The head of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia department has called on the international community to end the conflict in the Middle East and address the humanitarian crisis in the region. The IMF has slightly downgraded its outlook for economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa, but these estimates do not take into account the economic impact of the recent conflict in southern Lebanon. Lebanon and the Palestinian territories are facing a huge humanitarian problem that has devastated their economies. The IMF has suspended its forecasts for the Lebanese economy, but a recent UN report estimated that Lebanon's GDP would be 9.2 percent smaller as a direct consequence of the conflict.