Issue  No.96
24 October 2016

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


 
   



        51.52  USD         1,265  USD

 
/USD
/EUR
EGP
8.88
9.66
AED
3.67
3.99
QAR
3.64
3.96
SAR
3.75
4.07
BHD 
0.38
0.41
OMR 
0.39 
0.41

 
  Economic Outlook
  • To improve IT visibility and security, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) of Saudi Arabi has signed a strategic deal with Nexthink at GITEX 2016 as part of the country's Vision 2030.
  • According to the Dubai Statistics Center (DSC), Dubai's education and housing costs have hiked during 2016 by 3.8% and 5.9% respectively. It is worth mentioning that both sectors account for the highest share of expenses.
  • A Reuters' poll has forecasted that the Egyptian economy is expected to grow at a rate of 3.5% over the fiscal year 2016/2017.
  • Qatar's central bank has sold 1.5 BN QAR government bonds in its third domestic bond sale this year including: 500 MM QAR 3-year bonds at 2.25% , 400 MM QAR 5-year bonds at 2.75%, 300 MM QAR 7-year bonds at 3.25%, and 300 MM QAR 10-year bonds at 3.75%.
  • According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UAE economy is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2016 compared to 4% growth rate in the past year.
  • During its first year of operations, the international financial center of Abu Dhabi has registered and licensed nearly 160 companies from a broad range of industries and sectors.
  • To finance micro-sized projects, Egypt's Social Fund for Development (SFD) is negotiating 330 MM USD financing package from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funds worth of 50, 200 and 80 MM USD respectively
  • Oman's central bank is planning to issue 389 MM USD worth of bonds at the end of 2016. It is worth mentioning that the bond issuance is aimed at raising funds to repay a maturing bond issue.
  • Egypt's central bank has allocated 1.8 BN USD to ensure six months of reserves in all strategic goods after the widespread sugar shortages prompted talk of an impending food crisis.
  • Abu Dhabi's airport passengers traffic increased by 5% in September 2016 compared to the same period last year reaching 2.1 million passengers. On the other hand, passengers number in Qatar increased by 18.4% compared to September 2015.
  • Amid a healthy bound in oil prices, Kuwait's trade surplus has expanded in Q2-2016 for the first time during the year from 0.4 BN KWD in Q1-2016 to 1.2 BN KWD.
  • Oman's banking sector, including Islamic banks, has achieved a robust 11.41% (y-o-y) growth in credit disbursements, which stood at 21.68 BN OMR by the end of August 2016.
  • In the first nine months of 2016, Morocco's trade deficit has increased by 14.3% reaching 13.7 BN USD compared to the same period of 2015 due to higher imports.
  • Qatar's inflation rate has dropped by 2.6% in September 2016 compared to the last month. This was mainly driven by a 2% drop in food and beverage prices.
  • UAE' Information and Communication Technology (ICT) spending is expected to remain flat at 16 BN USD in 2016 compared to 15.9 BN USD last year. 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
   Political Events
  • Brigadier General Adel Rajai, commander of the Ninth Armed Division in northern Sinai was assassinated, in front of his home in Obour.
  • Qatar's former Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani passed away at the age of 84. Three days of national mourning will be observed in honor of Sheikh Khalifa, who was the grandfather of the current Emir.
  • The Lebanese intelligence agency has detained eight Syrians over being accused of plotting suicide bomb attacks at popular tourist spots and on Lebanon's United Nations peacekeeping force.
  • Iran has supplied Yemen's Houthi group with weapons amid their fight against the Saudi-backed government militia. This move threatens to prolong and intensify the 19-month-old war.
  •   Qatar has enacted a new investment law which allows non-Qataris to invest up to 100% of any project capital in all sectors of the national economy provided they have a Qatari services agent.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cairo Office:
Z epter Office Building  S5-6 (beside Manor House School),  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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