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Egypt Inks New IMF Program, Hikes Power Prices
...TERNATIONAL RESERVES DOWN ALMOST $10BN (21%) OVER LAST THREE MONTHS TO LOWEST SINCE 2017 ($BN) SOURCE: CBE. SUBSIDY EXTENSION Although subsidies on oil products have been largely removed, with Cairo implementing an automatic pricing mechanism since September last year, the pl...
Volume: 63Issue: 24Published at Fri, 12 Jun 2020 -
Lebanon-Sonatrach Fuel Scandal Lays Bare Energy Sector Corruption
...ddy and Raymond Rahme, who have a variety of business interests – including alleged ties to the Barzani family in Iraqi Kurdistan. Around 2017, the firm emerged as a heavyweight in the Lebanese products sector, suspiciously underbidding in several gasoil and gasoline contracts – an oil trader te...
Volume: 63Issue: 22Published at Fri, 29 May 2020 -
Algeria’s Revised 2020 Budget: More Questions Than Answers
...rex reserves which had already fallen to $60bn by the end of March, just 30% of their level six years earlier (MEES, 1 May). President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has ruled out both foreign debt and the country’s previous ruse of printing money (MEES, 13 October 2017) as a way of financing the fiscal de...
Volume: 63Issue: 21Published at Fri, 22 May 2020 -
Saudi Reverts To Austerity To Shore Up Government Finances
...llowing urging from the IMF – to adopt a more expansionary economic strategy in late 2017 (MEES, 22 December 2017). The government pushed plans to balance the budget back from 2020 to 2023 as it sought to invigorate the private sector through fiscal stimulus. Large budget deficits were therefore ma...
Volume: 63Issue: 20Published at Fri, 15 May 2020 -
Egypt Gets Much-Needed IMF Cash
...URCE: ECB, IMF, MEES. EGYPT: PRICES AT THE PUMP RESERVES SLUMP Egypt’s net international reserves fell to $37.0bn at the end of April, the lowest end-monthly figure since November 2017 when reserves were on the opposite trajectory with the influx of IMF cash. Reserves rose to...
Volume: 63Issue: 20Published at Fri, 15 May 2020 -
Qatar Slumps Into Recession
...ha, with total exports of $16.4bn over Q1 the lowest level since 3Q 2017. Within this, gas and condensate revenues of $10.8bn were the lowest since 4Q 2017. It appears all but inevitable that revenues will fall further this quarter. ...
Volume: 63Issue: 19Published at Fri, 08 May 2020 -
Qatar Export Revenue Drop
...Qatar’s export revenues tumbled to their lowest levels since 2017 in Q1 with worse on the way. The petrostate’s export slate is dominated by oil and even more importantly gas. Q1 export revenues came in at $16.4bn. Of this 85% was from hydrocarbons, the lowest figure since 3Q 2017. Ov...
Volume: 63Issue: 18Published at Fri, 01 May 2020 -
Saudi Arabia Announces Borrowing, Reserves Draw-down Plan
...ditional $32bn from its foreign reserves. Foreign reserves exited 2019 at $500bn, up slightly on 2017 and 2018 levels. The kingdom was already planning to run a massive $49.9bn budget deficit in 2020, the highest deficit since 2017, as it seeks to stimulate private-sector economic activity (MEES, 13 De...
Volume: 63Issue: 17Published at Fri, 24 Apr 2020 -
Kuwait Economy: Turbulent Times
...Kuwait’s economy is set to contract for the first time since 2017 as its core oil-sector is ravaged by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy. Kuwait’s economy was already slowing prior to the onset of the pandemic, as a weak global oil sector weighed heavily. Preliminary go...
Volume: 63Issue: 17Published at Fri, 24 Apr 2020 -
Saudi Economy: Modest Diversification Efforts Face Bleak Outlook
...oject as it depends on the extent to which not just Saudi Arabia, but also themajor oil-consuming economies, are affected by Covid-19. However, it seems inevitable that it will be considerably sharper than 2017’s 0.7% contraction. The weak economic performance in 2017 was the key driver behind Ri...
Volume: 63Issue: 14Published at Fri, 03 Apr 2020 -
Oil Price Crash Puts Vulnerable Mena Economies At Even Greater Risk
...so see a slump. Doha projected a modest $100mn budget surplus this year and may well flip into deficit for the first time since 2017 (MEES, 31 January). KEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS *Without implementing swingeing cuts Saudi Arabia’s 2020 budget deficit risks ballooning by 70%. *Th...
