An estimate prepared by FocusEconomics showed that economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region strengthened in the April–June period. According to FocusEconomics, the MENA economy rose an aggregated 2.8% year-on-year in Q2, which marked an improvement over Q1’s 2.5% expansion and represented the strongest rate in over one year.

The acceleration mostly reflected stronger growth among oil-exporting countries as crude oil prices in the quarter were around 50% above the level observed in the same period in 2017. In this regard, forecasts collected by FocusEconomics show that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—were behind Q2’s acceleration, with aggregated growth jumping from 1.6% in Q1 to 2.2% in Q2. Along with the rise in oil prices, GCC countries benefited from the recovery in non-oil activities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which were hit in the previous quarter by the introduction of a value added tax in January.

Meanwhile, economic dynamics softened among oil-importing nations in Q2, mostly reflecting higher oil import bills. Moreover, political unrest likely dented economic activity in some countries, including Jordan and Morocco. On the upside, still-strong growth among the region’s main trading partners such as the Eurozone and the United States supported the external sector. Israel continued to perform well due to rising wages and an accommodative monetary policy. In Egypt, the economy continued to benefit from economic reforms in the April-June period.

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