- Sort by:
- Score
- Published ▼
-
Bahrain Taps Debt Market For Record $3bn
...gative reviews in recent months. It is therefore paying considerably higher rates on the bond than its fellow GCC states. S&P lowered its assessment of Bahrain to BB-, three notches below investment grade, in December 2016 and furthermore added a negative watch on 2 June. “At the end of February 2017...
Volume: 60Issue: 38Published at Fri, 22 Sep 2017 -
Oman Oil $1bn Loan
...er Libor with the firm flagging it up as a “competitive new source of funding [which] will enable us to reduce reliance on government funding, so [the government] can redeploy resources to other areas of the economy” (MEES, 1 July 2016). Faced with a gaping 2017 budget deficit of OR3bn ($7.8bn) ca...
Volume: 60Issue: 38Published at Fri, 22 Sep 2017 -
Algeria Shuns Foreign Debt… By Printing Money?
...endments to the Money and Credit Law intended to allow the country’s central bank, Banque d’Algerie, to provide funds to the state treasury to cover a budget deficit which ballooned to a record $33bn last year. This followed the collapse in hydrocarbons revenue, the source of some 40% of budget revenue in 2017...
Volume: 60Issue: 37Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2017 -
Iraq Budget Amendments Push Projected Deficit Back Above $20bn
...Iraq’s 2017 budget has been amended as a result of a 21 August ruling by the country’s Supreme Federal Court. The court was ruling on the government’s appeal against amendments to the budget made by parliament in July – underlining the fractious nature of Iraqi politics and the government’s fr...
Volume: 60Issue: 36Published at Fri, 08 Sep 2017 -
Iran Eyes $30bn EU Credit After $13bn Korea Deals
...ndensate splitters at the Siraf Refineries Park in the Assaluyeh region (MEES, 23 June). Iran needs massive amounts of money for investment following over a decade of international sanctions and isolation from international financial markets. Under its sixth five-year plan for 2017-22 Iran’s oil in...
Volume: 60Issue: 35Published at Fri, 01 Sep 2017 -
Saudi-China $20bn Fund
...passing the Malacca Straits. The idea is that Aramco will ultimately supply the bulk of the refinery’s crude feedstock. Long China’s top supplier, Saudi Arabia has been relegated to third place behind Russia and Angola for the first seven months of 2017 (see p7). However, “the goal is not only that th...
Volume: 60Issue: 35Published at Fri, 01 Sep 2017 -
Oman Set To Shrink Deficit, But Not By Much
...urces of finance in a bid to plug its 2017 deficit. It hit the market for a $5bn conventional bond in March (MEES, 10 March) and raised $2bn from its first ever international Sukuk in late May (MEES, 9 June). This seemed more-or-less sufficient to cover the OR3bn deficit ($7.8bn at a fixed OR1=$2....
Volume: 60Issue: 34Published at Fri, 25 Aug 2017 -
Saudi Cuts Deficit, But Only Thanks To Higher Oil Price
...also some 26% less than the SR198bn ($52.8bn) figure in the original 2017 budget (MEES, 6 January). The improvement is thanks to the 62.7% (SR82.1bn) increase in H1 oil revenues versus a year earlier. Saudi Arab Light crude averaged $50.4/B in H1 2017, up 38.4% on the H1 2016 price of $36...
Volume: 60Issue: 33Published at Fri, 18 Aug 2017 -
Iran’s Rohani Targets More Foreign Investment, Shadow Lenders
...eraged 3.8mn b/d compared to 2.85mn b/d in 2015 (MEES, 4 August). Latest Central Bank of Iran (CBI) statistics show that real GDP grew at 12.5% for the Iranian year ending 20 March 2017, driven by the rise in oil production. But the economy in general is still suffering from lack of liquidity, large de...
Volume: 60Issue: 32Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017 -
IMF Greenlights Iraq Cash, Calls For More Reform
...w phase following last month’s liberation of Mosul. The IMF points out that the authorities are maintaining the peg of the Iraqi dinar to the US dollar, which provides “a key anchor to the economy.” But much work is required in 2017-18 to boost non-oil revenue and reduce current expenditure. Pl...
