IMF Staff Country Reports-Iraq: Selected Issues
August 9, 2017--IRAQ: REINING IN CURRENT EXPENDITURE TO CREATE FISCAL SPACE FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH1
Iraq's public spending is high in international comparison and is driven by its two largest
components: compensation of public employees and social transfers.
The public-sector payroll is poorly controlled and, therefore, has been growing dynamically. Moreover, the number of positions may not reflect the number of employees performing a job in the absence of centralized human resources management that would prevent absenteeism or fraud. Relatively high public-sector wages and job security make other alternatives appear undesirable, leading to subdued private sector job growth.
Source: IMF
Region moves sideways, outperforms EM index; DXBE slides on losses
August 9, 2017--Middle Eastern stock markets generally moved sideways in quiet trade on Wednesday, outperforming other emerging markets, though Dubai theme park operator DXB Entertainments sank because of poor first-half earnings.
Source: Zawya.com
Egypt non-oil economy sees signs of stability in July
August 9, 2017--The downturn in the overall health of the Egypt's non-oil private sector eased in July, with the latest deterioration in business conditions marking the weakest in a year, according to new survey.
Source: AMEInfo.com
Israel's "Island Economy" Benefiting From Global Growth
August 8, 2017--Israeli Global Equities, as measured by the BIGI(R) index and tracked by the VanEck Vectors Israel ETF (NYSE: ISRA), declined 0.51% in July but gained 14.66% in 2017 to-date; July was the first month of Israeli underperformance relative to US equities in 2017.
Israeli equities also outpaced global developed markets in the first half of 2017, but due to July's relative weakness they are now underperforming in 2017 to-date.
Source: True Wealth Publishing
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange net foreign investments $7million in July 2017
August 7, 2017--Foreign investors' purchases in July 2017 reached AED1.391 billion at Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, ADX, accounting for 42.5 percent of total buy trades, whereas their sales stood at AED1.365 billion, comprising 41.7 percent of total sell trades, bringing to AED26 million the net foreign investments in July, with net institutional investments in the same month amounting to AED 254.5 million.
Source: Zawya.com
Saudi market gains, but Samba drops on Q2 results
August 7, 2017--Saudi stocks edged up in early trade, with gains kept in check by sharp declines in the local market's third largest bank after it reported a slight dip in second quarter profit.
Source: Zawya.com
Saudi stocks get a boost from banking sector
August 7, 2017-- Saudi Arabia's stock market edged up on the back of modest gains in the banking sector on Sunday while Egypt imitated world markets' strong finish at the end of last week. Most other Middle Eastern bourses fell.
Source: Zawya.com
Front-liners gain further momentum in strong Dubai markets
August 3, 2017--Buying in front-line stocks boosted the Dubai index, which extended gains for another session on Thursday even as traders continue to ignore small stocks.
Source: Zawya.com
Foreign investments at UAE stock markets hit $29billion in July
August 3, 2017--The market capitalisation of foreign shares at UAE stock markets continued their rising streak for the second month running, surging to AED104.5 billion during July, a growth of 5.5 percent over the month of June.
Source: Zawya.com
Market round-up: Bank earnings push up UAE markets, Saudi gains pared
August 2, 2017--A better-than-expected set of results from UAE banks helped to push up markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai during July, in what was a mixed month for local stock exchanges during the traditional summer lull.
Source: Zawya.com