DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Political uncertainty and volatile oil prices are weighing heavily on economic growth in the Middle East this year, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday.

The report, which looks at the economies of 23 countries spanning not only North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf, but also Djibouti, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, predicts that overall growth across these nations is expected to slowdown from close to 2 percent last year to about 1.5 percent in 2019.