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Oil Price Squeeze: Saudi Arabia Slashes 2016 Budget, Hikes Gas Prices By Over 50%
Saudi Arabia has announced plans to cut government spending and reform its finances after plunging oil prices resulted in a record annual budget deficit of nearly $98bn (£66bn). The state ran a deficit of 367bn riyals ($97.9bn) in 2015, or 15% of gross domestic product, officials said. The 2016 budget plan aims to cut that … Continue reading
Riyadh Feels The Pinch: The True Cost Of Saudi Subsidies
By Kirstin Berndt In downtown Riyadh, SUV-populated intersections and lushly landscaped parks leave little indication that Saudi Arabia is rapidly depleting its oil and water resources. The Saudi predilection for gas-guzzling vehicles and water-intensive leisure spaces is hardly surprising- governmental subsidies have long obscured the true cost of these resources. Saudis pay about 60 cents a … Continue reading
Sovereign Wealth Funds In The New Era Of Oil
By Rabah Arezki, Adnan Mazarei, and Ananthakrishnan Prasad As a result of the oil price plunge, the major oil-exporting countries are facing budget deficits for the first time in years. The growth in the assets of their sovereign wealth funds, which were rising at a rapid rate until recently, is now slowing; some have started … Continue reading
Saudi Stock Exchange Roadshow Kicks Off
The Saudi Stock Exchange has recently opened up to Qualifying Foreign Investors (QFIs). This opening is a core part of its medium-term strategy to internationalize and institutionalize one of the biggest and most liquid emerging market exchanges. This week the Saudi Stock Exchange, in collaboration with Euromoney, will kickoff an exclusive international roadshow in Asia, Europe, and … Continue reading
Saudi Arabia Considers Launching IPO ETFs
By James Eugene The Saudi Stock Exchange is “interacting very closely” with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) on the inclusion in investment indices, according to Bloomberg. It has been reported that Adel Saleh Al-Ghamdi, chief executive officer of the Saudi Stock Exchange, is considering the option of launching Initial Public Offering (IPO) ETFs in an … Continue reading
The Shocking Algosaibi And Saad Group Case
Trouble first surfaced for Saudi Arabia’s most venerable business group, the Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company (AHAB), in 2009. In that year, both the Bahairn based bank, International Bank Corporation (TIBC), and its Money Exchange division defaulted out of the blue, the fallout impacting upon the financial banking sector worldwide. Founded in 1940 and … Continue reading
Morningstar Downgrades Morocco To Frontier Market Status
By James Eugene Troubling news for Morocco as Morningstar announced that they will be reclassifying the North African economy’s position from “emerging market “to “frontier market” status. According to Sanjay Arya, head of Morningstar Indexes, the rationale behind this demotion is due to a relatively large drop in liquidity over the past few years, consequently declining to levels below … Continue reading
Qatar’s Energy Profile – Analysis
By EIA Qatar is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, and the country’s exports of LNG, crude oil, and petroleum products provide a significant portion of government revenues. Like many of its neighbors, Qatar relies on its energy sector to support its economy. According to the Qatar National Bank (QNB), … Continue reading
The Oil Showdown Is Approaching!
By Caleb Maupin The price of oil remains below $50 per barrel, the lowest since the 2009 financial crisis. Oil prices have stayed low throughout 2014 and 2015. The reason for the drop in oil prices is the massive increase in oil production. Iraqi oil fields are refining more oil than at any time since … Continue reading
Why Low Oil Prices Are Here To Stay
By Roberto F. Aguilera, Marian Radetzki Oil price rises over the past 40 years have been truly spectacular, but the recent fall is probably here to stay, thanks to increasing production. We discuss these trends in our new book, The Price of Oil, published this month. In constant money, prices rose by almost 900% between 1970-72 and … Continue reading
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