GCC biz leaders express renewed confidence in Q1 of 2016

Manama : Bucking the trend in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region, the GCC business leaders expressed renewed business confidence in the first quarter of this year, according to a global survey by Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO).

According to the survey, the GCC countries posted an increase of 6.3 points in confidence from the final quarter in 2015, among its business leaders. 

Meanwhile, the broader MENA region suffered another 0.8 point decrease in confidence from last quarter. The region thus continued its worrying trend of plunging confidence and this was the sixth consecutive quarter of falling confidence. When considering the short-term outlook, more than a third of MENA CEOs expected economic conditions to deteriorate over the next six months, with 35 pc anticipating little or no change. 

Only 31pc predicted an improvement in the economic climate. 

MENA business confidence measured by the YPO is at 55.6 and the GCC is at 52.2.

It has to be noted that the first quarter good show by the GCC is on the back of an alarming slump in confidence in the previous 18 months. 

Despite the current uptick in confidence among business leaders, it is still a full 18 points below its October 2014 level, before oil prices began to slump, but it does suggest that the worst is now over, according to the YPO.

Saudi Arabia climbed 14.1 points to 53.5 driving the business confidence among the GCC countries. Globally, in the first quarter of 2016, the YPO Global Pulse Index composite score remained steady at 58.3, reflecting a relatively optimistic economic outlook. Confidence in Africa increased 2.2 points to a relatively positive 53.2 while confidence in the US edged up 0.5 point to 59.6.  Economic sentiment in Asia remained almost unchanged.