Qatar

The insurance industry across the Middle East is growing rapidly, with various estimates projecting annual growth of around 20% in insurance premium payments over the coming years.... 2006-12-06

Since we last gauged the sentiment of our surveyed banks to EM external debt markets back in the summer, confidence has understandably picked up, as reflected by the rise in our global... 2006-11-16

Inflation is running high in Qatar, due to robust economic activity, high population growth owing to large increases in expatriate workers, high wage growth and expansionary government... 2006-09-19

Although we are less bearish towards EM assets than we were, our negative stance remains. In this respect, before discussing our surveyed investment banks' current external debt positions,... 2006-06-30

The Middle East and African index fell by 0.6 points, with losses for Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. Merrills are underweight Morocco, despite an improving macroeconomic profile,... 2006-03-24

One word characterises EM debt of late: resilience. Indeed, the asset class has withstood a number of potentially negative influences, ranging from a sustained US tightening cycle... 2005-11-25

Despite the recent sharp declines in EM debt valuations, the surveyed banks remain upbeat on the asset class in general and have lifted the index to one of its highest ever readings... 2005-10-21

The Federal Reserve's decision to lift the Fed funds rate by another 25bps, to 3.75%, is a clear indication that, despite the near-term economic threat posed by Hurricane Katrina,... 2005-09-23

The Middle East and Africa index saw the most losses this month, with South Africa declining by over 10 points. While Merrills moved the sovereign back to marketweight, arguing that... 2005-08-19

Our Middle East and Africa index increased by 1.2 points to 101.0. The mainly reflects Merrills having increased their exposure to Nigeria. Merrills believes the time is right to... 2005-06-23