The combined external current account surplus of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to more than double this year to about $292 billion (Dh1.07 trillion) from $123 billion, the Washington headquartered Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global association of financial services firms with more than 430 member institutions, said yesterday.
The IIF yesterday published its first Arab world report, The Arab World in Transition: Assessing the Economic Impact. The report estimated that the total foreign assets of the GCC countries are $1.7 trillion against foreign liabilities of $500 billion.
"About one-half of the GCC's gross assets are held by sovereign wealth funds. Despite the turmoil in the region, we do not expect to see significant shifts in funds managed by the sovereigns as a specific response to the crisis," said Dr. George T. Abed, IIF Senior Counsellor.
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