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Saudi 2018 Budget Delays Austerity To Jump-Start Flat Economy
...onomic stimulus alongside planned economic reforms will facilitate non-oil sector growth – a key pillar of Vision 2030. The 2018 budget was launched on 19 December. In an accompanying statement the kingdom stated that the economy contracted 0.5% in 2017. An economy mired in the doldrums would ce...
Volume: 60Issue: 51/52Published at Fri, 22 Dec 2017 -
Iran Struggles To Attract Finance As Trump Ramps Up The Pressure
...ong more than 30 foreign companies that have qualified for oil and gas projects in Iran since sanctions were eased, the much touted re-opening of Iran’s oil and gas sector to IOCs is at risk of stalling. Iran was hoping to have signed three deals with IOCs under its new IPC terms by March 2017 (ME...
Volume: 60Issue: 51/52Published at Fri, 22 Dec 2017 -
Saudi Powers Ahead With Reform Plans
...halve its budget deficit to $42.5bn for 2017 – but this is due to higher oil prices rather than any new policies from Riyadh. Non-oil revenue, the ‘holy grail’ of Vision 2030, is expected to grow by only $1.2bn or 2.4% this year (MEES, 24 November). Riyadh’s ideas for broadening its economy ra...
Volume: 60Issue: 50Published at Fri, 15 Dec 2017 -
Iran Cuts Budget Sharply For 2018-19
...Iran unveiled its draft 2018-19 budget this week. On the surface it’s relatively unchanged from the current year (2017-18), with modest revenue and spending gains penciled in. But, with the IMF pegging inflation at 10%, the budget is in effect sharply reduced in real terms. The new budget co...
Volume: 60Issue: 50Published at Fri, 15 Dec 2017 -
Tunisia Oil Output Rebound From Protests, Fundamental Problems Remain
...nisia, for whom their operations in the country were a key or the only asset, have either quit the country or gone bankrupt. The number of active permits fell to 31 at end-2015 and a mere 21 as of end-October. Ireland’s Circle went bust at the start of 2017 (whilst Canada-listed SDX bought Circle’s Egypt an...
Volume: 60Issue: 49Published at Fri, 08 Dec 2017 -
Jordan Budgets For Lower Deficit, Cost Rationalization In 2018
...venues. Unveiling the draft budget to parliament on 25 November, Finance Minister Umar Malhas, said that the deficit (after foreign grants) is projected to fall to JD543mn ($766mn at JD1=$1.41), or 1.8% of GDP in 2018 from the revised JD752mn, or 2.6% of GDP in 2017. Budget expenditure in 2018 will ri...
Volume: 60Issue: 48Published at Fri, 01 Dec 2017 -
Saudi Deficit Set To Fall 50% In 2017
...Higher oil prices mean Saudi Arabia is on track to halve its deficit to $42.5bn for 2017, the lowest figure since 2014. Latest figures for the first nine months of 2017 show revenue rising by 23% year-on-year thanks to a 32% increase in oil prices (from $38.6/B to $50.9/B). For 2017 as a wh...
Volume: 60Issue: 47Published at Fri, 24 Nov 2017 -
Gulf SWFs Overhaul Their Strategies For A ‘Lower For Longer’ World
...lling roughly $60bn of its dollar reserves in the second quarter of 2015 alone. According to the most recent figures available, SAMA’s net foreign reserves fell to a new six-year low of $485bn at the end of September (MEES, 3 November). The reserves fell $50.6bn in the first nine months of 2017...
Volume: 60Issue: 46Published at Fri, 17 Nov 2017 -
Adnoc Makes $9bn Splash In International Finance Markets
...onomies. Saudi Arabia is the biggest government lender, with a recent $12.5bn bond. The Abu Dhabi government last month issued a $10bn three-tranche international bond and the Adcop bonds take to $53.5bn the amount raised by GCC international bond issues so far 2017 (MEES, 6 October). Among state pe...
Volume: 60Issue: 45Published at Fri, 10 Nov 2017 -
Saudi Eyes Blowout Budget For 2018 Despite Low Oil Revenue
...ivate sector which has hitherto been reliant on state patronage. Mr Jad’an says Saudi Arabia plans to boost spending to SR928bn ($247.5bn) in 2018. On this face of it this is a 4.3% increase from the SR890bn ($237.3bn) budget figure for 2017. However actual spending in the first half of 2017, at SR...
