Economy

We remain optimistic about the prospects for economic growth in Kuwait heading into next year. We have revised up our forecast for 2011 from 5.3% to 6.1% on the back of higher than... 2011-12-21

We retain a broadly sanguine outlook on the medium-term prospects for Saudi Arabia's external position. The spike in global energy prices throughout 2011 has left the current account... 2011-12-13

In early December, the government of the UAE granted approval to a draft law allowing foreign companies to acquire a more than 49% stake in local companies. This move is aimed at attracting... 2011-12-09

Alarm bells are once again being raised about the UAE's debt pile, following reports in early December 2011 by ratings agency Moody's and the Financial Times newspaper which stated... 2011-12-08

Saudi Arabia's economy looks set for a strong performance this year. Real GDP growth accelerated from 0.1% y-o-y in 2009 to 4.1% in 2010, driven by a rebound in the oil sector. Real... 2011-09-27

Data through the first half of 2011 indicate that Qatar's banking industry is well positioned to weather the current bout of regional unrest. Through July, the aggregate balance sheet... 2011-09-27

The Kuwaiti government's budget surplus grew to KWD4.2bn (US$15.3bn) in the first two months of FY2011/12 (beginning on April 1), up from a surplus of KWD2.4bn in the same period last... 2011-09-27

On the back of ongoing political unrest, we are revising down our forecast for Yemen's current accounts. We now project a current account deficit of 4.8% of GDP in 2011, compared with... 2011-09-27

Saudi Arabia's current account looks set to continue posting large surpluses over the coming years. We expect soaring income from hydrocarbon exports to push the current account into... 2011-09-23

Recently released trade data from the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) is raising concerns that brewing global headwinds are starting to weaken the UAE's macroeconomic outlook. According... 2011-09-21