Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
More Diversified Trade Can Make Middle East and Central Asia More Resilient
May 13, 2024--Reducing trade barriers, easing regulatory constraints, and upgrading infrastructure can mitigate challenges and help countries leverage new opportunities.
Dislocations from the pandemic, geoeconomic fragmentation, and Russia's war in Ukraine have shifted world trade dynamics.
While this has created challenges, the redirection of trade has also generated new opportunities, particularly for the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Since the war began, the region's economies have shown continued resilience and trade activity in many countries has surged, fueled in part by alternative trade routes. In 2022, Armenia, Georgia, and the Kyrgyz Republic saw their share of trade excluding oil and gas with major partners such as China, the European Union, Russia, and the United States rise as much as 60 percent. Hence, despite some moderation, gross domestic product growth in the Caucasus and Central Asia is projected to remain robust at 3.9 percent in 2024 before picking up to 4.8 percent in 2025.
Source: imf.org
Egypt: Economic downturn draws more investment from Gulf countries
March 28, 2024-- Opportunities in education and healthcare are high on the agenda for Saudi and the United Arab Emirates.
Over the last three years, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have dominated Egypt's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) scene, with activity set to intensify within the healthcare and education sectors in the midst of the current economic slump.
Source: theafricareport.com
IMF Country Report-Qatar: Selected Issues From Hydrocarbon to Hightech: Mapping the Economic Transformation of QATAR1
February 7, 2024--Qatar's state-led, hydrocarbon intensive growth model has delivered rapid growth and substantial
improvements in living standards over the past several decades. Guided by the National Vision 2030,
an economic transformation is underway toward a more dynamic, diversified, knowledge-based, sustainable, and private sector-led growth model.
As Qatar is finalizing its Third National Development Strategy to make the final leap toward Vision 2030, this paper aims to identify key structural reforms needed, quantify their potential impact on the economy, and shed light on the design of a comprehensive reform agenda ahead.
The paper finds that labor market reforms could bring substantial benefits, particularly reforms related to increasing the share of skilled foreign workers. Certain reforms to further improve the business environment, such as improving access to finance, could also have large growth impact. A comprehensive, well-integrated, and properly sequenced reform package to exploit complementarities across reforms could boost Qatar's potential growth significantly.
IMF Staff Country Report-Gulf Cooperation Council: Economic Prospects and Policy Challenges for the GCC Countries
December 14, 2023--Summary:
The GCC region's non-hydrocarbon growth momentum remains strong, driven by higher domestic demand, increased gross capital inflows, and reform implementation. Oil production-which depends on OPEC+ decisions -will be subdued in the near term. Inflation is contained and current account surpluses are high.
Fiscal balances remain healthy, supported by fiscal reforms and high oil prices. The primary non-oil deficits are expected to decrease to 24 percent of GDP by 2028, with higher non-oil revenue reflecting sustained fiscal and structural reforms and contained expenditures. High global uncertainty is weighing on the outlook.
Source: imf.org
How the Middle East and Central Asia Can Better Address Climate Challenges
November 29, 2023--Investment of up to 4 percent of GDP annually is needed to ensure climate resilience and meet emissions reduction targets
The Middle East and Central Asia face a sobering climate reality. Temperatures have risen twice as fast as the global average, and rainfall has become scarcer and less predictable. Fragile states are disproportionally affected and conflicts may worsen. The toll this is taking on people and economies is poised to worsen.
This week's United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, provides a forum to discuss the policies needed to stave off more disruptive climate change. It comes at a vital time: our new analysis shows current global commitments would reduce emissions by just 11 percent by the end of this decade, well short of the 25 percent to 50 percent that's needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. All countries must step up.
Source: imf.org
IMF Staff Completes 2023 Article IV Mission to Qatar
November 21, 2023--Qatar's economic growth has normalized in 2023 following the World Cup-driven boom. Continued normalization is expected in the near term, with a favorable medium-term outlook supported by the LNG production expansion and intensifying reform efforts.
Broad fiscal discipline amid hydrocarbon windfalls in 2022-23 resulted in sizeable surpluses and rapid central government debt reduction.
Sustained fiscal prudence, accelerated revenue diversification, and enhanced spending composition and efficiency should underpin the medium-term fiscal strategy.
The QCB's prudent policies have underpinned financial stability. Continued diligence is critical to maintain banking sector strength in a "higher-for-longer" interest rate environment.
Source: imf.org
GCC economy could hit $13trln by 2050 through green investments
October 19, 2023--Figure is double the initial projection of $6 trillion, according to Gulf Investment Report
Investing in green and sustainable projects could expand the gross domestic product (GDP) of Gulf countries to $13 trillion by 2050, according to a new report.
The figure is double the projected $6 trillion regional GDP, the Gulf Investment Report 2023, published by Century International Holdings, said.
The combined GDP of the GCC states has already reached the $2 trillion mark and is initially forecast to reach $6 trillion by 2050.
Source: zawya.com
IMF-Regional Economic Outlook-Middle East and Central Asia-October 2023
October 12, 2023--Building Resilience and Fostering Sustainable Growth
Across the Middle East and Central Asia, the combined effects of global headwinds, domestic challenges, and geopolitical risks weigh on economic momentum, and the outlook is highly uncertain.
Growth is set to slow this year in the Middle East and North Africa region, driven by lower oil production, tight policy settings in emerging market and middle-income economies, the conflict in Sudan, and other country-specific factors. In the Caucasus and Central Asia, although migration, trade, and financial inflows following Russia's war in Ukraine continue to support economic activity, growth is set to moderate slightly this year.
Source: imf.org
World Bank-Sharp Deceleration Expected for Middle East and North Africa Economies in 2023
October 5, 2023--Over five million jobs lost due to economic shocks in the last three years
Growth of the economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to fall sharply this year. The region's gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to plummet to 1.9% in 2023 from 6% in 2022, due to oil production cuts amidst subdued oil prices, tight global financial conditions, and high inflation, according to the latest issue of the World Bank MENA Economic Update (MEU).
Titled "Balancing Act: Jobs and Wages in the Middle East and North Africa When Crises Hit," the report says that the decline in growth in MENA this year is expected to be more pronounced in the oil-exporting countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Real GDP growth in these countries is forecast at 1% in 2023, down from 7.3% in 2022 as a result of lower oil production and reduced oil prices.
In developing oil exporting countries, growth is forecast to decline from 4.3% in 2022 to 2.4% in 2023. Among the oil importing countries in MENA, the tightening of global financial conditions and high inflation continue to constrain economic activity. Growth there is projected at 3.6% in 2023, down from 4.9% in 2022. These results signal the end of the "tale of two MENAs" from 2022, in which the region's oil exporters were growing much faster than the oil importers.
Source: worldbank.org
IMF-Saudi Arabia's Economy Grows as it Diversifies
September 28, 2023--Sustaining growth in private non-oil investment requires maintaining the reform momentum and sound macroeconomic policies
Saudi Arabia's economy is undergoing a transformation, as it implements reforms to reduce oil dependence, diversify income sources, and enhance competitiveness. This year marks an important juncture as the midpoint of Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 journey.
As shown in the latest IMF annual review of the country's economy, progress has been most notably reflected in non-oil growth, which has accelerated since 2021, averaging 4.8 percent in 2022. Despite lower overall growth reflecting additional oil production cuts, non-oil growth will remain close to 5 percent in 2023, spurred by strong domestic demand.
Source: imf.org
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