GCC fiscal surplus tops $564bn in four years

A surge in crude prices has allied with high output to allow Gulf oil producers to accumulate a staggering fiscal surplus of more than $564 billion (Dh2 trillion) over the past four years despite record spending, figures showed yesterday.

Nearly half the surplus in the combined budgets of the GCC was achieved in 2008, when the member countries netted its highest ever income after oil prices soared to historically record levels, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).

The cumulative surplus of $564.8bn during 2005-2008 was more than 14 times the $40bn surplus recorded in the previous four years and in sharp contrast with the deficit registered by some members during those years.