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
Emerging Europe Economics Update Iran’s strike: what next for Israel? The Iranian strike over the weekend has been largely shrugged off by Israel’s financial markets and on its own is unlikely to have a major impact on the economy. The key uncertainty now is how Israel... 15th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update The Iran drone strike & the oil market implications There are clearly many ways in which tensions between Iran and Israel could escalate and push up oil prices following the Iranian drone strike at the weekend. But the risk that a conflict involving... 15th April 2024 · 4 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
Emerging Markets Economics Update Emerging Markets Capital Flows Monitor (Apr. 2024) Capital flows into EMs have continued to rise in recent weeks, aided by robust global risk appetite. While yesterday’s strong US CPI release has clouded the outlook for Fed interest rate cuts and... 11th April 2024 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Bahrain needs to follow Oman’s path to reduce debt fears Oman and Bahrain both recorded sharp increases in their government debt-to-GDP ratios in the second half of the last decade, but while Oman’s public finances have improved dramatically since then... 8th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Egypt Consumer Prices (Mar. ‘24) Egypt’s headline inflation rate slowed from 35.7% y/y in February to 33.3% y/y in March despite the near 40% fall in the pound’s official exchange rate last month. That said, the effects of the... 8th April 2024 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Consulate strike and the threat of a Iran-Israel war The Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria this week has ratcheted up tensions in the region and the threat of an outright conflict between Iran and Israel is at its highest since the war in Gaza... 4th 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
Emerging Markets Economics Update PMIs show that EM industry continues to strengthen The rise in the aggregate EM manufacturing PMI to a three-year high in March was largely driven by strength in Asian industry, with activity elsewhere weaker. While slower growth in DMs should weigh... 2nd April 2024 · 2 mins read
Global Economic Outlook On course for a soft landing In the quarters ahead, economic activity in most of the world will be characterised by soft landings. We expect GDP growth to be below trend, but meaningful recessions should be avoided and the US... 28th March 2024 · 45 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