OMAN LOOKS CONFIDENT

Throughout the mid-1980s, the Arab Gulf economies began to look definitely shaky as oil prices performed almost acrobatic manoeuvres. With large financial reserves inherited from more buoyant times -- and plenty of crude reserves to rely upon for the future -- the big Opec actors in the Gulf could afford to bide their time. The smaller producers faced a more problematic outlook. Oman was a case in point.