Gulf markets have lagged other global emerging and developed markets for years. Even as the S&P 500 and other emerging market indices rescaled their pre-Lehman levels, Gulf markets have stayed listless, drifting lower and lower until they have plumbed new depths. But have the markets finally bottomed out? With the Gulf economies seeing major improvement in their fortunes, thanks to government stimulus, will it rub off on the markets as well in the second half of the year? Gulf markets lost USD33.4-billion in market capitalization in the first half of the year due to a number of factors that conspired to negatively impact investor sentiment.

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Forget Arab Spring. If Saudi Arabia’s spending patterns and economic policies don’t change, it could be staring at a breakeven oil price of an astonishing $320 a barrel by 2030, says Jadwa.

With $562-billion in net foreign asset, the second largest oil reserves in the world after Venezuela (according to the latest Opec bulletin), and the second largest oil output in the world after Russia - Saudi Arabia’s future looks rosy and solid. READ MORE HERE