Search results

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) agreed a bilateral currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on 28 September, allowing for the exchange of up to AED5bn and EGP42bn – equivalent in both cases to around $1.4bn – between the two institutions.

Two Saudi state-owned bodies, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), launched a new electric vehicle (EV) charging company on 8 October, in which ownership is split 75/25 in the PIF’s favour.

Saudi Arabia's government has said its budget will slip into deficit this year, amid a fall in economic activity which is largely due to the voluntary limits the country has placed on its oil production. The budget deficits are expected to continue for the three following years.

Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has set up the €100m ($106m) Spain Oman Private Equity Fund (Sopef) II with the Spanish government’s development finance institution Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (Cofides). The move extends a relationship which began with Sopef I launched in 2018 which is now almost fully invested and comes amid a number of recent international deals by the Omani fund.

Dubai’s government plans to cut its debts by AED29bn ($7.9bn) this year, in a sign the emirate may be getting to grips with what has been a key economic vulnerability. In a statement, Dubai said it would pay off part of a AED20bn loan from the Central Bank of the UAE and Abu Dhabi government, which was provided after the 2008/09 financial crisis.

The Kuwaiti government has said it has 'updated' its economic reform strategy and pushed back the final date by five years to 2040, citing the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine war as reasons for the delay. 

Fitch Ratings upgraded Oman's long-term foreign-currency rating by one notch on 25 September, taking it from BB to BB+, with a stable outlook.

Recent gloomy reports on a downturn in Saudi economic growth were underpinned by the announcement that Riyadh was extending its 1m b/d production cut until end-2023. However, the higher prices are not enough to make up for the fall in output. 

With the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and other state-owned bodies driving many developments in the Saudi economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s annual Article IV consultation places the development of a Sovereign Asset-Liability Management (Salm) framework as "a high priority to support fiscal sustainability".  

Among the issues raised in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s 2023 Article IV consultation, published in early September, were notable comments on the Saudi rial’s peg to the US dollar and measures to crack down on local and international corruption.

Recent data give some grounds for optimism that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s bets on stimulating non-oil growth and liberalising society is yielding dividends, but an IMF report and other recent analysis show just how much further the country needs to go to end its dependency on oil and gas revenues.

The Saudi economy fell into a recession in Q2, with initial estimates pointing to a quarter-on-quarter decline of 0.1% in GDP during the period, following a 1.4% fall in Q1. While non-oil activity grew, the limits the government has imposed on oil output meant the oil sector contracted by 1.4%.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has entered into his second decade as ruler in a strong position, having dealt with the regional blockade, the Covid pandemic and the Fifa World Cup. This leaves Qatar now in search of a new direction: while positioning itself as a regional mediator provides a focus for its multi-polar foreign policy, Doha has yet to identify a new national purpose on the domestic stage. 

Kuwait's National Assembly (parliament) agreed to set up a High Election Commission to supervise future elections, a role until now held by the Ministry of Interior. The commission will be run by a panel of five senior judges and be overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

Slowing growth: The UAE economy grew by 3.8% in Q1 2023, compared to Q1 22, according to Federal Centre for Competitiveness and Statistics data issued in early August. GDP was AED418.3bn ($113.9bn) in the January-March period, when non-oil GDP expanded by 4.5%.