The Gulf’s sovereign wealth funds shrank by about 8 per cent in the past year as their investment portfolios suffered losses and contributions from oil revenues declined, according to new estimates by economists at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.
If oil prices average about US$40 per barrel – above the current price but well below last year’s $95 a barrel average price for Opec exporters – Gulf countries might need to siphon out as much as $70 billion (Dh257.11bn) from the funds to pay their import bills, something they could comfortably manage, the study estimated.
Sovereign wealth funds came under close scrutiny, and some criticism, last year as they grew with swelling oil revenues.
No comments:
Post a Comment