Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook Outlook brightens in North Africa, but Gulf growth to slow After a torrid few years, the outlook for the North African economies is brightening. Political tensions are easing and the provision of external financial support has shored up balance of payments... 23rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi Q4 GDP growth picks up on back of rebound in oil sector The Saudi Arabian economy picked up in Q4 of last year on the back of the continued rebound in the oil sector. Growth may have accelerated further in Q1, but it is likely to remain below the rates of... 22nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Emerging Market Consumer Snapshot (Q2 2014) There are signs that the decline in EM consumer spending growth experienced in 2013 has bottomed out in recent months, with several economies reporting stronger retail sales figures since the turn of... 16th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus North Africa: A potential manufacturing hub? Three years on from the Arab Spring uprisings, political uncertainty continues to weigh on the near-term outlook for Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. But over a longer horizon, assuming that policymakers... 15th April 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economic Outlook West to outperform East The world economy should expand steadily in the coming two years, helped by an increasingly strong recovery in the US. However, while the euro-zone has stabilised, it is not growing fast enough to... 14th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi growth picks up in Q1 on rebound in oil sector Our GDP Tracker suggests that growth in the Saudi economy accelerated to around 5% y/y in the first few months of this year. The pick-up in growth has been driven by the oil sector. However, there are... 14th April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update How sustainable is the Saudi consumer credit boom? There appears to be a growing consensus that improvements in the Saudi Arabian labour market mean that the country can sustain rapid consumer credit growth. While we think there is some justification... 9th April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Where and why we differ from the IMF The IMF downgraded its expectations for EM growth in today’s World Economic Outlook (WEO), bringing its forecasts a step closer to our own. Nonetheless, while there is now not much difference between... 8th April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Picking apart the prospects for “frontier markets” After a stellar run over the past decade or so, growth across “frontier markets” as a whole is likely to slow over the next couple of years. But the moderation in aggregate growth will mask important... 8th April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economic Outlook Focus shifts to home-grown vulnerabilities Concerns about the impact on emerging economies of tapering by the US Fed have taken a back seat as investors have begun to focus on issues closer to home. The worst fears about a “hard landing” in... 3rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs suggest Saudi domestic demand may have weakened March’s PMIs from the MENA region, released earlier today, show that the UAE’s non-oil economy continues to strengthen, but domestic demand in Saudi Arabia may have weakened in recent months... 3rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM manufacturing recovery falters Manufacturing across the emerging world appears to have taken another turn for the worse in the first quarter of this year. This was largely driven by a renewed downturn in the BRIC economies. By... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Spike in agricultural prices unlikely to drive up EM inflation A spike in global agricultural commodity prices has raised concerns that the current period of subdued inflation in the emerging world could be nearing an end. But the recent increases still leave... 28th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update MENA equities continue to outperform Equity markets in the MENA region continue to soar. Dubai’s market has been the region’s best performer since the start of the year, closely followed by that of Egypt, which has been buoyed by... 27th March 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus Is it time to sound the all-clear on the UAE’s banks? Five years on from Dubai’s debt crisis, the UAE’s banking sector appears to be returning to health, which should open the way for an improvement in credit growth. However, the large overhang of debt... 27th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Activity Monitor BRIC economies continue to underperform Growth across the emerging world appears to have remained unchanged at around 4.5% y/y at the start of this year. The recovery in Emerging Europe has faltered, but this was largely due to the weakness... 27th March 2014 · 1 min read
