• January 25, 2016

    الموضوعات الاقتصادية ونتائج الاستثمار للمملكة العربية السعودية لعام 2016

    Energy Prices Reform The government of KSA over the past few decades used perks such as lower energy prices, food & water subsidies and absence of taxes for individuals and domestic corporations to distribute the oil wealth to its citizens. The subsidized energy prices translate into significant costs for the government, estimated at USD 107bn or 13.2% of the gross domestic product in 2015. However, the low oil price environment calls for prudent assessment and reforms in these subsidies to...

  • December 24, 2015

    أهمية الابحاث في الاقتصاد الكلي

    From the above table, it is evident that only Kuwait and Qatar are estimated to enjoy a surplus in 2015. Plotting the GCC surplus/deficit from 2004 through 2015 against the average dollar price of crude Brent shows the deep correlation. Thus, diversifying the economy is an imperative for the GCC, on building a competitive knowledge economy and promoting innovation, research, and development (R&D). However, for building a knowledge economy, reliable access to data and information is required, which should be...

  • December 23, 2015

    The Paris Climate Agreement and Implications for the GCC

    The Paris climate change deal will only come into force after it is placed for signatures of approval (from 22 April 2016 to 21 April 2017) by States and regional economic integration organizations that are Parties to the Convention (The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). It is notable that the agreement can only come into force if it has received ratification by 55 countries that represent at least 55% of global emissions. For France that hosted the climate...

  • December 8, 2015

    حوكمة الشركات في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي: كيف يمكن زيادة تعزيز الممارسات الإيجابية وكيفية التغلب على التحديات القائمة

    CORPORATE GOVERNANCE By M R Raghu   Companies that have effective corporate governance mechanisms can instill a sense of accountability and transparency in organizational leaders. In an age of dynamic technological developments that are empowering various stakeholders to monitor and question organizational actions, a functioning corporate governance setup will help in building deeper public trust. There are several factors, both international and regional, that are pushing companies in the GCC toward more proactive corporate governance practices. There is now intensified...

  • November 29, 2015

    GCC liquidity squeeze could spur reforms: MR Raghu – Low oil prices could result in deficit of 7.9% of GDP in 2015

    Raghu pointed out that the recent fall in oil prices by over 61 percent since June, 2014 due to a host of factors such as shale oil revolution in US, OPEC decision to retain their output levels amid signs of tenuous demand growth had spilled over into the GCC financial system through banking channels, leading to spurts in overnight lending rate. Raghu added that GCC countries continue to be heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues, despite their diversification efforts. IMF expects...

  • November 9, 2015

    تتخطى أسعار النفط الآن معادلة العرض والطلب

    Interview with Mr. Raghu, Head of Research, Markaz by Peter Duke, Sales Director, Fidelity Worldwide Investment. 2015 has seen oil prices drop to a new low amid a glut of supply in the region. But how will this affect the GCC and MENA economies? Will there be an end to the current situation? And will the prices stabilise before the end of the year or do they have further to drop? Peter Duke: Good morning welcome to the Fund Forum...

  • October 25, 2015

    العلاقة بين ضعف النفط وقوة الدولار – علاقة محيرة

    Introduction The relationship between oil price and dollar value is intriguing not only to the US and the oil-exporters, but to researchers and governments all over the world. Most commodities, including oil tend to be negatively correlated with the US dollar as most commodities are traded in dollar. The magnitude of the impact of dollar on oil and vice versa and its short term and long term impact on the economy provide interesting insights about the widely studied relationship between...

  • October 13, 2015

    تداعيات الأزمة الصينية على اقتصادات وأسواق دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي

    According to a report published by Marmore (Is China Stalling?), the ensuing volatility in global markets was exacerbated by fears of rapid economic slowdown in China - the largest economy in the world (PPP terms), which stoked fears of impending global recession and led to a massive sell-off. Figure 1: Black Monday (August 24, 2015) Source: Reuters China, which now accounts for almost 15% of global economic growth, was perceived as an important global growth driver. Economists opined Chinese growth...

  • October 7, 2015

    التحديات التي تواجه حقوق الملكية الفكرية للشركات في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي

    With the growing conversion of intellectual ideas and human creativity into commercial business, the need to protect human efforts at least for a specified period of time increased. The increasing problems of piracy, commercialization and cross border trade pressed the need for national and international protection of human efforts commonly referred to as Intellectual Property Rights. The countries in the GCC region have taken efforts for the protection of Intellectual property rights (IPR). However, development of a common legal framework,...

  • September 7, 2015

    الآثار المترتبة على الاتفاق النووي الإيراني لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي

    On July 14, 2015, it was announced that the P5+1 -- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany -- along with the European Union (EU), had achieved a long-term nuclear deal with Iran . According to the U.S., the deal will “[…] will verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and ensure that Iran's nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful going forward.” Table 1: Key Elements of the July 2015 Nuclear Deal Key provisions of...