This is counting the cost on aljazeera your look at the world of business and economics this week as Oil Prices Slump economies shrink and austerity kicks in is this the end of the middle east oil rush also this week south africas unemployment hit a record high before the pandemic whats gone wrong for an economy that emerged from the 2008 financial crisis in a strong position. When you try to reinvent the wheel but turns out you may simply be the Worlds Largest taxi firm is this the end of the gig economy into fights and labor laws and courts around the world. The world economies are moving away from fossil fuels right now being an Oil Producing nation is a tricky proposition burning through money set aside for a rainy day and borrowing money from International Investors to make sure you can pay your bills its also a time many Big Oil Companies are thinking about leaving more oil in the ground many countries have failed to wean themselves off Oil Struggling to diversify their economies oil revenues in the middle east and north africa fell from about one trillion dollars in 2012 to 575000000000 and 2019 thats according to the i. M. F. And this year middle east produces are expected 270000000000. 00 less than oil revenue at the same time middle east oil exporting economies are expected to contract 7. 3 percent just as an example the biggest economy saudi arabia is predicted to have a budget deficit of 112000000000 dollars this year which is a record according to saudi vestment group the government has tripled value added tax from 5 percent to 15 percent and has cut its cost of living allowance for state employees from june of this year that amounted to about 267. 00 a month for 2 thirds of the countrys employees still saudi finance minister Mohammad Dahlan says the kingdom may have to borrow 60000000000. 00 to cover the huge budget deficit saudi arabia isnt the only country struggling while prices trading around 40. 00 a barrel that means countries like algeria a stretch to say the least it needs oil at 157. 00 a barrel just to make ends meet the only nation that can balance its budget at 40. 00 is qatar. So can the readily see the writing on the wall an end to the age of oil is coming well. With jihad as it were in washington d. C. He is the director of the middle east and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary fund she began by asking him on middle east Oil Exporters doing enough to diversify. Well diversification has different meanings you have the fiscal diversification and countries in the have already started that with the introduction of the value added tax as well as also other fiscal measures some are still preparing and they are in process of doing this we encourage them to accelerate that there is also the. Vision 2030 and other medium term programs government has already started to use them and the 3rd level of diversification is the diversification of economic enablers or i would say a driver for growth and technology for example is one area promoting and developing is also another avenue where countries in the last few years have introduced certain number of programs but we have also said there is a long process and this process had made it more difficult with the covert we think that Going Forward what is important is to accelerate investment in technology have an environmental led growth and also improve Business Environment and those 3 elements with investing in education investing in health care will allow those countries to have a healthy and strong diversification programs what are the hurdles for a diversification why is it such a long process because you are in fact investing in a long cycle you need to have the enablers for that Human Capital is an important dimension and it takes time to do this you need to adjust some of fuel. Laws labor laws and also especially if youre investing in start ups. This takes time for those new ventures to grow but those are the steps that goes in the right direction and this is has to be done. With improving some of the doing Business Indicators and also investing and. Investment in technology and investment in. Green energy and Green Recovery with this pandemic on knowing Oil Prices Still at a very low range what are your Growth Prospects for these middle eastern countries. Those 2 shocks led to one of the most severe crisis that that asian has to endure in less than one year and we saw a drop in on Economic Activity that what not seen in the last decades of course governments reacted very rapidly in order to address. Impact on lives and livelihoods by introducing certain number of measures to protect the life of people through social distancing and other health care measures in patterns to that government have also initiated certain number of fiscal and monetary stimulus in order to address them packed of this crisis on livelihood of people on Economic Activity and also in providing liquidity to the Financial System this has had but yet we expect growth this year to be negative on average by more than 5 percent of course its different between countries and or exporting countries where more affected than the oil and porting countries you mention a value added tax thats a new thing for some of these countries how is it being implemented and so far as you say its working to fund these governments as you know there are 3 countries who have already introduced saudi and bahrain others are preparing. It proved to be simple to implement and the revenue impact. Negatively accepted it came at a time where the economy was not growing fast and therefore it may have had an impact when it was introduced but this is a step in the right direction it helps diversify the source of revenues it helps also introduce a tax that is neutral totally and also it helps create some discipline in the way Public Resources are the