Insights

Saudi economy 2016

Saudi Labor Market Outlook

The Saudi labor market has undergone significant and dynamic change over the course of the last decade. The labor market is notably segmented and unique challenges are being encountered with the employment of Saudi nationals into the private sector. This report analyses the transformation that has taken place and looks ahead to the potential significant challenges still facing the labor market within the Kingdom. In this report, we analyze the interesting trends from the period 2005-15 and present three different scenarios as part of our forecast for the period 2015-25.

Econ update- September 2015

In this report, we have revised our 2015 and 2016 forecasts to take account of a recent flow of data that has generally been slightly weaker than we had anticipated. We forecast real GDP growth to reach 3.2 percent, and 2.3 percent in 2015 and 2016 respectively, down from 3.5 percent in 2014. The high level of spending on the economy, together with low oil prices, will mean a larger than anticipated fiscal deficit, while the current account deficit will be small in 2015. However, the new government deficit financing strategy of reserve withdrawals and debt issuance will ensure a stable and gradual consolidation in public expenditure as the fiscal balance starts to improve from 2016.

Q1 15 GDP

Seasonality in the Saudi Stock Market - (TASI trading in and around Ramadan)

In the next few days, Ramadan, the ninth month of the Hjiri (Islamic) calendar, will begin. Typically during this holy month, working hours are restricted, and most sectors witness subdued business activity. This year Ramadan will commence a few days after the admission of qualified foreign investors (QFIs) into the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). With these two events closely following each other, we thought it would be beneficial to get a better sense of the typical trading patterns observed in and around the Ramadan period, especially for the benefit of QFIs entering the market.