Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Vaccine developments brighten the economic outlook The positive news on COVID-19 vaccines in recent weeks has helped to lift the near-term outlook for the Middle East and North Africa. For the Gulf countries, oil prices have picked up with Brent crude... 24th November 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack OPEC+ cut extension would drag on GDP The latest OPEC oil production figures continue to show that several countries are overproducing, which is making Saudi Arabia – which has borne the brunt of production cuts – increasingly frustrated... 26th October 2020 · 15 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Fresh dip in oil prices dampens outlook for the Gulf Oil prices suffered a fresh bout of weakness this month amid growing concerns over rising global coronavirus cases, which reinforces our view that economic recoveries in the Gulf will be slow. At the... 23rd September 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Austerity to hold back economic recovery The recovery in oil prices from their nadir in April has not prompted policymakers in the Gulf to row back on their plans to push through fiscal austerity. Saudi Arabia suspended the Cost of Living... 26th August 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Fresh virus outbreaks to hinder economic recoveries The Gulf economies have been the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the region but almost all countries have managed to put new daily cases on a downwards trend thanks to strict containment... 31st July 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack End of lockdowns unlikely to lead to rapid recovery Governments across MENA have taken steps to re-open economies over the past month and, after a sharp downturn in April and May, daily indicators suggest activity has started to recover. That said... 24th June 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Economic impact of coronavirus not easing up The rapid spread of the coronavirus in the region means that plans to lift lockdowns have come later than in many other EMs and the damaging economic effects of social distancing have persisted. The... 28th May 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Coronavirus measures and low oil prices take their toll The early signs from the Middle East and North Africa are that efforts to contain the coronavirus and the collapse in oil prices are dealing a heavy economic blow. Whole economy PMIs plunged to record... 30th April 2020 · 13 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Virus measures may limit spread but recession lies ahead The outbreak of the coronavirus in the Middle East and North Africa has developed rapidly over the past month and, given this, most of the backwards-looking figures released over this period are... 27th March 2020 · 12 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Dubai concerns start to mount The past month has brought more bad news on Dubai’s economy. Markit’s Dubai PMI hit a four-year low in January and efforts to contain the coronavirus pose a threat to the Emirate’s transport and... 25th February 2020 · 15 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Gulf tightening the purse strings Fiscal plans announced across the Gulf over the past month suggest that governments will keep policy tight, a key reason why we think that economic growth will disappoint this year. The Saudi 2020... 29th January 2020 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Political troubles casting a shadow Political developments across Algeria, Tunisia and Lebanon threaten to exacerbate already-poor balance of payments positions. Presidential elections that took place in Algeria last week don’t appear... 17th December 2019 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Aramco IPO looks set to underwhelm Preparations for the public listing of Saudi state oil company, Aramco, have stepped up a gear this month but the signs are that it is unlikely to be the blockbuster sale that the Kingdom once hoped... 25th November 2019 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Regional slowdown worsens The focus on political risk and Lebanon’s growing debt problem have meant that the sharp slowdown in growth across large parts of the region has gone unnoticed. The latest figures suggest that the... 29th October 2019 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Political risks return to the fore Events this month have highlighted the risks posed by politics to the region’s two largest economies. While Saudi Arabia initially suspended around half of its daily oil output following attacks on... 30th September 2019 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Further signs of a slowdown in the Gulf The latest data suggest that GDP growth in the Gulf economies slowed in Q2, which is partly a result of cuts in oil production but also softer activity in non-oil sectors. The early data for July... 15th August 2019 · 14 mins read
