Abu Dhabi fund ADQ wields economic diplomacy to forge regional ties
A shift in strategy by Abu Dhabi to invest across the region using sovereign wealth fund ADQ reflects an effort by the Gulf oil producer to use economic diplomacy to build regional alliances, from Turkey to Israel and Egypt, three sources said.
The change suggests greater use of soft power after years when Abu Dhabi, the richest emirate in the United Arab Emirates federation, appeared to favour more hard-edged, even militarised ways to gain influence in the Middle East and North Africa.
UAE economy likely to grow 5.1pc in 2022
The International Monetary (IMF) has revised the UAE’s economic growth forecast upward for 2022 and 2023 in the latest report. According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report released on Wednesday, the UAE’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow 5.1 percent this year as compared to its previous forecast of 4.2 percent. It would be the highest growth in the past seven years.
The International Monetary Fund projects Middle East and North African GDP will grow by 5 percent this year, up from 4.1 percent in 2021, before slowing to 3.6 percent in 2023 as global conditions worsen, a senior official said on Thursday. Inflation in Mena was projected to average 14.2 percent in 2022 and to remain high next year, driven by food and energy prices.
GDP growth among the oil exporting nations that benefit from expensive oil will outperform, the official said. The region had resisted a “confluence of shocks” such as volatile commodity markets, a global slowdown and a tightening of global financial conditions, Jihad Azour, Director for the Middle East and Central Asia department at the IMF, told a news conference. But he said the “multispeed recovery” of 2022 will slow as “the worsening of global conditions will weigh on the outlook for next year”.
Microsoft’s cloud portfolio to add $39bn and about 100,000 jobs to UAE economy
Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, expects its cloud services portfolio to add more than $39 billion and about 100,000 jobs to the UAE economy in the next four years, a study has shown.
About 17 percent of that revenue will come from the US technology company’s cloud data centre regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to the report conducted by the International Data Corporation, which was released on Tuesday.
Microsoft’s cloud business caters to the growing number of cloud-born companies or organisations in the UAE that have most or all of their assets on the cloud, said Naim Yazbeck, Microsoft’s general manager for the UAE.
Kuwait says it welcomes OPEC+ cut
Kuwait welcomes OPEC+’s decision to cut oil production by two million barrels per day, Kuwait News Agency said on Sunday, quoting Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s CEO.
Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Nasser Al-Sabah also reiterated Kuwait was keen on maintaining balance in oil markets for the benefit of both consumers and producers.
He said increasing economic concerns and expected slow global economic growth led to more disturbance of the balance between oil supply and demand.
Oman’s economy on the rebound
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised Oman’s efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and reviving the economy after the pandemic. It stated that higher oil prices, fiscal consolidation measures and progress on structural reforms are supporting a post-pandemic economic recovery in the sultanate.
While rebounding economic activity and elevated global inflationary pressures are expected to push up average inflation to 3 percent in 2022, given the relatively high dependence on imports, direct spillovers on the Omani economy from the war in Ukraine have been limited.
Coldplay and Qatar Dollars: Argentina devalues its currency by sectors
Although Argentina’s official currency is the peso (ARS), the country’s Central Bank always keeps a close eye on the US dollar (USD) so it can carefully manage its foreign currency reserves. But the ARS-USD exchange rate is also used to gauge the local economy’s overall health, and numerous fiscal crises in the past have sensitized Argentines such that any sharp peso depreciation is viewed as a sign that things aren’t going well and may soon get much worse.
President Alberto Fernández’s administration officially pegs the peso at a relatively high exchange rate: 151.34 ARS to 1 USD (as of October 13, 2022). But dollar purchases have been restricted to such an extent that almost no one can get the official exchange rate because Economy Minister Sergio Massa has developed and implemented a strategy to devalue the peso by economic sectors.
Saudi Arabia launches new economic analysis index
Saudi Arabia launched a new economic analysis index – MEPX – to monitor performance of the country’s private sector.
The new index, designed and developed by the country’s ministry of economy and planning, is intended to track ten economic factors classified into four categories – consumers, firms, and the financial and trade sectors, SPA reported.
It will provide regular, in-depth analysis of the kingdom’s private sector business cycles through advanced econometrics techniques.
How Dubai is developing its Metaverse strategy
The public sector is discovering the Metaverse’s potential. The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has announced Dubai’s Metaverse strategy. In a tweet, he attached the following infographic.
In many ways, it’s not surprising that innovative governments like Dubai‘s are starting to consider the Metaverse. Dubai has a history of embracing innovation, having already attracted 1,000 companies in the blockchain and Metaverse space, which makes it more inclined to understand that building the necessary infrastructure and fostering a healthy ecosystem around this emerging industry can pay off well in terms of the city’s overall economy.