use of course this is a step in the right direction but its not the only step that is needed. And then if we do have a 2nd wave of cold in the middle east do you think these economies concern brian and how. Well the 1st wave showed us that countries where it efficient in managing the 1st wave they have introduced swiftly strong and stringent measures to protect lives and those who started early were able to open up earlier. And also we saw an investment in the Health Care Infrastructure and this is something that is video useful Going Forward what is going to be important is how to balance between opening up and put acting lives how to make sure that some of the services. Education is an important one delivering Public Services as well as also helping some of the sectors that where hardly hit like dirt is a transportation to to cover and above all is how to help balance to get. Into the new sectors of the economy and then with course we have the Oil Importing countries we have egypt and jordan and lebanon how do you think theyll fare well here i think each country is different of course the drop in oil was used for them on reducing the cost of energy but on the other hand the reminiscences investment flows and tourism flows went down each country has its own i would say framework off actions that is needed Going Forward countries who have introduced reforms like egypt were able to addressing the impact of the covert keep the economy functioning others need like lebanon on. A stronger form agenda in order to restore confidence and address one of the most severe crisis that lebanon has endured over the last decades 11 on does have a new government do you have confidence that this government is capable of resolving the bank crisis and digging lebanon out adat and what role do you see the i. M. F. Playing in achieving. As you know the i. M. F. Is. It is helping lebanon and giving these people and we are now looking forward for the formation of the government to engage again with lebanon with the saudi peace and order to see what are the 4 programs and how the fund can. Thank you very much for joining us thank you. Saw her africa could be heading toward a debt crisis if it doesnt rain in its spending right now thats a difficult proposition for a nation that needs every penny to combat the pandemic the country has already agreed to a loan of more than 4000000000. 00 from the International Monetary fund and as is the case with all the ones from the lender of last resort it comes with strings the biggest string of all is a debt to anchor thats like a promise not to increased it to unmanageable levels when it plans its budget if it doesnt rain in spending it could soar to 140 percent of g. D. P. By the end of the decade this year debts could rise to 90 percent of g. D. P. That would dash the more money you pay in Interest Payments which means there isnt enough money for services or help to create drops with unemployment running at more than 30 percent the country is also grappling with another problem corruption under former president jacob zuma his rule of 9 years almost 30000000000. 00 was allegedly new shit from the stage thats according to government estimates that money right now would be very useful as unleashes a much needed 30000000000. 00 Stimulus Program to combat the covert 19 economic crisis. Well joining me now from johannesburg Islam Keller Patrick monday even kenya is a thing electra at the johannesburg based school of economics and finance university of the witwatersrand thank you for your time going into the Global Financial crisis in 2008 south africa had recorded a Budget Surplus it came out with a strong Balance Sheet now its on the verge of a debt crisis what went wrong in those he is a software guy had to build a power far to offset the new craze is that he concedes unfortunately for the offer to go because his meds and a golden political change with zuma together with the left led by the Congress Party especially a function of the n. C. As well as the huge who are stuck in the and therefore decided to lament a state led driven program under the new govt have and in the process also destroyed and the pit posed institutions such as the percentage an authority as well as as so ease have been if huge where was it peach on and the rest of those around with science but it wasnt all just corruption though i mean can we really put it all down to that misappropriation aware of the factors at play. There are the feds tons. At balaklava new to 7 bt also did destroyed the capability of the state so this state was shipped out of kuwait believe it so what we saw was that not only was corruption a part of code project but image was only saw a destroying of some of the capability that you can deduce by the black governance is 994 therefore the so called ups of institutions from local levon where there have been several students are forced because they still cannot meet i walked up to get water you cannot to me said these and refused to give already so its been a crisis that was human made which is zuma fiction so this kind of corruption couple are to live an incredibly state as well as a very difficult period to our own destruction of eskom where this economy was beautiful mining and energy and eskom in my ability to give our energy really ever wes and. The economy and together with corruption sales roomies see that because it kept the edge sword to with there was corruption and as a lesson on one side on the other side there was just a collapse of Institution Due to state in a couple and lack of capabilities and then of course we have unemployment which has soared to 30 percent but that was going up before the coronavirus pandemic taking rat into account where do you see the country headed. The country is facing huge challenges we expensed with a cover 1000. 