Volume: 60Issue: 44Published at Fri, 03 Nov 2017 -
IMF Latest Breakeven Oil Price* Estimates ($/B)
...FOR GCC COUNTRIES... …AND OTHER KEY MENA OIL EXPORTERS *OIL PRICE AT WHICH FISCAL BALANCE IS ZERO. SOURCE: IMF REGIONAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, OCT 2017....
Volume: 60Issue: 44Published at Fri, 03 Nov 2017 -
Iran Tells Banks To Comply
...ogress in implementing the set “Action Plan” (MEES, 1 July 2016). The waiver was extended in June 2017 for a further unspecified period of time. Ensuring compliance by these institutions comes at a crucial time as more US sanctions loom. President Donald Trump in mid-October refused to certify Ir...
Volume: 60Issue: 44Published at Fri, 03 Nov 2017 -
Saudi Calls For Dreamers To Radically Reshape Economy
...s funding is derived from external sources, would leave a big gap in the kingdom’s finances. The kingdom is on track for a $40.7bn deficit in 2017 alone. But perhaps the more serious challenge to Vision 2030 is the willingness of the average Saudi citizens to alter their way of life and culture in...
Volume: 60Issue: 43Published at Fri, 27 Oct 2017 -
Bahrain’s Nogaholding Raises $1bn
...18. With the plunge on oil prices since mid-2014 Bahrain is increasingly facing financial pressure to balance its fiscal deficit which is projected to hit $7.1bn in its two-year budget for 2017-18. The oil price assumption for the two years is $55/B, which looks feasible. But the government says it ne...
Volume: 60Issue: 43Published at Fri, 27 Oct 2017 -
Iran’s Budget Deficit Set To Soar To $13.3bn This Year
...Iran is on track to record a steep increase in its budget deficit to $13.3bn in the fiscal year 2017-18 (from 21 March), up 39% from last year’s $9.6bn deficit (MEES, 21 July). This is based on government figures for the first five months of the year, when Iran already racked up a $5.6bn de...
Volume: 60Issue: 42Published at Fri, 20 Oct 2017 -
IMF On Saudi: Reform Needed But Not Too Fast
...nsolidation is beginning to bear fruit, reforms to improve the business climate are gaining momentum; and a framework for accountability and transparency in the government sector is largely in place. The IMF expects the Saudi fiscal deficit to fall to 9.3% of GDP in 2017, substantially lower than 2016’s 17...
Volume: 60Issue: 41Published at Fri, 13 Oct 2017 -
Algeria Reverses 2017 Austerity In Free-Spending 2018 Budget
...Algeria is on its third strategy in as many years for ‘dealing’ with low oil prices. 2015-16 saw ‘full steam ahead’ with fingers crossed prices would rapidly rebound. 2017 saw it slam on the brakes as the coffers ran dry. Now Algiers plans to totally reverse course, firing up the printing pr...
Volume: 60Issue: 41Published at Fri, 13 Oct 2017 -
Mena Top 3 For 2017-22 ‘New Renewables’ Growth*
...CAPACITY GROWTH (GW): UAE & MOROCCO PLAN IMPRESSIVE-SEEMING SOLAR AND WIND ADDITIONS... ...BUT MOROCCO IS THE ONLY COUNTRY WHERE RENEWABLES WILL BE A KEY PART OF THE 2022 POWER MIX (GENERATION BY SOURCE, TWh) *IRAN IS TOP INCLUDING HYDROPOWER. SOURCE: IEA ‘RENEWABLES 2017...
Volume: 60Issue: 41Published at Fri, 13 Oct 2017 -
Abu Dhabi In $10bn Bond, Prices Tighter Than Saudi
...bt to help bridge budget deficits brought about by low oil prices since mid-2014. At the same time investor demand for GCC bond issues remains strong. According to reports quoting the Abu Dhabi bond prospectus, the emirate expects its fiscal deficit to narrow to $3.74bn in 2017 from $7.05bn in 20...
Volume: 60Issue: 40Published at Fri, 06 Oct 2017 -
Algeria’s Risky ‘Cash Creation’ Plan: From One Pocket To The Other
...ned banks – equating to 87% of the total liquidity. Then in July 2017, the rate was further lowered from 8% to 4%, generating a further AD347bn - of which state banks accounted for AD301bn. However, while this helped to create more liquidity in the banking system, adjusting the reserve re...
Volume: 60Issue: 39Published at Fri, 29 Sep 2017