Volume: 60Issue: 31Published at Fri, 04 Aug 2017 -
Lebanon To Hike Taxes
...x measures as a first step towards fiscal reform, paving the way for ratifying the 2017 budget for the first time since 2005. Lebanon’s draft budget was approved by the cabinet in March and submitted to parliament for approval. It projects total expenditure of $15.8bn and a fiscal deficit of $5.2bn, or...
Volume: 60Issue: 31Published at Fri, 04 Aug 2017 -
IMF Cuts Saudi Growth Forecast, Warns On Global Trade Headwinds
...The IMF is relaxed on the economic outlook for the two largest GCC economies, Saudi and the UAE. But rising global protectionism presents a left-field risk. The latest IMF forecasts downgrade Saudi growth for 2017 to just 0.1% (from 0.4% three months earlier) and to 1.1% (from 1.3%) for 20...
Volume: 60Issue: 30Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2017 -
Saudi $4.5bn Debut Domestic Sukuk
...198bn ($53bn) in 2017, down from the record figures of $79bn and $96bn in 2016 and 2015 respectively (MEES, 6 January). The actual deficit at SR26bn in Q1 was well below the SR50bn implied by the 2017 budget. However Q1 figures were buoyed by oil prices which averaged $54.6/B (for Brent); they were ar...
Volume: 60Issue: 30Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2017 -
Gulf Bond Issues To Set New Highs As Cash Crunch Continues
...going funding needs. International bond issues by GCC states has been a standout success story in financial markets this year. And on many fronts, it’s a story that is only just beginning. The GCC states collectively issued $25bn worth of international bonds in the first half of 2017, more than ha...
Volume: 60Issue: 29Published at Fri, 21 Jul 2017 -
Iran’s Budget Deficit Soars In 2016-17
...int Comprehensive Plan of Action, lower prices meant Iran’s oil revenue rose by only 10% during 2016-17; its share in total budget revenue shrank by 3%. However for calendar 2017 Iran is on course to see oil revenue rise by a whopping 38% ($15.6bn) versus 2016, the result of both higher prices and hi...
Volume: 60Issue: 29Published at Fri, 21 Jul 2017 -
Syria’s Ongoing Conflict Inflicts Huge Loss Of $226bn To GDP
...om $1=S£47 in 2011, the report notes. The local currency has further depreciated of late, with the Central Bank of Syria quoting an exchange rate of $1=S£500 in mid-June 2017. ...
Volume: 60Issue: 28Published at Fri, 14 Jul 2017 -
Saudi’s Economy Gets Boost From MSCI Announcement
...SE in September 2017. The addition to MSCI’s EM watch list marks a significant achievement in Saudi’s journey to liberalize its capital markets which started in earnest in May 2015. The country’s main stock benchmark, the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), gained 5.5% the day after the announcement, th...
Volume: 60Issue: 27Published at Fri, 07 Jul 2017 -
Kuwait Trade Surplus Falls In Q1
...Kuwait recorded a $5.3bn trade surplus in the first quarter of 2017, up $4bn on the same period in 2016. But as this is primarily down to oil revenues of $12bn, falling crude prices in Q2 imply an imminent drop-off. At $12.1bn, oil revenues represented 89% of total exports in Q1 (see ta...
Volume: 60Issue: 26Published at Fri, 30 Jun 2017 -
Cairo Fuel Price Hike
...bsidy spend figure assumptions for both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 budgets (MEES, 9 June). The latest figure given by Mr Ismail for the still-not-approved 2017-18 budget (for the year beginning 1 July) was E£145bn on 6 June. But following this latest round of fuel price increases the expected 2017-18 fu...
Volume: 60Issue: 26Published at Fri, 30 Jun 2017 -
Algeria: Deficit Down As IMF Warns On Over-Zealous Consolidation Plans
...venues rose by 43% ($4.5bn) to $14.9bn for the first five months of 2017 (see table). But strong oil price gains in early 2017 have since partly been reversed (see p16). Prices for Saharan Blend averaged around $47.5/B in June, in line with Brent, the futures curve for which is currently averaging ju...
Volume: 60Issue: 26Published at Fri, 30 Jun 2017