Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jan. 2023) Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate nudged up from 3.3% y/y in December to 3.4% y/y in January, which came on the back of a small increase in non-food inflation. Inflation is now at or very close... 15th February 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi external position, PMIs, Egypt privatisation Recent data showed that Saudi Arabia recorded its largest current surplus since late 2014 in Q3 of last year as oil revenues boomed. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is recycling these surpluses into... 9th February 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Egypt Consumer Prices (Jan. 2023) Egypt’s headline inflation rate climbed from 21.3% y/y in December to 25.8% y/y in January, its fastest pace since November 2017, on the back of the recent large falls in the pound. This adds to our... 9th February 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Tunisia: large fall in the dinar lies in store Tunisia’s fragile balance of payments of position has deteriorated further over the past year and the dinar appears increasingly overvalued. We think that the currency needs to fall by at least 30%... 8th February 2023 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update A temporary pause in Egypt’s tightening cycle The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) surprisingly left interest rates unchanged at Thursday’s MPC meeting but, with inflation likely to rise even further above the central bank’s target, we still think... 3rd February 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt privatisations, Saudi tourism, Lebanon re-pegs Egypt’s privatisation drive appears to be stepping up a gear in 2023 with plans to sell stakes in twenty companies which, if these materialise, will boost long-term economic prospects. But it remains... 2nd February 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Egypt: benefits of a weaker currency emerging The further falls in the Egyptian pound over the past month will push up inflation and prompt the central bank to deliver more monetary tightening, but there are already signs that the benefits of a... 31st January 2023 · 13 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Saudi Arabia GDP (Q4 2022, Flash Estimate) The flash estimate for Saudi Arabia’s economy showed GDP expanded by a solid 1.5% q/q in Q4, but year-on-year growth continued to soften and we expect this slowdown to continue into the early part of... 31st January 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly OPEC+ cuts, Egypt and the dollar, education reform OPEC+ is set to continue with its existing oil output quotas next week, although this means that oil sectors will act as a drag on the Gulf economies over the early part of 2023. Elsewhere, Egypt is... 26th January 2023 · 9 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi economy losing steam Saudi Arabia’s economy enjoyed bumper growth in 2022, but there were signs that activity was slowing in the final months of the year and we expect this trend to continue into the early part of 2023. 25th January 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi and the “petroyuan”, investors like EGP fall Comments by Saudi Arabia’s finance minister that the Kingdom could conduct trade in currencies other than the dollar will add fuel to the debate about the rise of a “petroyuan”. There are hurdles to... 19th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: will falls in the pound trigger a public debt crisis? The recent falls in the Egyptian pound pose a threat to Egypt’s fragile public debt dynamics but we think that the government will be able to muddle through. The key risk is that the government shifts... 18th January 2023 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt, the pound, and competitiveness The sharp fall in the Egyptian pound today means that, in real trade-weighted terms, it is at its lowest level since the 2016 devaluation. The experience from that period is that the boost to Egypt’s... 11th January 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Egypt Consumer Prices (Dec.) Egypt’s CPI inflation rate jumped from 18.7% y/y in November to 21.3% y/y in December, its fastest pace since the end of 2017. With the pound having weakened even further since the turn of the year... 10th January 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Fears EGP fall will trigger sovereign debt crisis overdone The latest fall in the Egyptian pound sends a strong signal that the authorities are committed to the shift to a more flexible exchange rate. And while the weaker currency poses a threat to the... 5th January 2023 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: pound fall a sign that officials are on right path The sharp fall in the Egyptian pound today, coming in the wake of last week’s move to ease FX restrictions, suggests that the authorities are starting to make good on their pledge to shift to a more... 4th January 2023 · 5 mins read