​Gulf weekly: Bahrain repays, Qatar looks to issue and oil bounces

GULF COUNTRIES - Report 03 Apr 2020 by Justin Alexander

The weekly is a skimmable summary of key developments by country, overlaid with our analysis, the outlook and links to further information. Headlines include:

* Oil rebounded on hopes of a new OPEC+ deal after a Trump-MBS call.
* Coronavirus cases doubled in the Gulf but the growth rate halved in Saudi Arabia.
* Saudi announced a $2.4bn 3-month wage guarantee program.
* Moodys’ put Kuwait and Oman on negative watch but maintained Abu Dhabi’s rating.
* Expo 2020 is expected to be delayed by a year.
* Qatar is planning a $5bn bond issuance, and Bahrain’s $1.25bn maturing bond was repaid.
* Kuwait was the last in the region to announce a monetary stimulus package.
* Oman and Bahrain each published economic reports with some useful information.
* Bahrain’s GDP fell -0.4% y/y in Q4 but a -20% contraction in government services looks strange.

Now read on...

Register to sample a report

Register
Sign-in
Forgot your password?
Copyright 2024 GlobalSource Partners. All rights reserved. This report is prepared for GlobalSource Partners’ clients and may not be redistributed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, retransmitted or disclosed, in whole or in part, or in any form or manner, without the express written consent of GlobalSource Partners. This report is distributed simultaneously to our website and other portals used by GlobalSource Partners. The information herein was obtained from various sources and is believed to be reliable but GlobalSource Partners does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Neither GlobalSource Partners nor any Country Analyst, officer or employee accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses rising from any use of this report or its contents.