Qatar Economic Outlook Issue Number 13

Part 1: Economic Outlook 2021 - 2023 
3 
Apart from the sudden developments of the 
mutated Omicron worldwide - and by 
assuming current vaccines would limit its 
danger, the gap between developed and 
developing countries in terms of obtaining 
vaccines is wide: while the gap to secure 
vaccines to cover 70% of the population of 
each country, it is only 7% for high-income 
countries, while it is 89% for low-income 
countries, 47% for low-middle-income 
countries, and 38% for upper-middle-income 
countries
4
. 
Many of the disruptions caused by the 
epidemic’s containment measures remain 
until the end of December 2021, when this 
report was written, whether in terms of labor 
market conditions, financial and monetary 
conditions, or supply chain disruptions . The 
apparent recovery in global aggregate 
demand in the face of the slowdown in the 
recovery in aggregate supply, which 
coincided with bottlenecks due to labor 
shortages (especially in ports and the 
transport sector) due to: (1) sickness and 
social distancing measures (2) the pressure 
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https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/COVID-19-Global-
Targets-and-Progress-Tracker
on parents to take care of children at home 
instead of in nurseries and schools
5
. In 
addition, the occurrence of the repercussions 
of climate change-driven disasters including 
the massive floods and the huge outbreaks of 
wildfires in several countries, have in general 
led to economic losses and an increase in the 
prices of basic commodities, which in turn 
have led to high inflation rates globally, and 
pushed countries around the world to think 
about adopting the fiscal and monetary 
policies necessary to meet such challenges.
Consequently, these developments have 
prompted 
many 
research 
centers, 
institutions, and international banks to reduce 
their optimism concerning a return to normal 
life as it was before the pandemic, when 
setting their forecasts for global economic 
growth for 2021 and 2022, including the 
forecasts of the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) and the World Bank.
IMF forecasts 
The approval of the new vaccines against the 
coronavirus starting at the end of December 
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/30/business/paid-family-leave-
working-parents.html