Nobody even considered looking at MENA states last year, as news of Arab Spring-related crisis, instability and the Iran conflict dominated the headlines.
But buried amid the negative headlines was the regional governments’ resolve to continue pumping funds into their respective economies. READ MORE HERE

It will be no mean feat to outpace Qatar’s amazing GDP growth, but that’s exactly what Saudi Arabia is estimated to accomplish in 2012.
The tiny gas giant has been posting double-digit growths for the past six years, but Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy may eclipse the country this year, if current trends continue. READ MORE HERE

The figures are in: Libya’s civil war cost the country a 60% contraction in GDP as forces loyal to maverick leader Moammer Gaddafi tried in vain to contain the rising tide of rebels eager to rid the country of the brutal dictator.

With NATO air cover and Arab arms and financing feeding the rebels, it was inevitable that the regime would fall. What was even more inevitable was Colonel’s Gaddafi’s death at the hands of a ragtag army of rebels in the most grisly fashion on the streets of Sirte. READ MORE HERE

January 8, 2012

By Fitch Ratings

Spending by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012 will likely be higher than budgeted, but the country will still run a fiscal surplus of 4% of GDP, says Fitch Ratings.

Spending growth will moderate in 2012 compared with last year. In 2011, spending growth reached 24%, the highest in a decade. The government raised public sector wages, created government jobs, injected capital into state-owned lenders and pledged more resources for housing. Capital spending - mainly on infrastructure - exceeded 12% of GDP.
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• 25 Rapid Growth Markets (RGMs) to grow by an average of 6.2% this year and by 5.9% in 2012, compared with 1.6% growth for the Eurozone this year falling to 0.6% next year.

• Qatar had the highest nominal GDP (US$) per capita at PPP in 2010 among the 25 RGMs and has also been the fastest growing economy over the last decade, with an average growth of 13%.

The dynamics of the global economy have changed with a new set of fast-growing markets challenging the position of the established advanced economies. The rapid growth markets (RGMs) are expected to grow collectively by 6.2% this year, almost four times more than the anemic growth expected in the Eurozone according to Ernst & Young’s new quarterly Rapid Growth Markets Forecast (RGMF).
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IMF Brief:
Qatar has weathered the global financial crisis exceptionally well, reflecting the quick and strong policy response by the authorities. The sizeable enhancement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity, large government support to the banking system, and increase in public spending helped sustain high growth rates through the global crisis.
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Egypt’s economic growth set to resume again, but a few dark clouds hover over the horizon. Read More