Oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa region are continuing to make purposeful efforts to diversify and have a longer-term view of how to face headwinds and steer their economies through booms and busts, according to the World Bank.
“For GCC countries – their long-term view, and you can see that reflected in their visions in different degrees [as well as] in their current policies – is one of diversification,” World Bank chief economist Roberta Gatti told The National in a recent interview.
“They are definitely doing a very purposeful progress towards diversification.”
Gulf states, which are home to about a third of the world’s proven oil reserves, are at varying stages in terms of their diversification journeys. Countries such as the UAE have made strides, as they started the diversification process earlier.
“Some of these diversifications are also being triggered by the estimates of where they stand vis-a-vis how much oil reserves they have,” Ms Gatti said.
The six-member economic bloc of the GCC, which includes Opec’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and the Arab world’s second-largest economy, the UAE, are diversifying their economies to cut their dependence on hydrocarbon revenue to fuel their economies.
Gulf states are radically reforming their economies under their separate longer-term transformation vision programmes that seek to develop non-oil economic sectors, expand the industrial base, open up various sectors for investment and carry out social reforms including boosting women’s participation in the labour force.
Growth in the broader Mena region is expected to slow sharply this year as regional oil exporters continue to cap crude production amid stiff global economic headwinds, the World Bank said in its Mena Economic Update report earlier this month.
Aggregate economic growth in the region is expected to drop to 1.9 per cent in 2023, down sharply from the 6 per cent gross domestic product expansion recorded last year, the multilateral lender said before the Israel-Gaza war broke out on October 7.
Its latest forecast was lower than the Washington-based lender’s 3 per cent Mena growth projection released in April.
It underlined global financial conditions as well as high inflation in many Mena economies as contributors to the slowdown.
The GCC, which recorded 7.3 per cent GDP growth in 2022, is set to expand by 1 per cent in 2023.
The World Bank’s Mena economic outlook is in line with estimates of the International Monetary Fund, which expects the regional GDP to expand by 2 per cent this year.
Neither the World Bank nor the IMF have updated their economic forecasts for the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, which has turned into a humanitarian crisis, with more than 6,500 Palestinians killed.
The war is so far contained, but oil prices have shot up over concerns that a spillover of the conflict into the wider region could potentially disrupt crude supplies to the global energy market.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, on Wednesday said that the war in the Middle East will result in more economic jitters for an “already anxious world”.
“We are concerned first and foremost about the epicentre of the war, the tragic loss of lives, but also the destruction and the reduction of economic activity,” she told the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
The “chains of the impact” are already visible in neighbouring countries such as Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, Ms Georgieva said, adding that the uncertainty could “kill” tourist revenue inflows.
World Bank president Ajay Banga on Tuesday said the world needs “peace and stability” as the global economy is at a “dangerous juncture”, with geopolitical challenges such as the Israel-Gaza war expected to have an impact on the pace of economic growth.
Ms Gatti said adopting something that is like “a fiscal rule” and doing the budgeting of the state, with a steady oil price in mind is a way to ride the waves of uncertainty and tougher headwinds.
It is “an effective way to smooth these booms and busts”, she said.
Mena oil-exporting economies grew sharply in 2022 when oil prices surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but subsequently fell on demand concerns amid slowing global economy.
The Opec+ group of oil producers, led by Saudi Arabia, has enforced total crude production curbs of 3.66 million barrels per day, or about 3.7 per cent of global demand, to stabilise crude markets.
These curbs include a reduction of 2 million bpd agreed last year, and voluntary cuts of 1.66 million bpd, announced in April and extended to December 2024.
Last month, Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they would extend their combined supply cuts of 1.3 million bpd to the end of the year.
“In a country like Saudi Arabia, budgeting to my knowledge is done with the quasi-fiscal rule, meaning $70 per barrel [as base prices for the budget for example], so yes, there might be booms and busts, but now the budgeting is done with the long-term in mind,” Ms Gatti said.
She added that Saudi Arabia has also taken “very serious steps” to transform its economy, starting with increasing women's labour force participation.
“What is happening there, I think, is a purposeful effort to diversify the endowment of a country, not just oil, but also human capital. And that's a kind of capital that will be fundamental to deploy different types of growth,” Ms Gatti said.
One key thing for the broader region, including the GCC and oil-importing economies alike, is to “experiment with what [different] type of policies might be important [for them] going forward”, Ms Gatti said.
“For GCC countries, diversification is a fundamental purpose, and in good times, they can actually experiment what policies work … [as] they have the money to do it, they can measure the results,” she said.
“They can be purposeful in thinking about what could be the course of action that they can take to be on the right track in terms of their nominal GDP development.”
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances
All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.
Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.
Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.
Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.
Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.
Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The specs
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
