Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria deficit, Ethiopia-Somalia tensions, Kenya GDP Nigeria’s 2024 budget, signed into law this week, included encouraging signs that the government will cease deficit monetisation, providing hope that the Tinubu administration’s reform momentum hasn’t... 5th January 2024 · 5 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 Update Egypt’s economic struggles look set to persist In the past few years, Egypt’s economy has been hit by the successive impacts of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and, more recently, currency devaluations. With further currency falls on the cards... 3rd January 2024 · 2 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 Chart Pack Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack (Dec. 2023) Our Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. Economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa will strengthen a little... 18th December 2023 · 1 min 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 Economic Outlook Another year of sluggish growth Economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa will strengthen a little in 2024 but is likely to come in well below consensus expectations. OPEC+’s cautious approach to oil policy will keep a lid... 13th December 2023 · 22 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 Rapid Response November PMIs The batch of PMIs for November from the Middle East and North Africa showed that non-hydrocarbon private sectors in the Gulf have sustained strong momentum at the end of 2023. Elsewhere, while there... 5th December 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: currency, sovereign, banking risks intertwine The falls in the Egyptian pound over the past year have increased the size of commercial banks’ net FX assets, but what has flown under the radar is banks’ growing exposure to the government’s FX debt... 29th November 2023 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack (Nov. 2023) Our Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments After a sharp slowdown this year, GDP growth across the Middle East and North... 28th November 2023 · 1 min 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 Update Egypt: inflation on the way down, but upside risks remain Data over the weekend showed that Egypt’s inflation rate slowed, confirming that September marked the peak, and our baseline scenario is that it will continue to drop back as we head into 2024. The... 13th November 2023 · 3 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 Update How credible are the region’s currency pegs? Persistent balance of payments strains brought pressure on some of the region’s non-oil producing countries who employ fixed exchange rate regimes. FX reserves have been depleted to support currencies... 9th November 2023 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Egypt Interest Rate Announcement (Nov. 2023) The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) left its overnight deposit rate at 19.25% today but, with pressure on the pound mounting and inflation still well above target, there’s a good chance that policymakers... 2nd November 2023 · 2 mins read
