Economy

The Bank of Israel (BoI) raised its policy rate 25 basis points (bps) to 2.50% on February 21, as we expected, and we maintain our view that further rate hikes are on the cards (see... 2011-02-22

Our outlook on the Egyptian economy has changed markedly in the past several weeks, with the explosion in political unrest since late January forcing a downward revision to our GDP... 2011-02-14

For those willing to cope with Syria's unfavourable business environment, we see considerable growth potential, as the country offers numerous economic opportunities. We stress that... 2011-02-02

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... 2011-02-01

Our forecasts of 5.5% consumer price inflation by end-2011 in Jordan, up from an estimated 5.1% in 2010, reflect the soaring global food prices. Nevertheless, we highlight further... 2011-02-01

Egypt's trade balance deteriorated to US$6.6bn through the first three months of FY2010-2011 (July-September), compared to US$6.2bn through the same time period last year. According... 2011-01-27

Lebanon's trade deficit continued to widen through November 2010, coming in at US$12.7bn, compared to US$11.7bn in the same period last year. Although exports increased more than imports... 2011-01-27

Consumer price inflation in Lebanon ticked slightly higher in September according to latest data, coming in at 4.0% y-o-y, compared to 3.4% y-o-y and 2.9% in August and July respectively.... 2010-11-19

Egypt's stock of foreign currency reserves hit an all-time high in September, according to recently released data from the central bank, coming in at US$35.5bn. That said, the pace... 2010-11-19

We forecast Jordan's budget deficit to narrow over the coming years with revenue growth picking up at a faster pace than that of expenditures. Indeed, we project the deficit narrowing... 2010-11-19