Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Saudi Arabia can stick with its loose fiscal stance (for now)

Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit widened further at the start of this year and, for now at least, the government seems comfortable with maintaining the loose fiscal stance and issuing more debt. If oil...

7th May 2024 · 4 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Saudi-US relations, NEOM financing, Morocco and the IMF

Reports suggest that Saudi Arabia and the US are close to reaching a new security pact which, if confirmed, could swing the Kingdom back towards the US's orbit. Meanwhile, Saudi’s flagship gigaproject...

2nd May 2024 · 7 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia GDP (Q1 2024, Flash Estimate)

Saudi Arabia’s flash estimate of GDP showed that the economy exited recession in Q1 and we expect the recovery to continue over the course of the year – and be a bit stronger than most currently...

1st May 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Egypt’s privatisation drive, dollarisation in Lebanon

Egypt’s latest privatisation drive appears to have stalled after targets were watered down. The government doesn’t face the same need to secure revenues as it did recently, but privatisation is still...

25th April 2024 · 7 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack

Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack (Apr. 2024)

The escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran has largely been shrugged off by the oil market and risk premia in the Gulf remain low. Even so, growth will remain weak in the Gulf this year...

24th April 2024 · 1 min read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Iran-Israel tensions, Gulf floods, Egypt’s preliminary budget

The ratcheting up of tensions between Iran and Israel has raised concerns about a broader regional conflict. For now, it seems unlikely that the Gulf states will get drawn in unless there is a serious...

18th April 2024 · 6 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Saudi Arabia’s foreign investment struggles persist

Saudi Arabia has yet to be able to raise foreign direct investment towards its Vision 2030 goals, prompting a turn to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to prop up investment spending. Unless the...

17th April 2024 · 3 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Mar. 2024)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate slowed to 1.6% y/y in March on the back of weaker food and non-food inflation. While there’s likely to be a slight bump up in inflation in the second half of...

15th April 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Egypt’s policy shift, Saudi gigaprojects, Morocco GDP

Just over a month ago Egypt’s authorities underwent their dramatic shift to economic orthodoxy and the signs so far are more positive than in previous instances. The pound is more flexible, inflation...

11th April 2024 · 7 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Saudi Arabia's non-oil economy to drive the recovery

After a very weak 2023, Saudi Arabia’s economy should see a modest recovery this year as the Kingdom’s non-oil economy sustains its strong momentum and more than offsets the drag from the extended oil...

3rd April 2024 · 4 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Middle East & North Africa PMIs (March 2024)

March's batch of PMIs showed that the Gulf economies continued to outperform those elsewhere, and have enjoyed a strong start to 2024.

3rd April 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Egypt’s path to faster growth, Houthis and Gulf oil output

Egypt’s recent policy shift has been met with a lot of optimism among investors and will likely see its new IMF deal approved by the Executive Board tomorrow. But the policies involve some near-term...

28th March 2024 · 6 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack

Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack (Mar. 2024)

The past month has seen Egypt’s economic crisis turn around with the devaluation of the pound, aggressive interest rate hike, and unlocking of a new IMF deal. There have been false dawns before, but...

27th March 2024 · 1 min read

Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook

A soft 2024, but faster growth around the corner

Low oil output in the Gulf will constrain GDP growth over the first half of this year. But as this reverses, growth will pick up and by more than most expect. Elsewhere in Middle East and North Africa...

25th March 2024 · 20 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

The good and bad of Egypt’s policy shift, Aramco transfer

Last week’s policy moves in Egypt have raised concerns about a fresh surge in inflation, particularly after the jump recorded in the February CPI data. But while inflation may increase again in March...

14th March 2024 · 6 mins read