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Oman's state-society relations may slowly change

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OMAN

Many welcomed the decision, believing it reflected the authorities’ acknowledgement of social realities. The decision also builds on other changes to state-society relations, such…

Prospects for the Gulf states in 2021

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PROSPECTS 2021

However, sectors such as tourism remain subdued and the continued weakness in the oil market, despite decisive action by OPEC+, has driven deficits up sharply. Serious political…

Kuwait faces a deferred liquidity crunch

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KUWAIT

The impact of the pandemic and especially lower oil prices hit the government budget hard, since more than nine-tenths of revenue comes from oil sales. However, the country also…

Prospects for the Gulf states to end-2018

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PROSPECTS H2 2018

Prospects for the Gulf states to end-2018.

Middle East and North African debt fears will rise

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MENA

Like other fuel-importing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), it has large structural fiscal and current account deficits. These have resulted in climbing…

Oman and Bahrain are the most vulnerable Gulf states

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BAHRAIN/OMAN

Oman and Bahrain, already struggling with rising public debt levels and high fiscal deficits, are in the most exposed medium-term position.

Saudi fiscal constraints may undercut structural shift

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SAUDI ARABIA

The fact that state salaries in the first half of 2020 exceeded total oil revenue underlines the scale of the task -- and the difficulty of achieving fiscal goals without major…

Bahrain’s growth plan faces regional challengers

Location:

BAHRAIN

Manama exceeded its own fiscal and economic expectations in 2022, as the budget came close to balance one year earlier than targeted and real non-oil GDP surged by 6.2%, driving…