00 and implements is often a couple who should be about 40 percent which probably will be among the highest among leaders Income Countries and many people have been pushed into formality and in the process often for monday choose their own social pathologies because if youre unemployed and they cannot scrape through. And other forms of violence increases that is why is that offer guys one of the high prime rate countries but also very vibrant countries in the world. As a right to have a government has to introduce a debt anchor as part of the i. M. F. Program what else is required by the i. M. F. And how is the country going to go in making that a crime of the day m. F. Expect south africa to undergo huge structural Economic Reforms as specific to the existing support of state owned enterprises who all of them need cash injection from eskom today newly built south africa no established to just fucking 2 to the South African Broadcasting Corporation so thats one area the 2nd is around telecommunication where this 8 has kept the spectrum and hence the difficulty of us communicating in this interview and 3rd is about huge concentration in the economy that land in areas where the stage is dominant this is transport and logistic this is power the Energy Generation where they stayed true as countries is rid of government and so these reforms require the state to play and maybe an environment in that process hopefully allow private sector to come in and 5 and succeeds however we know that because of the state having. This is a sense its unlikely to move at that pace if you like to because of this that interests such as cage unknowns and the communists therefore i think this petition is all that i am and to encompass the awesome board by putting dad to it so that for don weve found itself fading because hes going to lead to mustique action and evolved because its been seen by brought us as a steady team so i dont i dont that i am ever will find this process is being met by the southerner government who has spent 7 government to get people interested as an end up having to review and go a visa just one program because it you my number 270 those changes reste i. M. F. Expects all of them with the loan debt given as a focus on debian bellas in the possums ok the 30000000000 dollars stimulus package proposed by the government what impact if any do you think that will have on the economy. Its been a very sad story a boat that puck a just that it belonged remember that shouldnt be your of that katie was meant to be in got on de baets by the government and the South African design of bank and to date only afford 15 percent of that has been spent therefore meaning that many corporations have been ever left on whom theyve call ups dave been destroyed and sick in the uk of that i think to be learned not to mention was going to be part of that of the total unemployment that i mentioned before going to be going to come from dime ads which have just come in now so its not been in his best year and others. Come from the budget lines which already been announced in february and you know that to those theyve been kept because in the process that i was a lovely guy has reported that theres been a huge corruption. Money meant for has said this has been kept up to me spends. As a for dad because that corruption has led to many people dying sloth who got a little competitive thames off the ga has done fade in terms of due to cause each however the fact that the money meant to spend went to Court Options and peoples pockets than protection protective you could mend and otherwise is a disaster for. Well have made it there for time thank you so much for your time in canada by truck monday appreciate it thank you so much thank you the u. K. Supreme court is hearing a case that could bring an end to the socalled big economy they pale was brought by after dr has won the right to be recognized as workers and not as independent contract is a has argued that its a Technology Company that connects drivers and riders in a separate case in california and drive a lift have been ordered by. Johns to classify drivers as employees this is one of many cases globally drivers and unions claim millions of people in the cake economy have insecure contracts that dont entitle them to sick can tolerate a pay many are unable to save for a time its because of the nature of the work theyre doing to me and now from london via skype his neo carbery neil is the chief executive officer of the recruitment and Employment Confederation in the u. K. Thanks for your time neil his Business Model could not just be damaged but appended ready if the court rules against him saying yes actually drive is our employees what side of the debate do you come down on especially considering i mean if this Business Model changes who knows what it will mean the size of the company its profits its number of drivers so what but thank you its pleasure to join you i think this is a really important case because what we have here is a Business Leader who are doing something new going up based. Right platform but of course essentially in many ways it is taxi company and there are really strong established rules in the u. K. Fool when someone is working for themselves and when someone is actually a worker working for an employer and i think what we are has learned through this case is that those rules are. Are inflexible for a reason and i have was oh i was not surprised when the when the initial case phoned for the claimants because in reality you cant just say someone is self employed there are a range of tests in english law that are about the type of work youre doing and i think if you look across the that work by a law most people on an even hand would say the. Drivers were workers by the traditional definition that case law in england sets out so i wasnt surprised