GULF WEEKLY: IMF reports on Oman and Saudi, Sharjah issues sukuk, MBS’s brother visits DC
A skimmable summary overlaid with our analysis and links. Headlines:
* There was no visible progress on the OPEC+ impasse but oil has come off its mid-week high.
* Also no progress towards a US-Iran deal but more tensions as Iran increased its uranium metal enrichment.
* Kuwait surpassed Oman with the most coronavirus cases per capita. The rest of the region improved.
* PMIs held firm in Saudi (56.4), rebounded strongly in Qatar (54.6) but eased slightly in the UAE (52.2).
* The Saudi Article IV report sees a -3.5% of GDP deficit this year and a surplus in 2026.
* AHAB is nearing completion of a $1.9bn debt restructuring after its 2009 default, covering 26% of claims.
* MBS’s younger brother met with the US secretaries of state and defense in Washington.
* Sharjah issued a $750m 10-year sukuk but an Abu Dhabi real estate firm cancelled a sukuk after allocations.
* Qatar’s non-oil GDP contracted -2.8% y/y in Q1, with strong finance and trade & hospitality but weak transport and construction.
* Qatar’s Dukhan Bank issued a $500m AT1 sukuk.
* The IMF completed an Article IV visit with Oman and narrowed its deficit forecast this year to -2.4% of GDP.
* There were signs of warming Omani-Saudi relations, and a new road connecting them is nearing completion.
* Two more oil majors, BP and Lukoil, are looking at exiting Iraq’s troubled oil sector.
Now read on...
Register to sample a report