Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer & Wholesale Prices (Oct. 2024)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate accelerated from 1.7% y/y in September to 1.9% y/y in October, a fourth consecutive rise and the fastest pace of inflation since August 2023. We expect inflation...

14th November 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

PMIs (Oct. 2024)

October’s batch of PMIs showed an increase across all of the Gulf economies, although there remained underlying signs that non-oil activity is softening. Elsewhere, Egypt’s survey also improved last...

5th November 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia GDP (Q3 ’24, Flash Estimate)

The 0.8% q/q rise in Saudi GDP in Q3 is likely to be followed by further steady increases, but growth will be driven increasingly by higher oil output while there are signs that the non-oil sector is...

31st October 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Sep. 2024)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate rose a touch from 1.6% y/y in August to 1.7% y/y in September, a third consecutive increase and the fastest pace of inflation since February. That said, we think...

15th October 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Egypt Consumer Prices (Sep. 2024)

The second consecutive rise in Egypt’s headline inflation rate, to 26.4% y/y in September, on the back of electricity and fuel price hikes further reduces the chances of a first interest rate cut...

9th October 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Egypt Consumer Prices (Aug. 2024)

Egypt’s headline inflation strengthened from 25.7% y/y in July to 26.2% y/y in August, breaking a five month streak of decelerating inflation, after electricity and fuel price hikes. We expect...

10th September 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

PMIs (Aug. 2024)

August’s batch of PMIs showed a slightly more positive outturn for the Gulf’s private non-oil sectors, but there was better news from Egypt where its PMI rose back above the 50-mark for the first time...

3rd September 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jul. ‘24)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate was unchanged at 1.5% y/y in July, but we expect that the headline rate will ease back over the remainder of this year and potentially fall back below 1% y/y by...

15th August 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Egypt Consumer Prices (Jul. 2024)

Egypt’s headline inflation slowed from 27.5% y/y in June to 25.7% y/y in July, its lowest rate since December 2022. And this came in spite of recent hikes to the prices of baladi bread and fuel. We...

8th August 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

PMIs (Jul. 2024)

July’s batch of PMIs were softer across the board, adding to signs that activity in private non-hydrocarbon sectors in the Gulf is weakening. Egypt’s PMI also dropped back but, under the hood, there...

5th August 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia GDP (Q2 ‘24 Flash Estimate)

Saudi Arabia’s flash estimate of GDP showed that that the economy grew by a solid 1.4% q/q in Q2 and, while non-oil activity is likely to slow over the second half of this year, it will be more than...

31st July 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (June 2024)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate edged slightly down to a six-month low of 1.5% y/y in June and, while we expect a small increase in the headline rate during Q3, the bigger picture remains that...

16th July 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Egypt Consumer Prices (Jun. 2024)

Egypt’s headline inflation slowed from 28.1% y/y in May to 27.5% y/y in June, the lowest outturn since the start of 2023. And this came in spite of the baladi bread price hike. Increases to...

10th July 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Morocco Interest Rate Announcement (June 2024)

Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) announced this afternoon that it has cut its key policy interest rate by 25bp, to 2.75%. We expect that the Bank will continue to tread cautiously, as the...

25th June 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Egypt Consumer Prices (May 2024)

Egypt’s headline inflation dropped back from 32.5% y/y in April to 28.1% y/y, the lowest outturn since the start of 2023. Inflation is likely to rise again in June and July due to government price...

10th June 2024 · 2 mins read