Multiples Insights

Issue No.112

13 February 2017

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

56.25 USD 1,230 USD

	/USD	/EUR
EGP	17.46	18.65
AED	3.67	3.90
QAR	3.64	3.87
SAR	3.75	3.99
BHD	0.38	0.40
OMR	0.39	0.40

Economic Outlook

Egypt's second largest bank, Banque Misr has raised 1.020 BN USD after the floating of the Egyptian pound. It includes remittances, deposits in foreign currencies and USD selling.
Average yields on Egypt's 3-year and 7-year Treasury bonds decreased to 17.099% from 17.203% and the 7-year dropped to 17.194% from 17.312%.
GCC countries economic growth is expected to increase as follows: Qatar will reach 3.3% in 2017 compared to 2.6% in 2016 due to the huge financial reserves and the public-sector expenditures on the FIFA 2022 World Cup, followed by Kuwait (2.6%), UAE (2.5%) and Saudi Arabia (1.8%).
Saudi Arabia's economic growth is expected to increase reaching 1.8% in 2017 compared to1.3% in 2016.
Qatar may not issue Eurobonds this year because of the recent increases in global oil prices. Qatar's last year international bond issue was 9 BN USD.
Qatar's budget deficit would decrease in 2017 to reach 28.3 BN QAR (7.8 BN USD) compared to 46.5 BN QAR (12.7 BN USD) in 2016 and the Brent oil will be traded around 55 USD per barrel in 2017 against 45 USD per barrel in 2016. However, practicing austerity is still needed as the 2017 budget expenditure is estimated to fall by 2% than the 2016 plan to reach 198.4 BN QAR (54.49 BN USD).
Remittances from the UAE had increased in 2016 despite weak economic growth and low oil prices to reach 77 BN AED (20 BN USD).
The inflation rate in Kuwait is expected to reach 3.8-4% in 2017 against 3.2% in 2016, as the government will introduce high electricity and water tariffs starting from May 2017.
Morocco's unemployment rate has decreased to 9.4% in 2016 compared to 9.7% in 2015, this was due to the growth in service and construction industries. In addition, the economy will grow by 4.5% in 2017, up from 1.6% in 2016, as agriculture recovers from the drought.
The Government of Japan will allocate 6.9 BN USD to fund five projects in Iran in a bid to continue expand bilateral relations between the two countries with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) program for financial assistance.
Japan has approved a 100 MM USD loan for Iraq to support humanitarian, counter-terrorism and infrastructure projects in the country.
According to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the U.S will provide Jordan with 100,000 tons of wheat under the grant agreement for 2017 which is a part of the Food For Progress Program that the U.S government is implementing.
Austria oil and gas group OMV expects its oil output in Libya in 2017 to amount to 10,000 barrel per day compared to 3,000 barrel per day in Q4-2016 and if security continued to improve it could increase its Libyan production to 50,000 barrels per day.
Tunisia's inflation rate has increased from 4% in Q4-2016 to 4.6% in January 2017, this was due to an increase in the vegetables prices from 5.4% to 7.5% in January and food and beverages from 3.2% to 4.7%, in addition to housing and energy prices.
The UK government announced that they will invest 199 MM USD in education in Lebanon over the coming 4 years, aiming to get 147,000 more children into public schools.
The World Bank had approved a 200 MM USD fund for Lebanon aiming to upgrade the country's road network and increase low-skilled jobs. In addition to the 107 MM USD funds from Italy to enhance the country's infrastructure and support the country with the Syrian crisis over the next year.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Political Events

Lebanon's president Michel Aoun is visiting Egypt and Jordan during this week, aiming to strengthen ties between Lebanon and Arab countries and to address the Syrian refugee crisis and solutions.
New sanctions on multiple Iranian entities will be imposed by Donald Trump aiming to ratchet up pressure on Tehran. These sanctions are considered to be aggressive policies against Iran that Trump had promised during his presidential campaign. This has urged the oil prices to edge up on fears that new U.S. sanctions against Iran could be extended to start affecting crude supplies
The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh issued a preliminary verdict of 7 years in prison against a Saudi citizen after being accused guilty of traveling to conflict zones in Syria and joining terrorist groups.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stock Market

.TASI banking sector has declined led by Al Rajhi and National Commercial Bank (NCB). In addition, telecommunication sector declined led by Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Zain.
.QSI telecommunication sector has increased slightly led by Vodafone Qatar and real estate sector led by Barwa Real Estate.
.ADI banking sector increased led by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB). In addition, real estate increased led by Manazel Real Estate.
.DFMGI banking sector increased led by Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB).

