​GULF WEEKLY: Bahrain’s PM dies, oil caught between vaccine & lockdowns, Saudi on negative outlook

GULF COUNTRIES - Report 13 Nov 2020 by Rory Fyfe and Justin Alexander

A skimmable summary of key developments overlaid with our analysis and links to further information. Headlines include:

* Oil rallied on vaccine news before concerns about current lockdowns reasserted themselves.
* Saudi Arabia took a day longer than the other Gulf States to congratulate Biden.
* Trump applied more Iran sanctions, complicating Biden’s options, and some fear military action.
* Saudi’s first flash GDP reading showed a 5% q/q rebound in non-oil GDP (from -13% q/q in Q2).
* Fitch put Saudi Arabia on negative outlook on a weakening in fiscal and external assets.
* Fitch rated UAE at AA-, the first to put it a notch below Abu Dhabi.
* Major liberal reforms are planned for UAE personal and family law.
* Oman is planning to issue around $3bn in bonds through oil firm PDO.
* Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman became prime minister after the death of his great-uncle Khalifa.
* There are hopes that the change could result in a political easing towards the Shia community.
* Libyan peace talks agreed on a roadmap towards elections, which will support oil production.

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.