The International Monetary Fund indicated on Wednesday that it has "lowered its GDP growth forecast for the 2023 oil and gas-exporting Gulf Cooperation Council countries to 0.5%, down from the 1.5% it projected in October." The fund stated that "the overall growth for the GCC countries has been significantly adjusted downwards to 0.5% in 2023... reflecting oil production cuts, before gradually recovering to 2.7% in 2024 as the effects of the production cuts fade."