The first decade of the 21st century will be remembered for its soaring inflation, with TV images from around the globe of people queuing for bread or demonstrating violently against high food prices. In the MENA region, inflation originates from both external and internal factors. While external factors are similar across the region — and essentially imported from the West — internal factors vary between oil producing and non-oil producing nations. Economists agree that the weak dollar is one of the main reasons fueling MENA inflation; its effect, however, varies from one country to another. Lebanon’s heavily dollarized economy is obviously adversely affected by the ailing greenback, but its neighbor Jordan is suffering as well. According to Dr. Rasha Manna, head of research at Jordinvest, the Jordanian dinar’s dollar peg and the rising exchange rates have reflected on the country’s debt, estimated at about 70% of GDP. “We have been
