1. Softening Oil Sector Puts Brakes On Saudi Growth

    ...in Q2 according to preliminary government figures, to 5.5% from Q1’s 5.4%. It has now notched up five consecutive quarters above 5% for the first time since 2014. However, given the extent to which the economy is dominated by the oil and gas sector – which is itself undergoing an extensive ca...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 04 Aug 2023
  2. Qatar Export Revenues Soar Amid Tight LNG Market

    ...port revenues of $63.1bn – and ought to overtake 2021 full-year figures of $73.56bn during the current quarter. For 2022 as a whole a figure close to 2014’s $113bn hydrocarbon exports is on the cards. The eight-year high export figures pushed Qatar’s trade surplus up to $47.6bn over the first half of...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 05 Aug 2022
  3. Qatar Export Revenues Soar To Highest Level Since 2018

    ...bn+/quarter days of 2014 when oil prices were around $100/B. While those prices remain a long way off, Qatar is investing heavily in a bid to boost export revenues substantially. Qatar earlier this year took FID on the four-train $28.75bn North Field East (NFE) expansion project which is slated to in...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 06 Aug 2021
  4. Qatar Export Revenues Hit Three-Year High Despite Continued Embargo

    ...gh of more than $80bn for 2018 as a whole (see chart 1). Still well down on the years to 2014 where Qatar racked up $130bn+ revenue. Provisional trade data show that Qatar’s export revenue rose to $20.8bn in 2Q 2018, the highest since the first quarter in 2015 (see chart 2). But these gains also sh...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 03 Aug 2018
  5. Kuwait Fiscal Deficit Falls By 19% To $16bn For 2017-18

    ...y fall below $10bn. After recording successive budget surpluses since 2000, Kuwait in 2014-15 posted its first budget deficit of $8.9bn following the collapse in oil prices in mid-2014, and has yet to emerge from the red. CATCH 22          Total revenue in 2017-18 jumped by 20% in real te...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 03 Aug 2018
  6. Saudi Reserves Down Again But Deficit Narrows

    ...Saudi foreign exchange reserves fell to $570bn in June, down 22% from their peak level of $732bn at the end of 2014, as the kingdom continues to raid its savings to maintain investment in its oil and non-oil economies, along with the expense of military operations in neighboring Yemen and in Sy...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 05 Aug 2016
  7. IMF Approves Morocco PLL

    ...ternal conditions. Morocco’s first PLL arrangement for about $6.21bn was approved in August 2012, while the second one for about $5bn was passed in July 2014 (MEES, 1 August 2014). Commenting on the latest facility, the IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said that despite the di...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 05 Aug 2016
  8. UAE Takes The Lead In Scrapping Energy Subsidies

    ...nsumption of diesel and gasoline averaged 63,000 b/d and 73,000 b/d respectively in 2014. For 2014 as a whole the discount of pump prices for gasoline and diesel to international prices in effect cost the UAE authorities some $970mn. The Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), the retailer owned by the Du...

    Volume: 58
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 31 Jul 2015
  9. Algeria Ducks Decisive Action With Supplementary 2015 Budget

    ...beit modest, cut falls on the capital budget, which is reduced by 2.8% (see table). The effect of weaker oil prices on Algeria’s fiscal balance is palpable, with the latest trade figures showing a deficit of $7.78bn, compared with a surplus of $3.17bn for the first half of 2015 (see table). The 2014...

    Volume: 58
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 31 Jul 2015
  10. Morocco Bags IMF, EU, Qatari Cash

    ...dustrial users and reduced the per-unit subsidy on diesel, with further reductions planned for the remainder of the year. Subsidies are to fall to MD35bn ($4.20bn) in 2014 (3.7% of GDP) from MD42bn ($5.04bn) in 2013 (4.7% of GDP), with a fall to 3% of GDP by 2017, according to the IMF and the Ministry of Ec...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 01 Aug 2014
  11. Egypt To Extend Gas Grid With World Bank Help

    ...w Constitution,” World Bank Vice President for the MENA region Inger Andersen says. The loan to Tunisia is part of a $1.2bn 2014 World Bank financial package (MEES, 6 June). The package also includes up to $750mn to support government reforms and promote growth and job creation, $100mn for a cr...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 01 Aug 2014
  12. Egypt’s New Budget Targets 14.5% Deficit Cut

    ...r a return to democracy by early 2014; and the recent containment of the government’s debt-financing costs, below post-revolution peaks. Moody’s added that the maintenance of the negative outlook on Egypt’s Caa1 rating is driven by Moody’s view of the country’s considerable economic and political ch...

    Volume: 56
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 02 Aug 2013