TUNIS, Nov 15: The Arab world is facing a number of major challenges that risk undermining fragile gains made in the past 18 months, especially by those countries that have experienced regime change, the IMF has warned.

“The odds appear somewhat stacked against the Arab countries in transition,” first deputy managing director David Lipton said late on Tuesday on a visit to Tunisia, where a mass uprising in late 2010 touched off the Arab Spring.

“In addition to a slowing world economy and ongoing uncertainties in Europe, higher food and fuel prices, and the conflict in Syria are developments that risk undermining the fragile gains... in the region this past year and a half.”—AFP