Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Regional growth picking up Growth in the MENA region’s major economies appears to have accelerated in recent months. Our GDP tracker points towards a pick-up in growth in the Saudi economy at the start of the year, and timely... 20th 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 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 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 Chart Pack Morocco and Tunisia yet to benefit from euro-zone recovery In spite of their strong trade and financial ties to the euro-zone, Morocco and Tunisia have, so far at least, seen little benefit from the recovery there. Admittedly, inflows of foreign direct... 19th 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 Is Tunisia really on the path to recovery? It’s still early days, but we think that political developments in Tunisia over the past few months provide reasons to be optimistic about the country’s economic outlook. 11th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s fiscal position still a major concern At first glance, the interim Egyptian government seems to have made some progress in bringing the country’s dire public finances back under control. However, the apparent improvement can largely be... 6th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs highlight Egypt’s fragile recovery Last month’s PMI suggests that political turmoil surrounding Egypt’s constitutional referendum disrupted economic activity. Meanwhile, growth in non-oil sectors in the Gulf appears to remain strong. 4th February 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update IMF deals and Gulf aid spare MENA’s non-oil producers In spite of their large current account deficits, the MENA region’s non-oil economies have stayed out of the spotlight during the recent turmoil in EM financial markets thanks, it seems, to IMF... 30th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egyptian financial markets rally on hopes for political stability The Egyptian stock market has rallied in recent days amid growing optimism about the prospects for political stability. The recently approved constitution paves the way for elections to take place... 29th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack MENA financial markets shrug off broader EM concerns The MENA region’s financial markets have come through the latest bout of turmoil in EM markets relatively unscathed. Most equity markets have dropped back, although their losses have been small when... 27th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook Non-oil economies to see growth converge with the Gulf Following a tumultuous three years since the Arab Spring uprisings, we expect a recovery to finally get underway in the MENA region’s non-oil producers over the next year or so. Growth should be... 23rd January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update The implications of Egypt's new constitution The approval of Egypt’s new constitution marks a key political milestone, paving the way for fresh elections to take place in the coming months. However, these could lead to a renewed flare-up in... 20th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Central Bank of Egypt holds fire, for now Despite the fall in inflation in December, the Central Bank of Egypt decided to keep interest rates on hold at its meeting today. We think it’s unlikely that today’s decision marks the end of the... 16th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Fallout from Egypt’s “second revolution” not as bad as feared Recently released third quarter GDP data show that the impact on Egypt's economy from July's "second revolution" was not as bad as some, ourselves included, had expected. Elsewhere, Qatar remains the... 8th January 2014 · 1 min read
