Economic, security, and foreign policy decision-making power has been centered in the office of the Crown Prince since the accession of Muhammad bin Salman (in June 2017). Thus, in the event of succession, there is likely to be broad continuity in po...

Low oil prices (and output) and Covid-19 disruption drive IMF to cut 2020/21 GDP forecasts by 3ppt/ 1ppt to -7.4%/+2.6%. Slow liberalisation, duplication, regional fragmentation, high citizen wages, FX pegs hinder the GCC's structural growth. Deep so...

DOES CORRUPTION BOTHER YOU? Bangladesh: The use of anti-corruption as a means to persecute and weaken those politicians sitting in the opposition precedes the post-2009 era of the de facto one-party state under the Awami League (ie the Bangladesh Nat...

The GCC-Levant region is split between those markets valued close to their historic average (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi) and those at large discounts (Dubai, Jordan, Oman). Markets in the former group have been dominated in recent y...

In 2006 I was an analyst on global technology equities. This would be unwelcomed for the investment case given the military’s continuing, overbearing indirect grip on the economy and the strain put on the fiscal deficit from Covid-19 disruption. Equi...

Recent budget announcements (Kenya and Mauritius in Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan in Asia) highlight the strain caused by Covid-19 lockdowns on emerging market finances. Which banks could be most exposed to higher tax rates? Looking outside the GCC...