Emirates Business 24|7 reports that strong crude oil prices, currently at around $75/bbl and exceeding Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) forecasts, will greatly improve members’ fiscal and current accounts. It is debatable whether surpluses will reach the levels of the boom years of the recent past, but it seems certain the situation will be a solid improvement over 2009. Although Saudi Arabia is expected to run a small deficit, this is in fact due to its heavy capital investments, which TradeFlow21 has long recognized as critical to the Kingdom’s economic sustainability and at the same time offering an unprecedented opportunity for U.S. businesses. See clip from Emirates Business below and for more detailed information see hyperlink.
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Record budget surplus likely for the bloc. Manageable deficit for some members due to public spending. (AFP)
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| Strong crude prices will bolster the fiscal position in Gulf oil producers in 2010, but some of them could still record a manageable budget deficit because of counter-crisis high public spending, according to analysts. |
| While the combined budgets of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) would likely record a surplus, as was the case in the previous nine years, some of them could suffer a relatively small shortfall despite an upsurge in their hydrocarbon earnings, they said. The experts believe four GCC members – the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – would record surpluses while the budgets of Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, and Bahrain would remain in a deficit. |
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May 11th, 2010
Posted in Economy, Oil, Regional News | 
Tags: capital investments, current account, GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council, oil prices, public spending, saudi arabia, surplus