The Arab World Facing the Challenge of the New Millennium

by Henry T. Azzam

Overview

Henry Azzam here examines the options for each Arab state and provides data on their individual economies, banking, stock and bond markets. He provides information on Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, presenting a detailed overview of their economic performance, fiscal and monetary policies and growth prospects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781860648168
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/26/2002
Series:	Studies in African Political Economy
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Henry T. Azzam is CEO of Jordinvest, the regional investment bank in Jordan. He has studied at the American University of Beirut and the University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

	Figures and Tables	vii
	Preface	xi
1	The Arab world: preparing for a new era of growth	1
2	Challenges and opportunities in the new millennium	13
3	The new economy and its impact on the Arab region	36
4	Arab bond markets: moving from the embryonic stage to the take-off stage	50
5	Arab stock markets: facing up to new challenges	64
6	Drivers of change affecting Arab banks	79
7	Arab currencies: fix or float?	95
8	North Africa	106
9	Levant	136
10	The GCC countries	167
11	The Arab world: a vision for growth	207

Editorial Reviews

.".".Azzam...stresses positive news and presents optimistic forecasts about governments adopting reforms.""--Choice

From the Publisher

This work is a book to consult, not to read. Azzam, economist and head of the regional bank Jordinvest, has pulled together numerous studies of economic indicators to produce a useful handbook. It treats first the entire Arab world as a unit and then turns to succinct individual country studies. Emphasis is placed on subjects not usually covered in standard statistical sources, such as Arab bond and stock markets and the role of Arab banks and Arab currencies. Although Azzam sticks to his economic and financial data, he offers some refreshing conclusions. Among them: Arabs must join, not resist, globalization; defense expenditures must be cut; the cycle that produces extremists, religious antimodernists, political suppression, and obsolete educational systems must end — and a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians must be reached sooner, not later.

Foreign Affairs