Volume: 63Issue: 11Published at Fri, 13 Mar 2020 -
Oman Oil & Gas Revenues Flatline in 2019
...roughputs. On the refining front, the completion of the Sohar refinery project in late 2017, enabled Muscat to increase key products (diesel, jet-kero, gasoline, LPG) output from 170,000 b/d to over 220,000 b/d (MEES, 26 January 2018). This, combined with slowing growth in domestic consumption, saw key pr...
Volume: 63Issue: 09Published at Fri, 28 Feb 2020 -
Kuwait LNG Imports Rise In 2019
...18, this would still fall shy of 2017’s record 3.5mn tons. Nearly 60% of Kuwait’s power capacity comprises from gas-fired plants, and upgrades here in recent years have enabled more efficient generation. As such Kuwait generated record amounts of electricity in 2019 (MEES, 14 February), despite ga...
Volume: 63Issue: 08Published at Fri, 21 Feb 2020 -
Algeria’s Sonatrach: New CEO, Same Old Challenges
...e jury is still out on whether a reduced tax take of around 20 percentage points will be enough to catch the attention of IOC cash (MEES, 10 January). 1: IN AMENAS OUTPUT HAS GRADUALLY FALLEN SINCE A LATE 2016 COMPRESSION PROJECT HELPED BOOST 2017 PRODUCTION TO AN 8.4BCM RECORD SOURCE: EQ...
Volume: 63Issue: 06Published at Fri, 07 Feb 2020 -
IMF Highlights Kuwait’s Economic Troubles
...ve turned to borrowing in order to fill the budget blackholes, Kuwait’s fractious politics have made this impossible. Unable to get a new debt law through parliament, Kuwait has instead resorted to drawing from its General Reserves Fund since 2017 – a clearly unsustainable strategy. The IMF says th...
Volume: 63Issue: 05Published at Fri, 31 Jan 2020 -
Qatar Trade: Surplus Dips In 2019 As LNG Pricing Pressure Augurs Worse To Come
...Lower energy prices caused Qatar’s trade surplus to dip in 2019. An increasingly well-supplied LNG market points towards a further slide in 2020. Qatar’s economy has proven resilient ever since the onset of the regional blockade in June 2017 (MEES, 9 June 2017) as its hydrocarbon-driven ex...
Volume: 63Issue: 05Published at Fri, 31 Jan 2020 -
Kuwait Budgets For Mega Deficit In 2020-21
...curate, then it will run up a cumulative $144bn deficit over the seven years to March 2021. Its last budget surplus was $16.5bn in 2013-14. This is particularly problematic as the government has been unable to issue new debt since October 2017 due to legislative gridlock holding up the passage of a ne...
Volume: 63Issue: 03Published at Fri, 17 Jan 2020 -
Qatar Budget Surplus To Shrink In 2020
...wards a $4.9bn surplus, although lower H2 oil prices could ultimately bring this down. Following on from 2018’s $4.1bn surplus, the 2020 budget sets the scene for a third consecutive surplus. However, even the combined surpluses over 2018-20 fall short of the deficit that Doha racked up in 2017 al...
Volume: 62Issue: 51-52Published at Fri, 20 Dec 2019 -
Saudi Budgets For Bigger Deficit, Banks On 2020 Gdp Boost
...nsiderably higher than 2017 levels. Riyadh expects spending this year to come in some $15bn under budget and puts this down to a combination of efficiency gains and greater involvement of the private sector “reducing the need to finance these projects from the budget.” GROWTH SET TO SURGE? Sa...
Volume: 62Issue: 50Published at Fri, 13 Dec 2019 -
Egypt: Current Account Deficit Widens Despite Strengthening Growth
...a surplus of $13.7bn the following year and $12.8bn for 2017-18 before slipping to slight deficit for 2018-19 (see chart 2). 1. EGYPT'S CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT ROSE TO $8.2BN FOR 2018-19 AMID LOWER REMITTANCES AND RECORD INVESTMENT OUTFLOWS ($BN) EGYPTIAN FINANCIAL YEARS RUN FROM JULY-JU...
Volume: 62Issue: 49Published at Fri, 06 Dec 2019