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Mottaghi, Lili

Office of the Chief Economist for Middle East and North Africa
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Macroeconomics, Economic growth, Trade policy
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Office of the Chief Economist for Middle East and North Africa
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Last updated January 31, 2023
Biography
Lili Mottaghi is a Senior Economist in the office of the Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank. She leads the work on regional macroeconomic outlook and has developed two semi-annual flagship publications MENA Economic Monitor and MENA Quarterly Economic Brief which presents the World Bank Group’s views on regional economic developments and prospects, growth forecast, and policy challenges. She also leads the impact evaluation research in the newly established MNA Gender Research Hub at the World Bank. Ms. Mottaghi is the author and co-author of numerous publications including articles published in international journals and World Bank reports. Her research covers a wide range of topics in macroeconomics and development including inclusive growth, technology, and the digital economy, commodity market forecast, inequality, forced displacement, and conflict. Before joining the Bank, she worked at the Management and Planning Organization in Iran where she held senior positions in the areas of economic growth, development, and macroeconomic modeling. Ms. Mottaghi received her Master and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Claremont Graduate University and University of Tehran.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
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    Middle East and North Africa Data Book, September 2014
    (Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2014-09) Devarajan, Shanta ; Mottaghi, Lili
    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) data book serves as a quick reference and a reliable dataset for monitoring economic and social developments in the region. The data are drawn from the 2014 World Bank's World Development Indicators (WDI) and International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) direction of trade statistics. It contains macroeconomic, sectoral, and social indicators for 19 countries in the MENA region and aggregates for other developing regions. The data book presents following topics: basic indicators; national and fiscal accounts; trade; infrastructure; and human development.
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    Middle East and North Africa Region Little Data Book, September 2012
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-09) Mottaghi, Lili
    The data in this book are for 2009 -2011 or the most recent years available, unless otherwise noted in the table or the glossary. This data book presents regional tables which is based on the World Bank's analytical regions and may differ from common geographic usage.
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    Middle East and North Africa Region Little Data Book, April 2012
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-04) Mottaghi, Lili
    The data in this book are based on World Bank's World Development Indicators (WDI) 2011. The data are for 2009 and 2010 or the most recent year unless otherwise noted. Glossary contains definitions of the terms used in the tables.
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    MENA Quarterly Economic Brief, July 2015: Economic Implications of Lifting Sanctions on Iran
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07) Devarajan, Shanta ; Mottaghi, Lili
    Iran and the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1) reached a deal on July 14, 2015 that limits Iranian nuclear activity in return for lifting all international sanctions that were placed on Iran (Box 1). This issue of the MENA Quarterly Economic Brief (QEB) traces the economic effects of this development—removing sanctions on Iran—on the world oil market, on Iran’s trading partners, and on the Iranian economy.
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    MENA Quarterly Economic Brief, January 2015 : Plunging Oil Prices
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-01) Devarajan, Shanta ; Mottaghi, Lili
    This issue of the MENA Quarterly Economic Brief focuses on the implications of low oil prices for eight developing countries, or the MENA-8 (oil importers: Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Jordan and oil exporters: Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Libya) and the economies of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), who play a major role in providing funds in the form of aid, investment, tourism revenues and remittances to the rest of the countries of the region. We make the following assumptions about the future price of oil: (i) The price will average $65 Brent p/b in 2015; (ii) a higher price $78 Brent p/b will be used for comparison analysis. As with other economic variables, there is uncertainty associated with the future price of oil, which adds to the error involved in projections. The data for 2015 2017 in the figures and tables are projections. These projections are based on statistical information available through early January 2015.
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    Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, April 2015: Towards a New Social Contract
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-04) Devarajan, Shantayanan ; Mottaghi, Lili
    The economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2015 is slightly more favorable than in 2013-14, when the region as a whole grew at 3 percent a year. The World Bank group’s latest MENA Economic Monitor projects MENA’s economic growth to average 5.2 percent in 2015 driven by domestic consumption, easing political tensions crowding-in investments in Egypt and Tunisia, and full resumption of oil production in Libya. However the violent conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Yemen and Libya with their spillovers to Lebanon and Jordan could make MENA’s economic prospects bleak. The report has a special focus on the corrosive nature of the large energy subsidies in MENA. The MENA region is currently experiencing growth below potential, high unemployment, urban air pollution and congestion, and severe water scarcity that is undermining agriculture. The report shows how energy subsidies have contributed to these development challenges. Reforming these subsidies, therefore, should be one of the highest priorities of policymakers.
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    Recent Economic Developments and Prospects
    ( 2015-04) Mottaghi, Lili
    The global economy will grow 3 to 3.5 percent this year, 0.5 percent higher than last year s 2.6 percent, and surpassing the average growth rate of 3.1 percent during 2000-08, before the financial crisis. The magnitude of the gains will depend on, among other factors, the share of oil imports in gross domestic product (GDP). Oil exporters (including Russia) can see a sharp fall in growth deteriorating fiscal balances with significant regional consequences. Low oil prices have significantly affected the economies of the oil exporters - accounting for 2-3 of the countries in the region. Economic growth in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to continue on the same path in 2016. If the security situation in Libya improves and oil exports increase, the regional average can surge to 4 percent to 5 percent in 2016.
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    Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, April 2016: Syria, Reconstruction for Peace
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-04-11) Devarajan, Shantayanan ; Mottaghi, Lili ; Do, Quy-Toan ; Jelil, Mohamed Abdel
    The short term economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains “cautiously pessimistic”. A combination of civil wars and refugee inflows, terrorist attacks, cheap oil, and subdued global economic recovery is expected to keep average growth in the MENA region around 3 percent in 2016, for the fourth year in a row. Furthermore, the humanitarian and economic situation in the war torn countries keep deteriorating. In this report we will explore ways in which a strategy of reconstruction of Syria—the most war-ravaged country in the region—could help foster a sustainable peace. This report argues that the impact of the civil war on the Syrian society will be persistent, and the challenges facing the country need to be addressed now. The report calls for the international community to be the guarantor of an inclusive reconstruction strategy that not only makes peace sustainable tomorrow, but makes it happen today: peace and reconstruction are two sides of the same coin.
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    MENA Economies Hit by Conflicts, Civil Wars, and Lower Oil Prices
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-10) Mottaghi, Lili
    Against the backdrop of a slowing global economy and lower commodity prices, economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is stagnating. The World Bank 2015 MENA economic monitor report projects overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be less than 3 percent for the third year running - about 2.8 percent for 2015. Low oil prices, conflicts, and the global economic slowdown make short-term prospects of recovery unlikely. In a positive scenario of decreasing tensions in Libya, Iraq, and Syria, together with recovery in the Euro area that can boost external demand, growth in the region can rebound to 4.4 percent in 2016 and the following year. However, if current circumstances persist, overall growth is not expected to recover any time soon. Since the 2011 Arab spring, though not necessarily because of it, the MENA region has seen a slowdown in economic growth, an escalation of violence and civil war and, more recently, substantial macroeconomic imbalances from lower oil prices.
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    How Do People in MENA Evaluate their Economic Prospects?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) Mottaghi, Lili
    In the global environment with the risk of prolonged low growth, the short-term economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains “cautiously "pessimistic”, according to the World Bank’s latest MENA Economic Monitor. Growth in theregion is expected to average about 3 percent i