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IMF Executive Board Concludes 2020 Article IV Consultation with Israel
January 21, 2021--On January 19, 2021, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation [1] with Israel.
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted Israel's society and economy.
While Israel's strong growth and large pre-crisis buffers mean Israel entered the crisis with relatively low vulnerabilities, real GDP still contracted by 3 percent (yoy) in the first three quarters of 2020. The scale of the COVID-19 spread required strict containment and mitigation measures, including three nation-wide lockdowns. Nonetheless, the economic contraction was smaller than in other advanced economies in part due to the resilience of the Israeli economy, supported by its large high-tech sector.
The authorities introduced policies to curb the economic fallout of the pandemic. On the fiscal front, a fiscal package of 10¼ percent of GDP for 2020 was approved by parliament. The package included expanded health funding, benefits for unemployed and furloughed workers, grants for the self-employed, and grants and loan guarantees for small and medium enterprises. The central bank's response included measures to ease financial conditions, provide liquidity, and ease access to financial services and credit, including for households and SMEs. Macroprudential and supervisory requirements were also eased, allowing banks to utilize their capital and liquidity buffers in support of the economy.
Chimera Capital's ETF exceeds $13.6mln in assets under management
January 11, 2021--Chimera S&P UAE Shariah Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), owned by Chimera Capital, has exceeded AED 50 million ($13.6 million) in assets under management (AUM) in six months.
Listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in August 2020, the Chimera S&P UAE Shariah ETF became the third-largest ETF listed in the MENA region, according to a press release on Monday.
IMF Staff Concludes Virtual Visit with Qatar
December 11, 2020--The Qatari authorities' strong policy response helped mitigate the health and economic fallouts from the COVID19 pandemic and the decline in international oil prices
A gradual recovery in Qatar-with real GDP growth projected at 2.7 percent in 2021-will be supported by increasing gas production and the rebound in domestic demand.
Economic Prospects and Policy Challenges for the GCC Countries
December 10, 2020--Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic is having far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Measures to contain the spread of the virus have led to sharp declines in economic activity across the globe, particularly in 2020Q2.
The hardest hit sectors have been those requiring intensive human contact, such as tourism, transportation, services, and construction, while, in general, IT-intensive activities have fared better. The economic contraction is most significant in advanced economies. The GCC countries face a double impact from the coronavirus and lower oil prices. GCC authorities have implemented a range of appropriate measures to mitigate the economic damage, including fiscal packages, relaxation of monetary and macroprudential rules, and the injection of liquidity into the banking system, and there are recent signs of improvement. Low oil prices have caused a sharp deterioration of external and fiscal balances, and fiscal strains are evident in countries with higher debt levels.view more
Lebanon is in a Deliberate Depression with Unprecedented Consequences for its Human Capital, Stability, and Prosperity
December 2, 2020--A new World Bank report analyses the root causes of Lebanon's ongoing social and economic crises and calls for formation of a reform-minded government to urgently implement a comprehensive reform agenda.
A year into Lebanon's severe economic crisis, deliberate lack of effective policy action by authorities has subjected the economy to an arduous and prolonged depression, according to the World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor (LEM) released today.
Lebanon is suffering from a dangerous depletion of resources, including human capital, with brain drain becoming an increasingly desperate option. The harsh burden of financial adjustment is particularly focused on smaller depositors who lack other sources of savings, the local labor force that is paid in Lebanese Lira, and smaller businesses.
The Fall 2020 edition of the LEM, "The Deliberate Depression", discusses recent economic developments, analyses the various elements of the crisis, and presents an overview of the country's economic outlook and possible risks.
view the Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2020: The Deliberate Depression
Gulf states turn inward as they face diminishing resource
December 1, 2020--In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia's ambitious sovereign wealth fund scented an opportunity.
As global markets plummeted, the Public Investment Fund went on a spending spree, buying stakes in a host of US and European blue-chip stocks in the first three months of the year, worth collectively at least $7.7bn.
But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader and the PIF's chair, last month signalled a potential shift in focus as Saudi Arabia, like other Gulf countries, grapples with a rising fiscal deficit and an economy battered by the pandemic and the fall in oil prices.
IMF-Israel: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2020 Article IV Mission
November 19, 2020--The Israeli economy entered the COVID-19 pandemic from a position of strength, and the authorities mounted a large and rapid response to the crisis. Timely and decisive measures introduced by the Bank of Israel at the outset of the pandemic have helped preserve market and financial stability and access to credit. Fiscal support to the health system, households, and businesses has also helped soften the economic impact of the pandemic.
Real output has contracted less than in other advanced economies in 2020 and is projected to rebound in 2021. Nonetheless, the outlook remains uncertain and dependent on the evolution of the pandemic.
In this challenging environment, policies should continue to provide support to the economy, contain the risks associated with the pandemic, and promote recovery. Fiscal policy needs to become gradually more targeted to maximize the impact of the available fiscal space.
Egypt Economic Monitor, November 2020-From Crisis to Economic Transformation: Unlocking Egypt's Productivity and Job Creation Potential
November 10, 2020--November 9, 2020--The COVID-19 pandemic is causing the most severe global health and economic crisis in at least seven decades. In Egypt, the disruptions caused by the pandemic started in March 2020, and has since interrupted a period of macroeconomic stability, characterized by relatively high growth, improved fiscal accounts, and a comfortable level of foreign reserves.
Yet, the pandemic also hit as longstanding challenges continued to persist, notably the government's elevated debt-to-GDP ratio (despite its significant reduction in recent years), sluggish revenue-mobilization and the below-potential performance of non-oil merchandise exports and non-oil FDI.
Indxx Technology REITs Index Licensed to Meitav Tachlit Mutual Funds Ltd. for an Index Tracking Fund
November 6, 2020--Indxx is pleased to announce that the Indxx Technology REITs Index (the "Index"), has been licensed to Israel-based Meitav Tachlit Mutual Funds as the underlying benchmark for an index tracking fund (Tel Aviv:5131933), which began trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange last week.
The Index (Ticker: IDTREIT), tracks the performance of REITs, listed in United States, Canada or Developed Europe, that are positioned to benefit from the spread of technology.
World Bank-MENA Economic Update: Trading Together-Reviving Middle East and North Africa Regional Integration in the Post-COVID Era
October 19, 2020-- The combination of a COVID-19 pandemic and a collapse in oil prices has affected all aspects of the economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region's economies are projected to contract by 5.2% in 2020, which is 4.1 percentage points below the forecast in April 2020, and 7.8 percentage points worse than that of October 2019, reflecting an increasingly pessimistic outlook for the regional economy. The region is expected to recover only partially in 2021.
The outlook for MENA's current account and fiscal balances also deteriorated sharply. Driven largely by lower oil export revenue, a drop in fiscal revenue, and the large increase in fiscal expenditure required to respond to the health crisis, the region’s current account and fiscal balances in 2020 are forecast at -4.8% and -10.1% of GDP respectively, much worse than the forecasts in October 2019. Public debt is projected to rise significantly in the next few years, from about 45% of GDP in 2019 to 58% in 2022.
