Saudi Arabia

BMI View: The financial crisis has raised important questions about the Islamic finance industry, and we remain bearish Gulf sukuk, a position we first adopted in August 2007.

Although we are not convinced that the current bounce in global stock markets will last beyond the immediate term, we see some slightly positive technical signals from two markets... 2008-11-05

Interbank deposit rates in the Gulf have eased slightly after central banks followed the US Fed's 50bps rate cut this week, but we think the liquidity crisis has further to run, and... 2008-10-31

Interbank deposit rates in the Gulf have eased slightly after central banks followed the US Fed's 50bps rate cut this week, but we think the liquidity crisis has further to run, and... 2008-10-31

We may see some further stock market upside in the Gulf this morning, following the Dow Jones rally. Upward moves have tended to be fairly short-lived in these volatile times, but... 2008-10-29

Recently released figures from the Islamic Finance Information Service (IFIS) concerning global sukuk issuance clearly illustrate our long-held view that the market is not favourable... 2008-10-22

Gulf markets followed their global counterparts in bouncing strongly yesterday, but while we think the uptick may have further to run in the short-term, we are reluctant to call it... 2008-10-14

On August 4, we examined the key implications of a US dollar bounce (which has been our core view since early July) on Middle Eastern currencies. With the greenback having rallied... 2008-10-06

BMI View: Recent comments from Moody's add weight to our view that Dubai is most at risk of contagion from the global financial crisis. This could mean an increasing number of foreign... 2008-10-02

The refusal of US Congress to pass Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed US$700bn bail-out plan could potentially have very serious ramifications worldwide, and the Gulf region,... 2008-09-30