Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Tunisian protests, US ‘green’ shift, Saudi vaccines Protests in Tunisia this week add to the challenges facing the government to put the public finances onto a sustainable footing. Elsewhere, US President Joe Biden has started to set out a greener... 21st January 2021 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Tunisia and the IMF, UAE COVID outbreak, “The Line” Tunisia’s government appears to be gearing up to secure a new IMF deal and, while fiscal consolidation will be among the Fund’s key conditions, it will prove difficult to implement. Elsewhere, the UAE... 14th January 2021 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi oil output, vaccine rollout, Qatar un-blockaded Saudi Arabia’s surprise voluntary oil output cut unveiled at this week’s OPEC+ meeting has lifted oil prices, but will mean that GDP growth will probably be weaker in Q1 than we had previously... 7th January 2021 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly COVID-19 vaccines, Dubai tourism, Egypt privatisations COVID-19 outbreaks in the region have started to come under control and, with vaccination programmes starting (in the Gulf at least), the near-term economic outlook is brightening. Dubai’s economy... 17th December 2020 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt budget, Bahrain stimulus, Dubai property Figures out of Egypt this week showed the budget deficit has narrowed this year, highlighting the commitment to keep debt on a downwards trajectory but at the cost of a weaker recovery. In contrast... 10th December 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly OPEC+ deal, Qatar blockade, Morocco and the IMF The past week has been dominated by the OPEC+ meeting and, while it has highlighted growing tensions with the cartel, it seems that the group is edging towards an agreement that involves a small rise... 3rd December 2020 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly UAE oil discovery and OPEC, protests in Tunisia This week’s revelation by the UAE that it has discovered major new oil reserves boosts the economy’s long-term prospects but it may further raise questions over its commitment to OPEC. Alongside the... 26th November 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Aramco issuance, OPEC-JMMC, Lebanon politics Saudi Aramco’s dollar bond sale this week has added to the signs that the government is squeezing every last drop out of the company in order to contain this year’s budget deficit, but it does add to... 19th November 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly COVID-19 vaccine hopes, asset sales, UAE reforms The distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine would provide a boost to economic recoveries, particularly in those economies most vulnerable to social distancing measures, such as Dubai, Morocco... 12th November 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly US election, oil output cuts, COVID-19 restrictions This week’s US election has yet to reach a conclusive result, but some of the potential downside risks facing the Middle East and North Africa appear to have diminished. Meanwhile, OPEC+ seems to... 5th November 2020 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi budget, Hariri returns, Oman gets financing Data published this week showed that, even though it’s early days, fiscal austerity in Saudi Arabia is already having the desired effect of improving the underlying budget position. But this will come... 29th October 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Gulf to lean more on debt markets amid low oil prices Oman this week became the latest government in the Gulf to tap international bond markets, taking the region’s issuance so far in 2020 to an annual record. In Oman's case, while this will help to... 22nd October 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly NCB-Samba merger, Oman VAT, OPEC+ deal The merger between National Commercial Bank and Samba is the latest effort to consolidate the Saudi banking sector and, with the crisis likely to weigh on profitability, it may be a sign of things to... 15th October 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egyptian inflation and the IMF, GDP data, Tunisian debt Egyptian inflation data for September, due next week, are likely to be low enough to result in the IMF encouraging the central bank to cut interest rate cuts. Elsewhere, the raft of recently-released... 8th October 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi austerity, Arabtec liquidation, Lebanese politics Saudi’s preliminary 2021 budget showed that, with oil prices likely to stay low, fiscal austerity is here to stay and this will act as a key headwind to the economic recovery. Elsewhere, the collapse... 1st October 2020 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi fiscal policy, Umrah pilgrimages, Egypt rate cut? Comments from a Saudi official suggest that the government is looking to boost the Kingdom’s economic recovery but, against the backdrop of low oil prices, the scope to row back on austerity plans is... 24th September 2020 · 5 mins read
