Issue  No.113
20 February 2017

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


 
   



        56.30  USD         1,238  USD

 
/USD
/EUR
EGP
15.75
16.67
AED
3.67
3.89
QAR
3.64
3.86
SAR
3.75
3.98
BHD 
0.38
0.40
OMR 
0.39 
0.40

 
  Economic Outlook
  • The Ministry of Finance in Egypt has sold 1.092 BN in one year dollar denominated T-bills to domestic and foreign financial institutions at 3.62%.
  • Egypt's urban consumer price inflation has peaked from 23.3% in December 2016 to 28.1% in January 2017, this is mainly due to the pound floatation against the dollar.
  • Jordan's exports of fruit and vegetables has decreased by 35% in January 2017 compared to the same period last year. This is due to the closure of the borders with Syria and Iraq, in addition to the decrease in exports to the Gulf countries in January 2017.
  • Iran's Petroleum Minister has stated that oil exports in Iran has reached the pre-sanctions level and that oil income will reach 45 to 50 BN USD in 2018 starting from March, if a barrel of crude oil will be sold for 55 USD.
  • According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Lebanon's GDP annual growth is expected to reach 2.5% in 2017 compared to 1.13% in 2016, as all the sectors in the economy are estimated to post positive growth in 2017.
  • Oman's crude oil production has declined by 2.97% in January 2017 compared to December 2016 as the country has produced 29.93 million barrels of crude oil in January equivalent to 965,617 barrels per day.
  • Qatar will impose selective taxes on goods that have adverse impact on environment and health, as well as the luxury goods produced domestically or imported.
  • The OPEC has cut its crude output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to increase oil prices and reduce a supply surplus.
  • Despite the fall in oil prices over the past few years, Dubai has maintained its investment growth across various sectors as the total investments reached 77.3 BN AED (21.05 BN USD) in 2016 and are estimated to increase to 82.5 BN AED (22.46 BN USD) and 86.5 BN AED (23.55 BN USD) in 2017 and 2018. Moreover, the foreign direct investments are estimated to reach 5% of the GDP in 2021.
  • UAE is the ranked the 1st among 7 Gulf countries followed by Qatar in the top 15% of countries for productivity potential.
  • UAE's Central Bank has issued draft rules urging banks to lend the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) more, since they had cut their exposure and raised their charges. SMEs account for 60% of UAE's GDP.
  • Saudi's Minister of Agriculture had stated that subsidies on flour and bread will not be cut, as bread is the second most necessity food source for Saudis and the country is considered to be the world's top consuming nation of bread.  
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   Political Events
  • Hassan Rouhani Iran's president is visiting Kuwait and Oman during this week, the first time since he took power in 2013 to tighten the Islamic relationship with both countries as Iran was accused by Saudi Arabia and the other GCC of using sectarianism to interfere in Arab countries and build its own sphere of influence in the Middle East.
  • The Egyptian parliament approved a list of new ministries last Tuesday. This change was crucial for the government economic and social reform plans. They include Ali Meselhy as Minister of Supply and Internal Trading, Hala El-Saeed as Minister of Planning and Administrative Reform, Abdul Monein El-Banna as Minister of Agriculture, Tarek Shawky as Minister of Education, Omar Marwan as Minister of Legal and Parliamentary affairs, Mohamed Hesham El-Sherif as Minister of Local development, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar as Minister of higher Education and Hesham Arafat as Minister of Transportation.
  • Lebanon's president Michel Aoun has deepened the country's bilateral ties with Egypt and Jordan during last week's visit. He agreed to increase the security cooperation between the two countries by enrolling Lebanese military offices in training programs in Jordan and urging Egypt to launch a rescue initiative to protect regional states from the threat of militant groups, aiming to fight terrorism.
  • Seven terror suspects were arrested by Saudi forces in Jeddah raids, they surrendered without any resistance. 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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

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