​Gulf weekly: Stimulus mixed with spending cuts as oil drops further and COVID cases double

GULF COUNTRIES - Report 20 Mar 2020 by Rory Fyfe and Justin Alexander

The weekly is a skimmable summary of key developments by country, overlaid with our analysis, the outlook and links to further information. Headlines include:

* Active coronavirus cases doubled in the Gulf, stabalizing in Bahrain but quadrupling in Saudi.
* $75bn in stimulus measures were announced, focused on bank liquidity and SME support.
* But Oman and Saudi Arabia also announced plans for 5% spending cuts.
* Brent oil touched $24 before partly rebounding on US strategic buys and global stimulus.
* Aramco announced its 2019 results and indicated that the oil price war will continue.
* Bahrain scrapped plans for a bond and is looking for a $1bn loan from friendly banks instead.
* Bahrain published belated FX reserve data, after skipping a month, but there was no shocker in the data.
* Dubai is receiving a $9bn loan to buy out DP World and refinance debt.
* Iraq and Israel have new prime-minister designates, but rocky paths to forming governments.

Now read on...

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