GULF WEEKLY: OPEC+ sticks with taper, PMIs rebound, Sharjah’s budget looks tight
A skimmable summary overlaid with our analysis and links. Headlines:
* Gulf states voted yes in the UN General Assembly Ukraine resolution, although UAE earlier abstained at the Security Council.
* Qatar, Saudi and UAE all had calls with Putin and/or Zelenskyy, with talk of mediating.
* OPEC+ stuck with its 400k b/d taper despite the crisis, and oil spiked to an 11-year high of $119.
* The Iran nuclear deal sounds like it's nearly ready, with hints it could come next week.
* Covid is in sharp decline across the Gulf, with deaths at half their recent peak. Bahrain lags a bit.
* PMIs rebounded strongly in February, particularly in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
* However, in January, Omicron dragged down tourism by -22% m/m in Dubai and -42% in Qatar.
* MBS gave a rare and revealing interview to The Atlantic.
* Sharjah's budget, even with its optimistic revenue assumptions, still sees a -7% of GDP deficit.
* Oman released fiscal data for November (YTD deficit of -$1.9bn) and also January (but not December).
* Bahrain’s inflation jumped by 2.3% y/y as the VAT increase came into effect.
Now read on...
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