The cloud released byAffair Strauss Kahn, with the hunt for a successor (the "Brics" countries show opposition to the Lagarde hypothesis), must be neutralized as soon as possible. Because for the IMF, now more than ever, it is necessary to roll up its sleeves in favor of the pressing topicality: which looks to North Africa.
This is what emerges, implicitly, from a document prepared by the Fund itself at the request of the G8, on the occasion of the Deauville meeting. The study, "Keeping the Promise of Shared Prosperity," says that between 50 and 75 million jobs are needed to stabilize and boost the North African and Middle Eastern economies, shaken by the riots of recent months, with new resources for 160 billion dollars. It's not a joke.
The "development package" might as well be used to establish stable systems in those countries, open to a future of growth: the new scenarios open up great opportunities, but the conditions must be built. It should be noted that the unemployment rate, in the last 20 years, has stood at around 10-12% in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia, with youth peaks between 21 and 30% in Lebanon and Tunisia.
