DUBAI- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will see their economies shrink by 7.6% this year amid low oil prices and the new coronavirus crisis, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday.

Jihad Azour, director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, was speaking at a virtual economic forum.

(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia, Marwa Rashad; Editing by Alex Richardson) ((Davide.Barbuscia@thomsonreuters.com; +971522604297; Reuters Messaging: davide.barbuscia.reuters.com@reuters.net))