Economy

According to latest data, the Central Bank of Egypt's stock of foreign currency reserves fell to US$27.2bn in May, from US$36.0bn at the start of the year. The central bank has been... 2011-06-27

We stand by our view that high commodity prices will keep inflationary pressures relatively elevated in Jordan throughout 2011. Although we expect food price inflation to keep headline... 2011-06-09

Although not officially linked to the idea of GCC expansion, the US$400mn grant that Saudi Arabia offered Jordan in early June is supportive of this move. For the time being, no such... 2011-06-07

On the back of a hurting tourism sector and a weakening investment drive (both domestic as well as foreign) in Jordan, we have revised down our real GDP growth forecasts for 2011 to... 2011-05-27

We have revised up our end-2011 consumer price inflation forecast to 7.1% from 6.0% previously. Given the ongoing uptrend across the global commodities complex, as food and fuel account... 2011-05-26

The outlook for Lebanon's economy over the coming quarters has become decidedly less optimistic since the start of 2011. Although we had previously highlighted how external headwinds... 2011-05-26

With soaring food prices and social unrest continuing across the Middle East and North Africa, we expect Jordan's government to increase expenditure in 2011 in a bid to pre-empt protest... 2011-05-26

From a fundamental macroeconomic perspective, there is very little to like about the Egyptian pound. Given the combination of weaker growth, a burgeoning current account deficit, interest... 2011-05-25

BMI View: We see considerable growth potential in Syria, though caution that foreign investment does not come without its risks (as BMI's business environment rating of 31.5/100... 2011-04-20

A combination of wage increases, increased subsidies, and lower tourism revenues are the main factors underpinning our view that Egypt's public finances will deteriorate in 2011. To... 2011-04-19