John Brash: Diversification has been a deliberate policy of GCC governments for some time. The drop in hydrocarbon revenues actually shows this to have been apt and robust. So while the doom-and-gloomers would have us think the region was forced to diversify, it is actually the opposite: a case of foresight being proven. The result is that the GCC has, in the main, been able to ride out the fall in oil prices with typical panache.
Reforms aimed at opening up Saudi Arabia to investment and encouraging private sector participation are moving forward, even as further details of the Kingdom’s long-term National Transformation Plan (NTP) have yet to be released.
Economic reform is under way in Kuwait, after the Ministry of Finance unveiled a new six-point strategy last month aimed at restructuring the economy amid the slump in global oil prices.
In mid-December 2015 Qatar’s Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics cut the country’s GDP forecast for the year to 3.7%, down by nearly half from an earlier prediction of 7.3% and the 6.1% recorded in 2014.
Last month Kuwait announced plans to create a new fund to manage its domestic assets, signalling a key step forward in the country’s push to privatise state-owned companies.
The Turkish economy remained relatively resilient in 2015, despite continued weakness among leading trade partners, instability along and within its borders, and a rising tide of Syrian refugees.
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