GEC NEWS WIREAccording to ACCA Business confidence in the Middle East continued to fall in the second quarter of 2015
Business confidence in the Middle East continued to fall in the second quarter of 2015, but not as quickly as it had in the first three months of the year, according to the to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants).
The slight optimism was due to a temporary reprieve in oil prices during the spring, but was a short-lived flame of hope for OPEC members, which was quickly extinguished by the prospect of Iran re-entering the market within a year.
More than any other region, firms in the Middle East began looking for opportunities in new markets in the last three months. 43% of them took this approach, while over half of firms (53%) sought ways of reducing costs during this difficult period, said respondents to the survey.
Saudi Arabia, which has yet to achieve significant diversification away from oil, was drawn into Yemen’s internal conflict during the second quarter.While Qatar is expected to record strong growth of 7.1% this year, the IMF revised its overall forecast for the region down by a percentage point in its April 2015 World Economic Outlook.
Nearly half of those surveyed expected to see government spending increase over the next five years, while 35% expected a decrease. Faye Chua, Head –Business Insights with ACCA, said: “Looking ahead to the next quarter, overall confidence is set to rise in the wake of stronger economic reports coming out of the US and China”
