The 40th Meeting of the Council of Arab Central Bank Governors and of Arab Monetary Agencies kicked off Thursday in Rabat.

The meeting, organized by Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco's central bank, and the Arab Monetary Fund, will examine regional and international economic developments in the presence of officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a message to the participants, Moroccan King Mohammed VI said the 2008 financial crisis was much worse and long-lasting than previously expected, adding that its impact was not confined to the financial sector, but has also spread to the economy.

Almost a decade later, and despite significant reforms undertaken by the international community in response to the crisis, growth in several developed countries remains sluggish.

Unemployment rates, especially among the youth, remain high, public debt is a concern and banking systems are fragile, the King said.

He insisted that during the same decade, central banks managed to mitigate the crisis and its consequences to a certain extent, adding that excessive use of unconventional solutions presented markets with new risks and caused general financial instability.

In the Arab world, in addition to the global financial crisis, the last decade was defined by deteriorating security due to widespread global terrorism which destroyed institutions, ruined the economy and threatens citizens' safety in certain countries, he said. Endit

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