Dubai’s Real Estate Sector to witness a price drop of 5-10% …

UAE News:
Dubai International Airport welcomed 22.9 million passengers in Q3, the highest quarterly reading since 2019, and is on track to receive 86.8 million passengers this year (slightly revised upwards from August's estimate of 85 million). Total passenger traffic grew by 39.3% Year over Year (YoY) to 64.5 million in January-September 2023, and is 1% higher than January-September 2019. The CEO of Dubai Airports disclosed that construction was underway to increase the capacity of the airport to up to 120 million passengers by 2026, from the 100 million currently.
UAE’s defence and security acquisitions authority inked around 28 deals worth a cumulative AED 16.78 billion during the 3 days of the Dubai Airshow 2023. The event also saw Emirates sign a deal to purchase 15 additional Airbus A350-900 aircraft for USD 6 billion, expanding its total A350 order book to 65 units.
UAE business licenses linked to creative activities grew to 932,000 by H1 2023, according to the minister of economy.
Adnoc aims to be "net-zero operations" in terms of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, five years earlier than previously planned. Since January 2022, Adnoc has derived all its on-grid electricity from nuclear and solar energy.
Over 84,000 Emiratis currently work in the private sector, with more than 54,000 joining in the last two years, according to the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
S&P expects Dubai’s real estate sector to witness a price drop of 5-10% in the next 12-18 months, given concerns of dampened buyer interest and lower demand alongside oversupply, in addition to increasing competition.
Dubai road toll operator Salik expects revenue-generating trips to grow by up to 10% in 2023. In Q3, the firm’s profits rose by 5.3% to AED 255 million (USD 69.43 million), and revenues were up by 14.2% to AED 509 million.
The Abu Dhabi Pension Fund amended its retirement law enabling equal access to citizens working in both public and private sectors and raising the maximum pensionable amount to 100% of the deductible salary (once individuals complete the maximum years of service) among others.

MENA News:
Egypt and India are exploring the possibility of using local currencies for bilateral trade settlements, also in a bid to strengthen economic ties. Also discussed was “the possibility of heading to Indian financial markets”, similar to the recent issuance of Panda and Samurai bonds.
Target date for the GCC railway project to be functional has been agreed to be December 2030 at the meeting of GCC Ministers of Transport and Communications.
Bilateral trade between Turkey and the GCC nations grew 11-fold to USD 22.7 billion in 2022, from around USD 2.1 billion in 2002. Turkey’s exports to the region jumped to USD 9.5 billion (from USD 1.2 billion) while imports surged to USD 13.3 billion (from under USD 1 billion).
The Middle East and Africa region will need 296,000 new personnel in the aviation sector over the next 2 decades. This accounts for 13% of the global requirement of 2.277 million new personnel, according to Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook. Commercial plane deliveries to the Middle East carriers are projected to be 3,025 between 2023 and 2024.
Wholesale prices in Saudi Arabia rose by 0.98% YoY in October (September: 0.5%, the first positive reading since April 2023), largely driven by the jump in prices of “other transportable goods” which rose to 2.5% (September: 0.7%) while other costs continued to decline. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) eased to 0.55% in the January-October 2023 period, from the 8.7% surge a year ago.
Saudi private sector continued to expand steadily in Q3, supported by corporate stability, as indicated by the MEPX composite index released by the Ministry of Economy and Planning. The index showed that financial measures “remained soft”, while there was a rebalancing in the performance of consumer-related factors (Point of Sale transactions & cash withdrawals).
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition approved 19 business ventures in October (September: 12), with acquisitions accounting for 79% of the total, followed by mergers (21%). In Q3, the authority approved 41 mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.
Crude oil production in Saudi Arabia grew by 0.67% month over month to 8.98 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, and crude exports grew by 3.04% month over month to 5.75 million bpd, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative.
Saudi Aramco discovered two new natural gas fields: gas flowed at a rate of 30 million standard cubic feet per day (scfd), and 1,600 barrels of condensate daily at the Al-Hiran gas field and at the Al Mahakik field, it flowed at a rate of 0.85 million scfd. Separately, Aramco disclosed that it had produced the first tight gas at South Ghawar – the facilities have the capacity to process 300 million scfd of raw gas and 38,000 barrels per day of condensate.
Cultural visits in Saudi Arabia jumped to 22 million in 2022, up from 12.2 million recorded in 2021. Domestic visits dominated, rising by 52% YoY to 18 million trips, while culturally specific international tourist trips surged to 4 million (2021: 480,000).
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have signed multiple investment and cooperation deals including investments in the former’s oil refineries and a pledge to “a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity” among others.
The Saudi Fund for Development committed to funding of USD 90 million towards infrastructure development in two Caribbean states. The USD 50 million allocated to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will be used for the expansion, construction, and rehabilitation of facilities affected by natural disasters. Another USD 40 million will be assigned to the Needsmust Power Plant expansion project in Saint Kitts and Nevis to improve energy quality and access.

Global News:
Equity markets were mostly up last week (except for China) on expectations that interest rates have peaked; regional markets also gained though Abu Dhabi’s index slipped given losses in investment firms. Given the expectations for rates, the dollar index fell, posting the second steepest weekly decline this year; the euro and the British pound were supported by the fall in inflation. Though oil prices rebounded on Friday from a 4-month low, rising by 4% on the day, they still closed lower compared to a week ago (the fourth week in a row). Gold price inched closer to the USD 2000-mark.

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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates