Low oil prices continue to take their toll on the Middle East's major economies. Rich energy-exporting countries have been forced to raid savings and assets, with Saudi Arabia alone wiping off about $160bn from its stockpile of foreign reserves in the past 24 months.
The aggregate budget deficit of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) sovereigns is expected to total well over $100bn in 2016 and ratings agencies expect Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman to record fiscal deficits of as much as 12% of GDP for the next two years.
