Mubasher: Arab countries’ Public debt has significantly increased since the 2008 financial crisis due to burgeoning budget deficits, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) managing director warned on Saturday.

Arab nations are still in need for total recovery from the global financial crisis and other significant “economic dislocations from the past decade”, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported citing Christine Lagarde as saying.

“Among oil importers, [economic] growth has picked up, but it is still below pre-crisis levels,” she added.

Over the previous decade, public debt in Arab oil importing nations rose to 85% of gross domestic product (GDP) from 64% in 2008, the top official noted.