Higher oil prices in the second half of the year have once again turned the spotlight on the economic priorities of the oil-exporting nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and the increasing influence of their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs).
The unexpected windfall from higher oil revenues in 2022 — following a surge in prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — provided a significant boon to public finances of the GCC’s six member nations, generating little-experienced current account surpluses and helping with the paydown of sovereign debt.
