Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi economy at the top of the pack The rapid headline 11.8% y/y GDP growth recorded in Saudi Arabia in Q2 masked underlying weakness in non-oil sectors of the economy. Even so, Saudi Arabia is a relative bright spot in the global... 1st August 2022 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly President Biden heads to Saudi, Dubai PMI US President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia tomorrow will focus on Iran, the normalisation of ties with Israel and raising oil output more quickly to push global prices down and ease inflation... 14th July 2022 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jun.) Saudi inflation rose a touch in June, to 2.3% y/y, on the back of higher food inflation. While we think that the headline rate will drift higher over the next couple of months months, it is unlikely... 14th July 2022 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update A strong first half of the year for the Saudi economy The Saudi economy grew at its fastest pace in a decade in Q1 and we think this strength will carry through to the rest of 2022. Our GDP growth forecast of 10% for this year lies well above the... 12th July 2022 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Oil price falls, Saudi & UAE fiscal loosening, PMIs Oil prices have fallen over the past month as global recession fears have mounted but, while they are likely to decline further over the coming years, they will remain high by past standards. This... 7th July 2022 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response S&P Global PMIs (Jun.) June’s PMIs were the proverbial mixed bag, but the bigger picture is that activity in the Gulf economies has remained robust and there are signs that firms are increasingly passing on higher costs to... 5th July 2022 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update SAMA likely has more to do to ease liquidity concerns Reports that the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has injected liquidity into the banking sector appears to be a consequence of a lack of FX intervention (despite high oil prices), tight fiscal policy and... 30th June 2022 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Region’s financial markets routed Risk-off sentiment and the sell-off in EM financial markets have hit the Middle East and North Africa hard. Having been the top regional performer earlier in the year, the MSCI Arabian Markets Index... 24th June 2022 · 13 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (May) Saudi inflation edged down to 2.2% y/y in May as food and transport inflation slowed last month, and, while we think that the headline rate will drift higher over the coming months, it is unlikely to... 15th June 2022 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus Saudi economy set for a strong couple of years Saudi Arabia’s economic recovery is likely to be one of the strongest in the emerging world over the next couple of years as oil output is ramped up and fiscal policy is loosened. We expect GDP growth... 9th June 2022 · 15 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi fiscal policy, the IMF in Tunisia and Egypt Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan provided hints in comments this week that the fiscal purse strings could soon be loosened if oil prices remain elevated. Elsewhere, officials in... 26th May 2022 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Monetary tightening stepped up A majority of central banks in the region hiked interest rates over the past month. In the Gulf, central banks raised interest rates in line with the Federal Reserve, although this won’t necessarily... 26th May 2022 · 14 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi set for bumper GDP growth this year Saudi Arabia’s economy grew at its fastest pace in a decade in Q1 and we think this strength will carry on over the rest of this year. The combination of rising oil output and the increasing... 18th May 2022 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi inflation to stay in check, risks lie to downside Headline inflation in Saudi Arabia rose to 2.3% y/y in April and we think that it will continue to accelerate over the coming months. Unlike in other parts of the emerging world, however, inflation... 18th May 2022 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response S&P Global PMIs (Apr.) April’s batch of whole economy PMIs showed a loss of momentum at the start of Q2 but continued to highlight the growing divergence between the Gulf and non-Gulf economies as a result of the spillovers... 9th May 2022 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Saudi Arabia GDP (Q1, Flash Estimate) Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded by a robust 2.2% q/q in the first quarter of the year, which translated into year-on-year growth of 9.6% – the fastest pace recorded since 2011. With oil production to... 3rd May 2022 · 2 mins read
