GCC countries were able to avert an otherwise sharper deterioration in their international reserves on the back of an increase in oil prices and a subsequent positive impact on current account balances, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday.
Large sovereign external debt issuance valued at $49.3 billion in 2017, up more than $10 billion from 2016, also helped the GCC in avoiding a steep decline in reserves.
Combined foreign exchange reserves of the six-nation GCC reached an aggregate $634 billion as of October 2017, about $63 billion lower than a year before and down by $270 billion from their August 2014 peak, the ratings agency said.
“However, given that GCC sovereigns opted for similar maturities, there will be a spik…
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