Central Bank

A recap of Global Markets in 2020

Global stocks staged a quick recovery from the March lows The year began with global stock markets reaching new highs in February. However, global markets saw massive falls in March as the COVID-19 outbreak became a global pandemic. At its lowest point in March, the S&P 500 saw a drawdown of 34% from the record highs seen just a month earlier in February. However, the index recovered the losses and reached new highs by October in a mere time span...

Debt Management Offices in GCC – A great institutional step

GCC governments have been active in setting up Debt Management Offices (DMO) in order to better understand and service their debt obligations. Hitherto, the role of issuing debt, servicing them and repaying them were all taken care of by the respective central banks. While that might have worked when the debt were minimal, a specialist DMO is required in order to manage them by establishing a separate, independent entity that is in charge of the debt management to avoid the...