Rising oil revenues lift outlook for Gulf finances but not growth | Reuters

Rising oil revenues lift outlook for Gulf finances but not growth | Reuters:

Rising oil revenues are greatly improving the outlook for budget and trade balances among Gulf Arab countries but will do very little to boost economic growth, a quarterly Reuters poll of economists showed.

The benchmark Brent oil price LCOc1 has averaged about $71.60 a barrel so far this year, up from $55 last year. Also, Gulf states are set to export more oil this year after global producers agreed last month to boost output, partly to compensate for anticipated losses in production by Iran, which faces U.S. sanctions.

That is a boon for state finances and external surpluses across the region, especially in Saudi Arabia, the top exporter. Saudi investment bank Jadwa forecasts Riyadh’s oil revenues at $154 billion this year, instead of the $131 billion which the government budgeted last December.