S&P: Growth benefits sovereigns

Middle Eastern, North African and Central Asian sovereigns continued to benefit from strong real economic growth, averaging more than 6% and improved creditworthiness, according to a report published today by Standard & Poor's.

Their ratings, however, remain constrained by low fiscal flexibility and geopolitical risks, the agency said. Sustained high commodity prices have spurred economic growth in the Gulf countries and Kazakhstan, as both public and private investment increased. Although the majority of this investment has been in the oil sector, significant public and private expenditure in other sectors has also been witnessed in countries such as Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, S&P said, where efforts to diversify the economy have been redoubled.

Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and Israel all enjoyed strong real investment growth in 2006 - a trend that has been boosted by increased intra-regional investment by oil-exporting Arab countries.

However, S&P said ratings in many countries in the region are constrained by a lack of fiscal flexibility and/or underperformance on the budget.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.