BMI’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) team expects to see further gains for Qatari stocks for the following reasons: Qatar is the most politically stable country in MENA. So far no signs of unrest have been recorded since the start of 2011. Furthermore, with countries like Bahrain, Yemen and even Oman being strongly affected… [Read more]
Following weeks of anti-government protests, Bahrain’s rulers have invited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to deploy 1,000 and 500 troops respectively to help stabilise the tiny Kingdom and protect its key infrastructure. Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, but its population is 65-75% Shi’a. The Shi’a want major changes to the Kingdom’s… [Read more]
Bahrain is the only Gulf Arab state to have witnessed large-scale public unrest since popular uprisings toppled the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents in recent weeks. As of Friday, 18 February, the Kingdom was bracing for more protests following the security forces’ dispersal of demonstrators in the capital Manama’s Pearl Square the previous day. The Bahraini… [Read more]
Suggestions of a technical default on November 26 by UAE-based Dubai World have sent shockwaves through the financial world. Not only are creditworthiness concerns reaching boiling point, but global equity markets, too, seem to initially have gone into panic mode. Business Monitor’s Liz Martins and Terry Alexander discuss the implications of a debt default by… [Read more]
Upon her return from the United Arab Emirates, we ask Liz Martins from the Middle East desk at BMI to share some of her views on the country and its prospects of weathering the macroeconomic storm hitting the region.
