Significant economic reform is becoming increasingly essential for the countries of the Arabian Gulf, with high oil revenues seemingly a thing of the past. Nowhere is that need for reform more evident in Oman and Bahrain.
As the two Arabian Gulf countries with the lowest financial buffers, they face greater challenges in addressing issues such as lowering their fiscal deficits. The IMF yesterday singled out the two countries within the region that urgently need to do more – and quickly – to reduce their debt piles.
The IMF is not the only institution to sound the alarm over the two countries’ finances.
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Read more:
IMF calls on GCC to speed up reforms as it lowers growth forecasts
World Bank lowers growth forecast for Arabian Gulf on oil cut adherence
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The credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service, which earlier this year downgraded both Oman and Bahrain's sovereign ratings, has issued stark forecasts.
The agency is projecting Oman's fiscal deficit, which reached 18.7 per cent of GDP in 2016, will average 9 per cent of GDP until 2020, despite the country's fiscal consolidation efforts.
Meanwhile, the country's debt ratio, which reached about 30 per cent of GDP at the end of last year from
less than 5 per cent before the 2014 oil price decline,
is forecast to rise to more than 50 per cent of GDP
by 2020.
Although Oman has not been complacent about the situation – it has raised and broadened the corporate tax rate and increased taxes on LNG and petrochemicals – the country has so far failed to adequately cut its current spending, notably its military expenditure, which is one of the highest in the world as a share
of GDP.
The situation is more alarming in Bahrain, which is posting fiscal deficits of 18 per cent of GDP and are likely to remain in double-digits in 2017 and 2018, according to Moody’s.
The country's government debt-to-GDP ratio rose to more than 73 per cent last year from 62 per cent in 2015, and is forecast to surpass 100 per cent by 2020.
With prospects of further interest rates hikes in the United States, which will be mimicked in the dollar-pegged economies of Bahrain and Oman, the cost of financing such a deficit will only get higher.
Lower oil prices have changed the economic equation permanently for the countries of the Arabian Gulf, with Oman and Bahrain in particular at an important juncture.
Both countries need to seize the moment to balance their budgets with an acceleration of reforms, no matter how painful they may prove to be.
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Company%20Profile
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16, second leg (first-leg scores in brackets):
PSG (2) v Manchester United (0)
Midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0