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Kuwait: Arab central bankers and finance ministers gathered in Kuwait yesterday to discuss ways of coping with a global financial crisis and the collapse in oil prices as they kick off a week-long economic summit.
"[The meeting] is about finding ways to stop the fallout of the crisis," Kuwait finance minister Mustapha Al Shamali said in an opening address to attendees of the 22-member Arab League, which includes major oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
"We are required to search appropriate tools to stop the impact [of the crisis] on economic development in Arab countries and to realise the continuation of economic growth at an appropriate pace."
Oil prices have slumped to below $40 (Dh146.94) a barrel, virtually a quarter of the record peak above $147 the hit last July, because of a downturn in global energy demand.
The global financial crisis, the worst since the 1930s, has pushed much of the industrialised world into recession, and also dimmed the economic outlook for the Arab world.
EFG-Hermes said this week it expected Saudi Arabia's economy to contract 0.9 per cent this year on sharp crude production cuts, while Standard Chartered Bank last week slashed its UAE growth forecast to 0.5 per cent.
Egypt has set an economic growth target of 5.5 per cent for the two years starting July 2008.
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