Arab Spring, economic winter spook Mena region investors

Rattled first by political instability in the region and then by Europe’s debt crisis, investors in the Middle East will remain on edge in the coming months, seeking out sparse opportunities ob-scured by numerous risks.

Since the Arab Spring — a series of revolts against authoritarian regimes stretching from Tunisia in north Africa to Bahrain in the Gulf — started sweeping across the region, investors have taken flight.

A sharp equities sell-off was followed by a stabilisation after investors realised that regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia had bought stability with a set of populist measures.

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