Title: The psychosocial and economic impact of COVID-19 on the Middle East market

Authors: Malik R. Elhaj; Moid U. Ahmad

Addresses: Department of Accounting and Finance, Prince Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia ' Scholeio Education, NCR, India

Abstract: COVID-19 has emerged as a real threat to global health and economic stability. This has affected the earnings as well as the psychological state of individuals. The governments of various countries have announced various initiatives, schemes and economic relief packages to support the respective economies and its residents. This paper attempts to analyse the impact of COVID-19 and of the government's initiatives on the earnings and psychosocial state of the affected. The research is based on a sample of Middle East respondents and uses the mediation-moderation methodology as the anchor technique for analysis. One of the significant findings of the research is that social media was found to mediate the effect of government schemes and initiatives on the earnings of respondents during COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; economic impact; social impact; Middle East; stress.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2025.149752

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2025 Vol.37 No.2, pp.168 - 181

Received: 19 Jul 2021
Accepted: 30 Oct 2021
Published online: 12 Nov 2025 *

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