Saudi Arabia has dominated the sports headlines this week with big-money moves for global football stars a sign that the Kingdom is recycling large current account surplus. But the move does raise concerns over potential contingent liabilities for the state and that Aramco is being forced to expand beyond its energy remit. Meanwhile, Saudi also surprised by aggressively cutting oil output at last weekend’s OPEC+ meeting and we are now the only analysts to expect the economy to contract in 2023. Elsewhere, Kuwait’s parliamentary elections are unlikely to provide the fresh impetus to economic reforms that some are hoping for.
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