Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt sends mixed signals, Bahrain gets breathing room Egypt’s finance minister stated this week that the government will continue to prioritise bringing down its high debt-to-GDP ratio, but recent developments have raised fresh concerns that the appetite... 6th September 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Whole Economy PMIs (Aug.) August’s PMIs for the Gulf economies suggest that fiscal stimulus has continued to support a recovery in Saudi Arabia, but weaker external demand is weighing on growth in the UAE. Meanwhile, Egypt’s... 4th September 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Tunisian dinar falls further, Lebanon in the spotlight The Tunisian dinar has continued to decline over the past week and we think that the currency has further to fall. However, any moves should be fairly gradual. Elsewhere, the recent widening of... 30th August 2018 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Frontier recovery remains on track Frontier financial markets have endured a torrid 2018, but this hasn’t been accompanied by a deterioration in the hard activity data. Admittedly, growth in the largest frontier economy, Nigeria... 29th August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Aramco IPO on hold, Bahrain debt fears ease Reports this week suggest that Saudi policymakers may be close to shelving the Aramco IPO, which would reinforce concerns that the country’s commitment to the Vision 2030 reforms is waning. Elsewhere... 23rd August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Gulf boosted by higher oil output Oil production figures for July, the first that should capture the impact of revisions to the OPEC deal in June, support our view that growth in the Gulf will strengthen in the coming quarters. Oil... 20th August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Pressure on Egypt’s pound? Egyptian dollar bonds have performed particularly poorly this week, suggesting that the recent turmoil in EM financial markets exacerbated the slowdown in capital inflows to the country that was... 16th August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi-Canada spat, Iran sanctioned The diplomatic spat that erupted between Saudi Arabia and Canada this week should have little economic impact, but it does risk undermining investor confidence in Saudi Arabia at a time when the... 9th August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Aramco IPO slipping, Egypt’s car export hopes dented Reports that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is looking for alternative sources of financing suggest that the government is moving further away from its flagship sale of a stake in Aramco. This... 2nd August 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Markets weather US-Iran tensions, Egypt seeks oil hedge Financial markets across the MENA region have shrugged off the latest escalation of tensions between the US and Iran, although we doubt that this resilience will last. Meanwhile, news that Egypt will... 26th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Regional recovery gathering steam The raft of quarterly GDP data released over the past month confirmed that the MENA region rebounded at the start of this year and more timely figures suggest that the recovery is gathering momentum... 19th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Drop in oil prices keeps Bahrain in the spotlight The recent tumble in oil prices has raised the pressure on Bahrain to secure financial support from the rest of the Gulf and for the government to outline its fiscal consolidation plans. We still... 19th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook Recovery to gather pace The recovery in the MENA region will be stronger than most anticipate over the coming quarters. The Gulf economies are set to benefit from rising oil output and fiscal stimulus, while Egypt’s cyclical... 17th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Aramco IPO up in the air, Egypt inflation jumps Reports that Saudi Arabia will scrap the Aramco IPO would, if confirmed, deal a symbolic blow to the Kingdom’s reform plans, but the economic impact should be limited. And the news flow on arguably... 12th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt sticks to orthodoxy, positive signs from the Gulf The economic agenda laid out by Egypt’s new cabinet this week suggests that, despite the improvement in the budget position over the past couple of years, it will continue to tighten fiscal policy... 5th July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Whole Economy PMIs (Jun.) Last month’s PMI data for the Gulf provide further evidence that growth in non-oil sectors is strengthening, supported by higher oil prices and recent fiscal stimulus measures. Elsewhere, Egypt’s... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
