DUBAI Mikael Ishak World Cup Jersey , May 2 (Xinhua) -- Despite the rebound in oil prices in the last 12 months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director of Middle East and Central Asia Department Jiahd Azour said Tuesday that more reforms and fiscal consolidation are needed in the Gulf region's two biggest economies to spur growth.

Briefing the media about the IMF's outlook study the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan released today, Azour said the IMF expects the UAE real gross domestic product to increase by 1.5 percent in 2017, down from 2.7 percent last year.

The picture look even bleaker for Saudi Arabia, the region's biggest economy Melker Hallberg World Cup Jersey , for which the IMF expects 0.4 percent this year, compared to 1.4 percent last year.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are major oil suppliers. Azour noted while last year's agreement by major oil-producing countries to crude oil production has helped increase oil prices (from below 26 U.S. dollars in January 2016 to around 50 dollars nowadays), the IMF expects the price of oil to remain volatile around and to average 55 dollars per barrel (159 liter) in 2017 and in 2018.

Azour noted that energy price reforms in both countries have eased fiscal pressure and that the six Arab countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) will introduce a five percent value-added tax on Jan. 1 2018. Consequently, the IMF expects the GCC to generate in 2017 a combined current account surplus, after two years of current account deficits.

In addition, liquidity in the Emirati and Saudi banking sector has eased in recent months Marcus Rohden World Cup Jersey , said the Washington-based multinational lender IMF in its outlook. For the UAE, the IMF sees loan demand rising due to the "idiosyncratic event," the World Expo which the UAE sheikhdom of Dubai will host from October 2020 to April 2021.

"However, more fiscal reforms and investments into non-oil sectors, education, healthcare Linus Wahlqvist World Cup Jersey , capital and social protection are needed," he added.

Azour said the UAE and Saudi GDP growth would pick up to 4.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

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While the Brazilians mourned their failure at this year's FIFA World Cup, many Chinese found themselves in a similar position Kerim Mrabti World Cup Jersey , lamenting the final results of the 2014 European Mahjong Championship. Ending last week in France, the two Chinese delegations to the championship only ranked 37th and 39th among the 51 participating teams.

Although it's difficult to pinpoint when this game began, mahjong is widely recognized as having its roots in ancient China. While the tile game has evolved over the centuries, its popularity has never faded. A fun leisure time activity that can be played almost anytime and anywhere, people can be seen playing mahjong everywhere from community parks to playing while floating around in a swimming pool.

However, with the disastrous defeat of the Chinese delegation Karl-Johan Johnsson World Cup Jersey , netizens are wondering how one of Chinese people's favorite activities has become a source of shame.

Skill not luck

First, popular as it is among Chinese, most people only regard mahjong as a game rather than a sport, the latter of which actually has different rules compared to the more relaxed version played by most people.

According to a report on sport.qq, these strict rules help reduce the chances that someone can win out of sheer luck.

"The biggest difference between the sport and the game is that the former is more complicated to play... It looks like a simple math question, but is in fact a complicated matter of probability. It is a test of a person's intelligence and mentality Joakim Nilsson World Cup Jersey ," Hu Zhiwei, winner of the 2008 Mahjong Super Cup China District Finals in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, told sport.qq.

"The Chinese players who took part in the championship do not represent the highest level of professional mahjong in China," Sheng Qi, chief director of the United Association of Chinese Mahjong Sport and one of the rule makers for professional mahjong in China Jacob Rinne World Cup Jersey , told the Global Times.

The 80-year-old sports mahjong advocate explained that the delegations that joined the championship were made up of Chinese players who were only fans of mahjong and that they went to France out of personal interest rather than having been selected through national competitions. To his knowledge no players who currently hold high ranks in China actually took part in the event.

Raising awareness

While the game is extremely popular in China, very few people are aware of mahjong as a sport. In his column for news.ifeng, columnist Zhang Hansi joked that there were several ways to bring more attention to the sport of mahjong: having "mahjong girls" who dance during breaks and bringing in commercial sponsors, who could then have their brands put on the back sides of the tiles.

Joking aside, he pointed out that without high audience interest, mahjong as a sport will continue to suffer as there will be little money for awards which in turn means little incentive for quality players to participate in tournaments.

However a more key problem in getting sports mahjong off the ground is that unlike other sports which hold a high reputation with the general public Gustav Svensson World Cup Jersey , mahjong faces the major obstacle of being associated with gambling.

While some schools outside of China hold mahjong classes for even children, Sheng said that many government authorities in China treat the game as a . Wholesale Throwback Jerseys   Wholesale Jerseys China   Wholesale Authentic Jerseys   Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap   Wholesale Jerseys China Free Shipping   Wholesale College Baseball Jerseys   Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys   Cheap Jerseys   Cheap College Basketball Jerseys   Wholesale NBA Jerseys