Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt’s crisis worsening, Saudi-BRICS membership The past week brought further evidence that strains in Egypt’s balance of payments are ratcheting up, underscoring the need to get the mooted enhanced IMF deal over the line. Elsewhere, the statement... 18th January 2024 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt’s IMF deal, Saudi’s fiscal position and bond issuance An expansion of Egypt’s IMF deal appears to be edging closer following meetings between its government and the Fund and US Treasury this week. A shift back towards economic orthodoxy, including the... 11th January 2024 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt fiscal tightening, PMIs, regional tensions brewing The announcement by Egypt’s government of a raft of price hikes will help to offset the impact on the budget position from surging debt servicing costs and lay the ground for getting an improved IMF... 4th January 2024 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Suez Canal & al-Sisi re-elected, Kuwait’s Emir, Qatar budget Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea have already caused traffic through the Suez Canal to fall, which will put a dent in Egypt’s revenues and could intensify the country’s external strains... 21st December 2023 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt post-election policy shift? Saudi gigaproject delays Inflation in Egypt slowed further in November but, with President al-Sisi all but certain to be confirmed as the winner of the recent election, policy moves over the coming weeks and months will... 14th December 2023 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt’s presidential election, Saudi budget approved The result of Egypt’s presidential election that concludes next week is a formality, but once the vote is out of the way, it seems likely that economic policy will shift in a more orthodox direction... 7th December 2023 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly COP28 and OPEC+, Saudi secures 2030 World Expo While COP28 is getting underway in Dubai, attention may be drawn instead to events in Vienna today, where OPEC+ has reportedly agreed to reduce its oil production by a further 1mn bpd. This would... 30th November 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly OPEC+ drama ensues, Saudi-China currency swap The surprise delay to the OPEC+ meeting to next week has only added to speculation that the slide in oil prices in recent months and the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas conflict could prompt the group to... 23rd November 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi’s Civil Code, Saudi solar & nuclear, Egypt-Israel gas Saudi Arabia’s new Civil Code should help to remove some of the uncertainty in commercial law and marks another step on the path to raising foreign investment. Meanwhile, a new raft of solar projects... 16th November 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi FDI revisions, Egypt-IMF deal, October’s PMIs Saudi Arabia’s revised foreign direct investment data paint a far rosier picture than previously, but there is still work to be done to meet the punchy targets of Vision 2030. Elsewhere, Egypt’s... 9th November 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt’s gas sector, Saudi budget, another MENA World Cup Egyptian officials confirmed this week that imports of gas fell to zero after Israel turned off the taps, which will curtail efforts to restart LNG exports. And with gas being cut to energy-intensive... 2nd November 2023 · 7 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi Arabia real estate, Gulf deposits in Egypt Saudi Arabia’s mortgage market continues to struggle and, together with increased residential real estate supply in the Kingdom, is likely to keep property prices subdued for some time. Elsewhere... 26th October 2023 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Israel-Hamas and Egypt, Qatar LNG, Saudi inflation Reports over the past week suggest that Egypt may be trying to leverage its role in the Israel-Gaza conflict to receive financial support. However, this would not address the fundamental issues behind... 19th October 2023 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly How will the Israel-Gaza conflict affect the rest of MENA? The outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel this week has not yet spilled over into the wider Middle East and North Africa. But the situation is in flux and, if Iran were to be pulled into the... 12th October 2023 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt election and UAE swap line, OPEC+, Saudi labour Egypt’s upcoming election in December has led to policy paralysis, particularly around the exchange rate. The currency swap line opened with the UAE this week appears aimed at bolstering resources to... 5th October 2023 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt election, Dubai debts, CE Spotlight The confirmation that Egypt’s presidential election has been moved forward to December is likely to keep the policy shift toward economic orthodoxy on pause for the time being. Our best guess now is... 28th September 2023 · 6 mins read
