Insights

Issue No.141

18 September 2017

This report is designed to give you a snapshot about the MENA region tackling multiple issues:

55.85 USD 1,316 USD

	/USD	/EUR
EGP	17.64	21.08
AED	3.67	4.38
QAR	3.71	4.43
SAR	3.75	4.48
BHD	0.38	0.45
OMR	0.39	0.45

Economic Outlook

Egypt budget deficit recorded 9.5% in Q4-2016/2017 fiscal year that ended in June compared to 11.5% in the same quarter last year. On the other hand, Egypt GDP recorded 4.2% in 2016/2017. It is worthy to mention that GDP has reached 5% in Q4-2016/2017 compared to 4% in the same period last year.
Egypt net foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased by 14.5% reaching 7.9 BN USD in the 2016/2017 fiscal year that ended in June.
Egypt annual urban consumer price inflation has reached 31.9% in August 2017 compared to 33% in July 2017. It is worthy to mention that inflation rate was high in July due to the increase in fuel prices following the subsidy cuts.
Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) will provide a 92 MM AED (25 MM USD) to finance the construction of a new outpatient building in the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan administered by the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation. This project is included in 2013 UAE government contribution of 4.6 BN AED (1.25 BN USD) to the Gulf Development Fund, a five-year grant program of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to support development projects in Jordan.
The price of Kuwaiti oil has increased by 79 cents reaching 51.56 USD per barrel last Wednesday compared to 50.77 USD pb before the raise.
The rates of hotel rooms in Oman has dropped by almost 9% over the last three months as more hotels opened across the Sultanate.
Saudi Arabia is expected to launch a tender process for its first nuclear reactors next month and will reach out to potential vendors from countries including South Korea, France and China.
Official Dubai Land Department figures show that the biggest GCC investors in Dubai real estate other than Emiratis were Saudis who made a total of 5,366 transactions worth 12.5 BN AED (3.4 BN USD) in the 18 months between January 2016 to the end of June this year.
By December, Saudi Arabia will witness the launch of one of the world's longest railway lines. The 2,750-km railway line linking Riyadh with the northern city of Gurayat is being built at a cost of 10 BN SAR (2.67 BN USD).
The train can carry 444 passengers and will run at a speed of 200 km/hour.

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Political Events

Five militants and two soldiers were killed last Wednesday in clashes that followed a failed attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai province of Egypt.
Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Qattan, Saudi Ambassador to Egypt, has said that the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is keen to strengthen cooperation between Saudi Arabia and all the countries of the world. Qattan said that he considered the actions taken by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt against Qatar are sovereign measures, based on the wrong policies practiced by the Qatari Government over many years in supporting and financing terrorism.
UAE has affirmed that the joint measures it has taken, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, came after a long patience and after Qatar dishonored the agreements it signed.
Over the past eight months until August 2017, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior has deported 22,000 expatriates for various reasons including those violating the labor laws and criminals, and those who committed serious traffic violations.
Giving a breakdown of the deportees, the authorities said that the Indian community topped the list with 24%, followed by the Egyptians, 23%, the Filipinos 14%, Ethiopians 13%, Sri Lankans 7% and Bangladeshis 6%.
Russia Foreign Minister has said that Arab countries and Qatar should pursue direct talks to solve a diplomatic dispute. This was during his visit to Saudi Arabia. In addition, Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on international principles that guarantee the sovereignty of Syria in accordance with international law and non-interference in the country's internal affairs.

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Stock Market

.TASI banking sector has increased led by Alinma Bank.
.KWSE banking sector has declined led by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK). On the other hand, the telecommunication sector has increased slightly led by Zain and Industrials sector led by Kuwait Cement.
.QSI banking sector has declined led by Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and Qatar National Bank (QNB). In addition, real estate sector declined led by Ezdan.

Note: Weekly values are calculated on Thursday of each week.

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Major Companies Transactions

Egypt Palm Hills Development has signed an agreement with the governmental New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) to jointly develop a huge new residential community over a 12.6 million sqm-site in West Cairo. The project will cost 150 BN EGP (8.5 BN USD).
ArabiaWeather Inc., a leading provider of weather products, services and solutions to consumers and businesses in the Middle East, partners with Uber to provide access to reliable transportation to a large number of people across the region. The partnership allows visitors of ArabiaWeather platforms in Jordan and Saudi Arabia to easily sign-up for an Uber account when checking local weather conditions in their area.
The Chinese firm Dalian Mingyuan Holdings Group Co Ltd has signed a 2.8 BN USD investment agreement in a major petrochemical project at the Sino-Oman industrial park in Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ), to build a 10 million-ton project to manufacture olefin with methanol.
Qatar National Bank (QNB) had completed a 630 MM USD Formosa bond issue, signaling its seriousness to continue the diversification of funding sources amid a regional diplomatic rift.
Doha Bank, 5^th biggest lender has cut around 10 jobs in the UAE and plans to put some staff in the region on unpaid leave, as it copes with the fallout from Qatar's rift with its Arab neighbors.
Bangladesh will sign a 15-year deal with Qatar RasGas Co on 25^th of September 2017 to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) starting in 2018 as the country transforms into a major consumer of the supercooled fuel. RasGas will supply 1.8 million tons a year of LNG for the first five years and 2.5 million tons over the next 10 years.
Saudi Arabian food maker Savola Group, the country's largest food products company, has announced selling a 2% stake in Almarai, the Gulf largest dairy company for 1.12 BN SAR (307.6 MM USD). It is worthy to mention that Savola Group will record a profit of 694.1 MM SAR in Q3-2017 after completing the deal. It is worthy to mention that HSBC is the company's appointed broker and bookrunner for the deal.
NMC Health, the United Arab Emirates-based healthcare provider, plans to expand in Europe and the Gulf to retain its recently won place in London FTSE 100 blue chip prestigious index. It is worthy to mention that NMC entered Europe by acquiring one fertility clinic in Spain and another in Italy besides other existing three in each of the two countries. In addition, NMC has three clinics in Brazil and one in Colombia.
Budget carrier flydubai has announced discount up to 50% on the economy and business class seats for flights from Dubai to more than 80 destinations including Prague, Maldives, Russia, Georgia, Thailand, India and Ukraine.

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Sports and Culture

Egypt telecoms operators have begun offering high-speed 4G mobile broadband services in September 2017.
The Saudi Arabian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, announced that the ban on Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls will be lifted in Saudi Arabia within a week. This decision was taken in line with the objectives of the Kingdom 2030 vision.
Teaching assistant robots will be deployed in schools across Dubai after the fifth Arab Robotics conference that will be held on the 3^rd of October. Three schools are already lined up to integrate its TeachAssist robots as part of kindergarten to second grade curriculum. The robots will focus on assisting students with classroom, social behavior and engagement.
International universities are focusing on UAE as an alternative academic destination for many Arab and Asian students' due to the tough visa policies in the West. UAE has emerged as one of the most important educational hubs in the world, hosting around 27 international branch campuses from 12 countries; representing the highest number of international campuses in any country.

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