GCC fiscal surplus at $605bn in six years

Strong crude prices allied with high output to allow Gulf oil producers to accumulate a staggering fiscal surplus of nearly $605 billion (Dh2.22 trillion) over the past six years, according to a key Kuwait bank.

Saudi Arabia, the world's oil basin, controlled more than half that surplus which was achieved despite a sharp rise in actual expenditure by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said in a study about the bloc's fiscal developments.

The study said more than a third of that surplus was recorded in 2008 but expected the GCC nations to slip back into a deficit this year due to a steep decline in crude prices and their oil output.