GCC Economy Solid Despite Palestine Conflict
Experts have affirmed that GCC countries are unlikely to be majorly affected by the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine as once feared.
While a long-term war may start to bleed out into the wider environment and affect regional economies, in the short- to medium-term, thiings remian stable.
Amer Malik, Head of Middle East International, with investment managment firm Lombard Odier, said: “Today, we have seen oil coming back to around US$86 again. Other commodities, such as gold, have not shot up either, and we have seen only a short-term fluctuation among currencies in the last couple of days.
"Our base view is that it [the war] should not really rattle energy prices.”
When the conflict began, the price of oil went up from the low eighties to $88 per barrel.
On Wednesday, oil prices fell over 2% to settle at $85.82 a barrel as concerns over supply disruptions due to the conflict receded after Saudi Arabia promised to help stabilise the market.
Gold and currencies have not been rocked by the conflict.
“What the region has shown so far is lots of resilience. People are moving here for the right reasons. There is lot of resolve to make this region a sustainable place for people to come and live. It’s not going to shake that quickly,” Malik said.
