Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Adnan Mazarei

Author

Adnan Mazarei
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Adnan Mazarei joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics as a nonresident senior fellow in January 2019. His work at the Institute focuses on the major economies of the Middle East and Central Asia and the long-term financial and macroeconomic challenges they face. Previously he was a deputy director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he worked on resolving various financial crises in emerging markets, including the 1998 Russian financial crisis. In addition, he contributed to the IMF's policy work on international financial architecture and sovereign debt issues. He helped prepare the Santiago Principles that established best practices and guidelines for managing sovereign wealth funds. Between 2002 and 2005, he served as advisor to IMF management. More recently, Mazarei helped manage the IMF's strategy and global coordination of the support for the Arab Spring countries and for the economic policy response to the recent conflicts and refugee crisis in the Middle East. Mazarei earned his PhD in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has authored several articles on economic policy and a book on sovereign wealth funds.

Content by this Author

Debt clouds over the Middle East

A number of MENA countries face high debt levels. Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia are in a precarious situation. Lebanon is already in default. These debt difficulties are rooted in persistent structural issues related to governance and regulatory frameworks and bloated public sectors. The situation has been exacerbated by global economic fluctuations, the pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unless reforms are made quickly, debt restructurings may become inevitable. If inevitable, it is preferable to do them preemptively, as part of a broader set of corrective actions.

What will it take to achieve an energy transition in MENA?

An energy transition will require a coordinated global shift in both the supply and demand for fossil fuels and cleaner energy. As explained in this post by the Center for Global Development, multilateral institutions can play an important role, helping to bolster international technology transfers to the Middle East and North Africa, as well as scaling up investment and trade in clean energy to facilitate the global energy transition. Given the potential in the region for solar power, MENA could remain a global hub – but this time for clean energy.

Most read

The green transition in MENA economies: challenges and policy pathways

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa are at a critical turning point. Global decarbonisation pressures, energy market volatility and technological transformation are increasingly challenging hydrocarbon-based growth models. This column argues that the green transition is not only an environmental necessity but also a strategic economic imperative.

Beyond job creation: how can Egypt’s gender gap in work be closed?

More than 2 million jobs are needed each year to absorb new entrants into Egypt’s labour market and raise the country’s employment rate. The job challenge is even more acute for women, whose labour force participation remains low despite recent gains in education. This column reports on the second Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank Group joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at the American University in Cairo to consider how the country’s gender gap in work can be closed.

The political economy of algorithms in the Middle East

The Middle East is entering a new political-economic era – one in which algorithms, data and artificial intelligence may become as strategically important as oil once was. Across the region, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart governance and AI-driven economic transformation. This column outlines how AI and algorithmic governance are reshaping power, inequality and state capacity in the region.

Digitalisation, global value chains and regional integration in MENA & SSA

Participation in global value chains is vital for countries pursuing structural transformation and inclusive economic development. This column summarises new evidence on how much production processes have been globalised in Africa and the Middle East relative to other regions; whether this process has taken place with partners within or outside the region; and whether it has taken place more in manufacturing or services.

How trade policy can reduce MENA’s cereal import vulnerability

Heavy dependence on imported cereals, combined with climate change, water scarcity and geopolitical uncertainty, continues to threaten food resilience across MENA. This column explains how an inclusive trade policy can play a key role in making the region’s food security less vulnerable to shocks.




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