Index Watch list		Weekly % Change	YTD% Change
Egypt	.EGX30	2.4%	6.2%
	Construction & Materials	8.1%	9.5%
	Telecommunication	2.7%	2.5%
	Banking	3.7%	8.9%
KSA	.TASI	-1.9%	-3.3%
	Real Estate Mgmt & Dev't	-2.0%	-5.8%
	Banks	-3.0%	-4.7%
	Telecommunication Services	-2.2%	-8.9%
Kuwait	.KWSE	-3.8%	14.5%
	Banking	-1.8%	12.1%
	Telecommunication	-2.1%	6.1%
	Financial Services	-7.4%	24.9%
	Real Estate	-8.0%	18.2%
	Industrials	0.1%	10.0%
Qatar	.QSI	0.6%	1.8%
	Banking & Financial Services	0.8%	3.0%
	Industrials	-0.5%	-1.3%
	Real Estate	2.4%	3.7%
	Telecommunication	1.2%	2.4%
UAE, Abu Dhabi	.ADI	2.8%	0.5%
	Banking	4.4%	2.7%
	Telecommunication	0.9%	-5.6%
	Real Estate	2.5%	0.3%
UAE, Dubai	.DFMGI	1.6%	4.3%
	Banking	3.2%	8.8%
	Real Estate & Construction	2.0%	4.1%
	Investments & Financial Services	2.0%	6.8%
	Telecommunication	-0.2%	-3.5%

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

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Major Companies Transactions

Qatar Petroleum (QP) a state-owned energy company, has joined an international consortium of U.S., European and Japanese energy companies to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project in Pakistan.
Egypt's Misr Engineering Development Company (MEDCOM) will develop 18 residential buildings for Palm Hills in New Cairo, with a total cost of 160 MM EGP (8.5 MM USD).
The GCC countries can reduce budget deficit and achieve operational efficiencies of 10-20% by increasing the private sector role, as this will enable them to generate 144 BN USD in revenues and avoid 165 BN USD in capital expenditures by 2021.
IDE, the global leading procurement firm, has announced a promising agenda for 2017, scheduling 8 summits in the hospitality, real estate, education and healthcare sectors across India, Africa, Middle East and Europe.
Global developer Emaar Properties announced its sponsorship of the Microsoft UAE Imagine Cup 2017 student competition to reflect Emaar's focus on nurturing the next generation of talent, and supporting the innovation environment of the UAE.
UAE's Thuraya Telecommunication, the leading mobile satellite services has opened a new office in the U.S located between Washington and Virginia.
Qatar Electricity and Water Co (QEWC), the Gulf state's monopoly utility firm, reported a 13.8% decrease in Q4-2016 net profit of 310 MM QAR (85.1 MM USD) in the three months ending December 31^st 2016 compared to 360 MM QAR (98.8 MM USD) in 2015.
Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia and Zain Saudi Arabia, have signed a five-year managed services agreement that will allow the Saudi operator to develop its customer experience through world-class voice and data service in the country.
Jordan is the first developing country utilizing solar energy for the cooling and heating of buildings, under a 4.3 MM EUR program funded by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) to introduce thermal cooling technology to Jordan and the region. Four sites in Jordan are now equipped with units that turn sunlight into electricity that powers cooling units.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Ministry of Education have agreed to strengthen cooperation in achieving Saudi Vision 2030 and to develop a strategy for private sector involvement in the education sector, with the importance of focusing on educational standards.

Sports and Culture

Careem Egypt app-based car booking service introduced the GO and GO+, aiming to scale up its range of cars to enhance its service and satisfy the customers' needs.
Several GCC companies have started to engage women in senior leadership positions as a key priority. The engagement of women increased by 4% from non-manager to senior managerial levels in order to decrease the gender gap.
A fire had destroyed Lycee El-Horreya Theater in downtown on the 7^th of February. The theater was built in the early 20^th century by members of the French community in Egypt. The investigations are still running to discover the cause of the fire.
Zamalek had beaten Al-Ahly 3-1 in the Egyptian Super Cup for the third time against nine times for Al-Ahly club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Join Our Mailing List !

Cairo Office:

Z epter Office Building S5-6, Area 5, District 1, 5th Settlement, New Cairo, Egypt. P.O. Box: 1147

Dubai Office:

Office No. N 415, North Tower, Emirates Financial Towers, DIFC, P.O Box 506726, Dubai, UAE.

Tel: +97143518187

For more reports, visit our website