Middle East & North Africa Economics Update North African economies accelerate, but clouds on the outlook Recently released GDP data showed that growth in the North African economies (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) picked up modestly in the final quarter of last year. We expect growth to strengthen further... 31st March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update MENA equities continue to outperform Equity markets in the MENA region continue to soar. Dubai’s market has been the region’s best performer since the start of the year, closely followed by that of Egypt, which has been buoyed by... 27th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s external position still not sustainable An influx of financing from the Gulf since last summer has eased strains in Egypt’s balance of payments and brought the country back from the brink of a crisis. Nonetheless, this situation isn’t... 24th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s falling gas exports underline need for reform A combination of stagnant production and rapidly increasing domestic consumption means that Egypt is set to become a net importer of natural gas in the near future. Support from the Gulf should help... 18th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Dubai’s debt still a concern despite government deal The agreement between Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Central Bank of the UAE to rollover $20bn of Dubai’s government debt marks another important step in the Emirate’s recovery from its 2009-10 crisis... 17th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update A look ahead to Egypt’s presidential election Egyptian presidential elections are due to be held in the coming months with Field Marshal al-Sisi, the leader of July’s “second revolution”, widely tipped to emerge triumphant. However, he would... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Pick-up in Saudi economy driven by the oil sector Our GDP Tracker suggests that growth in the Saudi Arabian economy picked up at the start of this year. But the rebound has been driven by the oil sector, while the non-oil sector continues to struggle... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Oman: fiscal policy set to provide less support to growth The rapid rise in Omani government spending in recent years has caused the budget surplus to narrow sharply and, if we’re right in expecting oil prices to fall over the coming years, the budget... 6th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs point to robust non-oil growth in the Gulf The latest PMI data from the MENA region suggest that growth in non-oil sectors in the Gulf remains relatively robust, bolstered by strengthening external demand. The Egyptian economy is much weaker... 4th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt holds rates, but cuts could come back on to the agenda The Egyptian central bank’s decision to leave interest rates on hold for the second meeting in a row might suggest that the easing cycle of the past half a year has come to an end. However, given that... 27th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Booming car industry could drive Morocco’s economy Morocco’s exports have, so far, seen little benefit from the recovery in the country’s key trading partners in the euro-zone. But the headline trade figures mask some encouraging developments. In... 27th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update MENA equities continue to soar Equity markets in the MENA region have continued to perform strongly over the past month. Dubai remains the star performer, while recent political developments have buoyed stock markets in Egypt and... 25th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Qatar set to remain the region’s star performer Qatar is unlikely to return to the double-digit growth rates seen over the past decade, but the government’s ambitious investment programme means that GDP should still expand by a healthy 5% or so... 20th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: economic growth too slow to bring down unemployment The Egyptian economy has shown signs of recovering in recent months but this has yet to feed through to the labour market. Crucially, GDP growth is still below the rates of around 4-5% that are needed... 18th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Could devaluations be on the cards in the non-oil economies? Some of the largest falls in emerging market currencies in recent weeks have come in countries where exchange rates are tightly managed and foreign exchange reserves are low. On this basis, the MENA... 13th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi Arabia: a disappointing end to 2013 Our GDP Tracker suggests that the Saudi economy ended last year on a weaker note. We expect growth to pick up this year, but this will largely be due to a rebound in the oil sector. Activity in the... 12th February 2014 · 1 min read
