Entries for 'Middle East North Africa'
May 29, 2018
Supply outages, extension of the OPEC production cuts, and geopolitical risks pushed oil prices higher. Continued supply disruption in Venezuela and p
May 15, 2018
Higher oil prices will widen the current account surplus from 2.5% of GDP in 2017 to 9.6% in 2018. The fiscal deficit, including investment income, wi
May 15, 2018
The impact could be muted if the main energy trading partners of Iran secure exemptions from the U.S. or can find a way
May 4, 2018
The underlying economic situation remains challenging with low growth, large deficits, and high public debt. Private sector confidence continues to be
April 27, 2018
Non-oil economic growth is improving with stronger consumer confidence and a healthy project pipeline. The fiscal deficit, excluding investment income
April 18, 2018
Economic prospects have improved somewhat, supported by fiscal stimulus and higher oil prices. The fiscal situation in Saudi Arabia is now on a firmer
April 10, 2018
Following the recent rise in oil prices to over $60 per barrel, there is a sense that the worst is behind the UAE's economy and confidence is graduall
March 20, 2018
The central banks of Saudi Arabia raised its policy rates by 25 basis points last Thursday The preemptive hike in policy rates may be partly due to co
March 13, 2018
While political reforms may be delayed, a shift to private sector-led growth and diversification away from hydrocarbons would help to achieve sustaine
March 7, 2018
We develop a measure of core capital flows for Saudi Arabia, which has a similar intuition to widely-used core inflation metrics. Core CPI strips o
March 5, 2018
Non-resident capital inflows to MENA should rise to $224 billion this year, equivalent to about 8% of the region's GDP. The projected increase for MEN
February 20, 2018
This report presents our analysis and projections of 14 economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait,
February 13, 2018
The Pakistani economy experienced robust growth in the past two years driven largely by consumption and some progress in structural reforms. We expect
February 7, 2018
The real challenge is Saudi labor force di
January 18, 2018
While narrowing, we expect the fiscal deficit to remain large at 9.3% of GDP in 2018. Pressure on credit ratings will increase as public debt surpasse
January 17, 2018
Iraq's post-war infrastructure rebuilding will help propel the economy's recovery. The recent oil price rise has alleviated some of Iraq's immediate f
January 17, 2018
Recent protests have been fueled by unmet economic, social, and political expectations While the protests have ebbed in recent days, their underlying
January 11, 2018
The economic situation has deteriorated since the Arab Spring in 2011. Fiscal consolidation, continual high unemployment, and rising inflation have tr
December 20, 2017
The serious fiscal consolidation efforts of the past three years along with low debt, readily available financing, and currently weak economic activit
December 18, 2017
The recent monetary tightening comes at a time when bank lending to the private sector remains subdued. Further interest rate hikes next year threaten