GULF WEEKLY: Oil pulls back, Saudi GDP recovers in Q4, Bahrain breaches debt ceiling
A skimmable summary overlaid with our analysis and links. Headlines:
* Oil dropped sharply after a five-month rally, and the IEA published its medium-term outlook.
*Iran’s president criticized hardliners' obstructing efforts to secure US sanctions relief. There is still time for progress before the presidential election campaign starts in mid-May, but the window is closing.
* The Saudi non-oil Q4 GDP contraction narrowed to -0.8% y/y, supported by a strong rebound in trade & hospitality.
* Biden called MBS the “acting head of state” and said he expected Saudi to implement a list of US demands, starting with Yemen.
* Dubai’s Urban Master Plan expects its population to grow by 2.7% annually to 5.8m in 2040.
* The UAE has reduced contacts with Israel because of Netanyahu’s attempt to use the relationship in his election campaign.
* A Kuwaiti court annulled the election of popular opposition figure MP Bader al-Dahoum, raising the temperature ahead of the reopening of the National Assembly next week, following a 10-week hiatus.
* Bahrain breached its debt ceiling in January, but the Shura Council has now raised it to $40bn.
* In Lebanon, Hariri and Aoun met in a last-ditch effort to form a government in the midst of the economic crisis.
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