GCC

Does Brexit pose an economic puzzle to the GCC?

This article originally published in AME Info. The UK’s vote to leave the European Union caused a period of uncertainty both in the financial markets and the political environment. The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world, and the Brexit process will have major economic repercussions. This led to countries and business entities strategizing their activities to respond to Brexit. The prospective cost to UK’s economy and impact of Brexit has brought into prominence its relation with the...

Oil on a Slippery Slope – Kuwait Stock Market Positive in November

According to our recently released Monthly Market Review for the month of November, GCC equity markets took a downturn due to the negative performance of the UAE and Saudi Arabian markets. Global equities saw a positive momentum buoyed by a strong recovery in the emerging markets. Kuwait was the best performing GCC market during the month, gaining 1.3% for the month of November. Kuwait finally broke out of its three-month losing streak and became the best performing market in the...

Brutal October – $5 trillion wealth wiped away from global equity and bond markets

According to our recently released Monthly Market Review for the month of October, GCC equity markets remained flat thanks to Qatar’s positive performance, while global equity and bond markets shed nearly USD 5 trillion in wealth during the period. Qatar was the best performing GCC market during the month, gaining 5.0% despite the ongoing selloff in emerging market equities. Qatar’s main equity index was also the only main GCC equity index to witness positive returns for October. Kuwait extended its...

What Is the Future of Ecommerce in the Arabian Gulf?

This article originally published in Khaleej Times. The Arabian Gulf or the GCC region’s retail sector has been going through sweeping changes that are not only disrupting the conventional retail but reshaping its future too. In recent times, the mode of retailing in the GCC has gone through substantial changes that was unimaginable a few years back. There are clear signs of transformation in the retail sector in the region. There is increasing scope for e-commerce in the Middle East,...

GCC’s inclusion in J.P. Morgan’s EM Bond Index: The “Hurray” Moment

J.P. Morgan has recently said that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar sovereign bonds would be added to its Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI) from January 2019, a decision that can potentially bring up to USD 60 billion of active and passive inflows, according to analysts. In order to qualify for index membership, the maturity of the debt should be greater than one year with a minimum face value of USD 500 million. Low correlation of GCC bonds seen...

GCC Travel & Tourism: Build it but will they come?

As a part of their economic diversification strategy, Gulf countries have been increasingly focussing on the expansion of service sectors such as tourism, business, logistics and financial services. The huge stock of fiscal and foreign reserves  in the Arabian Gulf favoured the development of the tourism industry as a core strategy to attract both foreign tourists as well as business travellers. In 2017, the investment in the Gulf’s travel & tourism sector  was USD 34.3bn that is expected to rise...

Could Private debt be the new theme for SMEs to access capital?

The global financial crisis has been the turnaround for the private debt market as it is now widely accepted as an asset class of its own. The increase in both supply and demand is having a significant impact on how alternative lending funds are being used. In recent years, there has been an influx of new entrants and greater diversity of investment strategies. The banking industry is forced to re-evaluate less-profitable and high-risk sectors, which has resulted in private debt...

Abraaj Episode & Implications for GCC Private Equity Industry

Globally, private-equity (PE) firms manage about USD 3 trillion of capital for various investors such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and High Net worth Individuals (HNWI). However, less than USD 18bn of that (approximately, 0.6%) is managed by PE firms based in the Middle East region. The minuscule proportion of the Assets under Management (AuM) of the regional PE industry sets clear perspective on the size of PE industry in the region compared with the global level. Recently,...

Turkey Crisis: Impact on GCC

Turkey has been making headlines these past few weeks due to the massive rate at which the Turkish currency, Lira, has been depreciating against the dollar. The economy is under stress with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgrading the growth forecasts from 7.1% in 2017 to 4.4% in 2018 and 4.0% in 2019. Inflation levels are reaching record highs to an annual rate of 15.9 percent in July with the Lira depreciating over 40% against the U.S dollar so far...

The promise of 3D printing

A residential house that is a shape of rotor with contemporary style with wooden flooring, furnished with appliances from Samsung, constructed within 24 hours. Imagine making an own range of jewelry, trinkets or tiny add-ons for daily lives. Can we craft sculptures or showpieces smaller than human hair? A custom prosthetic device such as a hearing aid or artificial human limbs and manufacture them at very affordable prices, which benefits the healthcare industry? A 400 square metre two- story villa...