreEstate]

KUWAIT CITY: Arab investors have lost $2.5 trillion from the credit crunch, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah, whose country hosts an Arab economic summit next week, said on Friday.

“The Arab world has lost $2.5 trillion in the past four months” as a result of the global financial crisis, Sheikh Mohammad told a press conference following a joint meeting of Arab foreign and finance ministers in Kuwait.

He also said that about 60 per cent of development projects “have either been postponed or cancelled” by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states because of the global meltdown.

Arab leaders who hold their first ever economic summit on January 19-20 will discuss the impact of the worldwide economic meltdown on the 22 Arab countries. The biggest loss was an estimated 40 per cent drop in the value of Arab investments abroad, which previously totalled around $2.5 trillion.

Next week’s summit will also discuss the Gaza war but leaders are still intent on agreeing a joint response to the financial crisis.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=157678