Algeria continues to face important challenges posed by the fall in oil prices four years ago. Despite a sizeable fiscal consolidation in 2017, the fiscal and current account deficits remain large. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth slowed sharply, mainly driven by a contraction in hydrocarbon production, although growth in the non-hydrocarbon sector was stable….
The Tunisian economy has showed signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2018, with the highest growth since 2014 supported by agriculture and exports. Besides due to the more flexible exchange rates, the current account deficit has also improved to some extent. However, at the same time, risks to macroeconomic stability, especially inflation, have…
• Efforts to adjust to the oil price shock are underway • Authorities achieved a notable reduction in the fiscal deficit in 2016 • Authorities seeking to reshape the country’s growth model Algeria continues to face important challenges posed by lower oil prices and fiscal consolidation needs to be sustained as oil prices are expected…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017 to 3.4 percent and 3.6 percent respectively, 0.2 percent lower than what it had forecasted in October. “Risk is now tilted towards emerging markets,” IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook update, with a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China, which could…
1. Oil price decline The Middle East saw the worst of everything as crude oil prices began to plummet, hitting new lows since the past years. Saudi Arabia ran a deficit of SAR367 billion in 2015 and announced a cut of SAR 326bn in spending next year. Qatar has forecasted a QAR46.5bn deficit budget in…
The UAE’s cabinet approved a zero deficit draft federal budget of AED48.5 billion for 2016, down 0.6 per cent from last year’s AED49.1 billion figure. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who chaired the Cabinet meeting, said, as per a statement on…
GDP growth in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) is expected to decline from 3.3 percent in 2015 to 2.8 percent next year, according projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest regional economic outlook for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia region. The six GCC states are also expected to post…
The UAE is aiming to trim the oil sector’s share in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to nearly 20 per cent in the next few years, according to His Excellency Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy. Currently, the revenues from the hydrocarbon sector contribute 31 per cent of the GDP, while…
The GDP of the UAE is expected to grow more than 3.5 per cent in 2015, revealed Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, on Saturday. State news agency WAM reports the minister as saying that GDP will surpass AED1.6 trillion this year, compared with AED1.5trn in 2014 despite volatile oil prices. This is…
As the UAE debates the introduction of VAT, fears that it would erode competitiveness and lead to an exodus of foreign investors are unfounded, say experts. “Although [this is] a major shift in fiscal policy from a country widely recognised for its low tax status, we consider this a sign of a maturing market, with…
