Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Egypt: lessons from history point to Q1 rate cut

Attention in Egypt is turning to the timing of the first interest rate cut. The lessons from the start of the last easing cycle in 2018 suggest that this is likely to begin in Q1, which is a little...

3rd September 2024 · 6 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

PMIs (Aug. 2024)

August’s batch of PMIs showed a slightly more positive outturn for the Gulf’s private non-oil sectors, but there was better news from Egypt where its PMI rose back above the 50-mark for the first time...

3rd September 2024 · 2 mins read

Emerging Europe Economics Weekly

Poland’s generous budget, Israel-Hezbollah

The Polish government’s draft budget for 2025 announced this week suggests that fiscal policy will be more expansionary than we had previously expected next year. While that poses an upside risk to...

30th August 2024 · 8 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Libya’s crisis, Egypt’s central bank meeting

The oil market was rocked by two political shocks in the past week: an exchange of missiles between Israel and Hezbollah and a crisis in Libya, which led to cuts to its oil output. At the margin, the...

29th August 2024 · 6 mins read

Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack

Emerging Markets Chart Pack (August 2024)

EM recoveries are beginning to slow and should continue to do so over the coming quarters. Within this there will be regional variation, with Asia the outperformer and Latin America the laggard...

29th August 2024 · 1 min read

Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack

Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack (Aug. '24)

Our latest Middle East and North Africa Chart Pack has been updated to reflect the latest data and developments in the region. Growth in the Gulf economies is likely to pick up in the coming quarters...

28th August 2024 · 1 min read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Ceasefire latest, CBE governor stays on, PIF annual report

The US government has pushed for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas this week, but an agreement seems some way off still. A deal would benefit Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, whose economies...

22nd August 2024 · 6 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Saudi’s credit splurge a slow-burning risk

The rapid expansion of commercial bank lending in Saudi Arabia has raised the risk of an increase in non-performing loans and heightened the exposure of the banking sector to both the real estate...

20th August 2024 · 5 mins read

Emerging Europe Economics Update

War in Gaza still holding Israel’s economy back

Israel’s economy slowed more than expected in Q2 as weak investment and supply constraints continued to hold back activity. A ceasefire to halt the conflict in Gaza would clearly be positive for the...

19th August 2024 · 4 mins read

Global Economics Update

The implications of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire

The global macroeconomic risks surrounding a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas are asymmetric. An agreement – while having significant economic consequences for countries in the region...

19th August 2024 · 5 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

Reforms on the agenda in the Gulf, Morocco’s budget

Reports this week suggest that Kuwait’s government will pursue public finance reforms to diversify revenues away from oil, but the reported measures appear to be small in the grand scheme of things...

15th August 2024 · 6 mins read

Emerging Markets Economics Update

Structural boost outweighing cyclical drag on exports

EM goods export growth has accelerated over the past year despite a slowdown in economic growth in DMs. We think this is being driven by three structural factors: Chinese overcapacity, the AI...

15th August 2024 · 4 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response

Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jul. ‘24)

Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate was unchanged at 1.5% y/y in July, but we expect that the headline rate will ease back over the remainder of this year and potentially fall back below 1% y/y by...

15th August 2024 · 2 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Update

Jordan’s tourism sector hit hard by spillovers of war

Jordan’s economy has been among the hardest hit from the indirect spillovers of the war in Gaza. While severe balance of payments of strains are likely to be avoided, GDP growth will suffer as the key...

14th August 2024 · 4 mins read

Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly

The global market turmoil and the impact on MENA

Financial markets in the Middle East weren’t spared from the global sell-off earlier in the week. There could be a macro impact on the Gulf economies through the fall in oil prices, either via lower...

8th August 2024 · 7 mins read