The Middle East Economy

Social services and infrastructure projects are a key focus for state spending moving forward. The 2011-12 budget provided BD6.2bn ($16.37bn) and the 2012-13 budget is expected to include further funding for services, infrastructure, housing, education and health to boost the Kingdom’s spending drive. Furthermore, the first BD377m ($995.36m) tranche...

As the Arabic word for “two seas”, Bahrain’s name refers to the sweet-water springs that fill the Kingdom’s aquifers and the salty seas that surround the island.

The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the manager of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is playing an increasingly active role in the domestic and international economy. This bodes well for the country’s growth prospects, and for a future in which national income no longer depends on the global price of oil.

Buoyed by surging oil revenues, strong public finances, and a young and growing population, Kuwait is now moving toward a period of renewed growth after making a strong rebound from the global economic crisis. In 2011 the country’s GDP rose by an estimated 5.7%. According to projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kuwait will record...

Like many other GCC states, Kuwait has experienced rising inflation over the past two years as the country has recovered from the global economic crisis, and as oil, food and commodity prices have risen worldwide. Nevertheless, inflation is not expected to reach pre-crisis highs in the near term, and the government has maintained an accommodative...

As one of the first Gulf states to undertake large-scale infrastructure development, the early exploitation of the county’s massive oil fields funded the construction of the region’s most comprehensive road network, bustling ports, and a robust power and water network during the 1970s and 1980s.Even before the Iraqi invasion of 1990-91, this initial...