so by the by the judgement that it proved what does that mean for. Business model it has a choice it can either move to acknowledging mass and be able to work a moral or it can range how to work is done differently so that it retains a contract or more to that choice is theirs but we cannot just say that someone is selfemployed when in fact their work as a dimension this is gone through the courts its now in the u. K. Going to the final court of appeal to the supreme court. I mean this could also have implications for all Delivery Services for everyone in the get go connelly couldnt. Absolutely and i think whats really important here is that there is a very clear test in case law in england for when someone is a worker and when someone is that Important Companies need to know what and respect that and in some cases there are good Economy Companies who are employing people selfemployed and theyre clearly selfemployed and in some cases weve seen examples where that much more in question as weve seen in the case i think whats important here is that companies cannot just hide behind the law they have to make a decision about whether they want people to be workers and that comes with responsibilities and rights for workers and for companies or whether they want people to be self employed if they choose self employment they cant expect people to do the things that workers can be expected to do theres a choice there and i think a lot of these particularly new or Companies Tech complot from Different Companies a habit of thinking that theyre changing the world with what theyre doing well there are reasons why our employment relation systems work the way they do and its really important. Flexible labor markets get working which is a huge benefit to people in terms of fighting work quickly and finding work flexibly with that we maintain the fact that fairness matters in that part of the labor market just as much as it does to people who have been an ongoing permanent job working 9 to 5 as things stand the likes of her and left not paying taxes are getting that theyre just a connecting technology not an employer nor they contributing to you know Employee Health schemes or anything like that and maybe the taxpayer century has to pick up the tab i mean does that add another element to this. Well the whole piece around fair competition and the rise and. Companies paying the appropriate amount of tax a busy depending on whether theyre. There in kind of what you call the traditional economy in the or in this morass based economy we see exactly the same discussion going on here in the u. K. Between. Retailer bricks and mortar retailers who have to pay a tactical Business Rates which very high and online retailers who dont have to pay that tax and of course they can feed that through to prices so there is a big debate to have a whole country so i think about the balance of taxation when you have more Companies Operating in a desegregated way either matching which is essentially what movers platform is doing approved drivers with with with it with customers or indeed selling in country or internationally from platforms like amazon so that i think theres a big debate coming about that i think its really important that businesses that are relying on new Technology Approach that with a sense that. Responsibility matters and somewhere the tax is going to have to be paid i think that work thats been going on at the o. E. C. D. Internationally around 2. Reading trying to find some Common Ground between nations on how we tax these big global businesses is really really important to that responsible capitalism that we should all be aiming for ok i think its a must see a time neil connery chief executive officer of the recruitment and Employment Confederation in the u. K. The present time. Thank you and that is our show for this week get in touch with us by tweeting me at can but on the do you use the hash tag a. J. C. To see when you do or jobs an email cutting the constant algis that dont mesh is our address is more for you on line aljazeera dot com slash c. T. C. Take you straight to a page which has individual reports links and entire episodes for you to catch up on. And that is it for this edition of counting the cost on convert al from a whole team thanks for joining us the news on abs there is next. Rewind returns. With updates on the best of aljazeera missed documentaries i will compel you to it onion the onion the sweetest but so hard to listen to the mom says the only 2 to rewind continues with losing louisiana what was once a thriving community. Whats up with murdering your beau. Why dont the salt and chip with these you know that it lies submerged 30 feet below us on aljazeera. Convicted of murdering journalist inside a saudi consulate now 8 men have had their sentences reduced. To watching aljazeera live from a headquarters in doha im dating you know behavior also ahead a high profile battle reuss opposition leaders grabbed off the streets in minsk after more mass protests and arrests a harrowing journey at sea and this for nearly 300. 00 roping of refugees 6 months after setting sail theyve been found on a beach in indonesia. Protesters in south africa accuse a leading pharmacy chain of posting racist advertisements. Hello saudi arabia has reduced the sentences of 8 people involved in the murder of journalist. In turkey last year 5 of them were given the Death Penalty for the killing but that has been cut to 20 years in jail the others have been given sentences ranging from 7 to 10 years the court has also declared the case closed she was murdered by a saudi hit seen inside its stumble consulates in 2018 his fiance has called the decision a farce saudi arabia has refused all calls for the men to go on trial in turkey and in a series of tweets the un special rapporteur an extra june