Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook North Africa getting back on its feet Three years on from the “Arab Spring” uprisings, the tide is turning in favour of the economies of North Africa. Admittedly, there are still many challenges, not least reining in large twin current... 31st July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Signs of recovery in North Africa Following a difficult few years, the latest data have provided further evidence that things are improving in North Africa. It looks like growth in both Tunisia and Egypt accelerated over the first... 29th July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Dubai leads equity market rebound Equity markets across the MENA region have rebounded following a poor performance in June. The Dubai stock market has recouped a large chunk of its previous losses. And equities in Saudi Arabia have... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update First thoughts on the opening up of Saudi Arabia's stock market The Saudi authorities’ plan to open up the stock market to foreign investors is clearly a step in the right direction. But with equity valuations already stretched, we doubt that it will be the... 22nd July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Growth in Saudi Arabia eases as boost from oil sector fades Our GDP Tracker suggests that the Saudi economy weakened a touch in May as the boost from the oil sector earlier in the year started to fade while the non-oil sector remained sluggish by past... 10th July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi economy slows in Q1, likely to weaken further Q1 GDP data showed that the Saudi economy slowed a touch from Q4 on the back of weakness in the non-oil private sector. The latest PMI surveys suggest that growth in this sector stabilised in Q2... 3rd July 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Dubai equities on the slide The Dubai equity market has fallen sharply over the past month amid concerns that the Emirate’s real estate sector is becoming another bubble. Elsewhere, spreads on Egypt’s dollar-denominated bonds... 24th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Iraq crisis raises contagion fears The unfolding crisis in Iraq has cast a shadow over the region, causing equity markets to tumble. As it happens, the largest MENA economies have only limited trade and financial ties with Iraq... 19th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi economy appears to have weakened at the start of Q2 Our GDP Tracker suggests that the Saudi economy started the second quarter on a weaker note as growth in the oil sector slowed and activity in the non-oil economy remained sluggish by past standards. 9th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Why we’re relatively downbeat on the Saudi economy In its latest Article IV for Saudi, the IMF painted an upbeat picture of the economy. However, as we outline in this Watch, there are good reasons to think that growth may slow over the coming years. 5th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs highlight Egypt’s bumpy recovery May’s ‘whole economy’ PMI data show that, although the Egyptian economy is faring better than it was last summer, growth is sluggish. And looking ahead, in spite of the optimism following Abdel Fattah... 3rd June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Dubai equities fall following upgrade to EM status Dubai’s equity market tumbled earlier in the month following the upgrade by MSCI from “frontier” to “emerging” market status. Stocks in Abu Dhabi and Qatar (which were also upgraded) fell too, but to... 28th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Growth in the Gulf diverges It looks like economic growth accelerated further in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar over the first few months of the year. In Saudi Arabia, this was supported by a rebound in the oil sector, while... 21st May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Little sign of a turnaround in Saudi consumer spending The latest data suggest that Saudi household spending is still relatively sluggish and, with fiscal policy set to become less supportive over the coming years, we’re not anticipating a marked... 15th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi Arabian economy looks set to slow from here on Our GDP Tracker suggests that the Saudi Arabian economy grew at a robust rate of over 5% y/y in Q1. However, growth looks set to slow over the next twelve to eighteen months as the rebound in the oil... 12th May 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What might an al-Sisi presidency hold in store for Egypt’s economy? Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the leader of last summer’s “second revolution”, looks set to sweep to victory in Egypt’s presidential election, scheduled for 26th - 27th May. In this Watch, we take a closer... 8th May 2014 · 1 min read
