Xinhua, Dubai :
The survey-based HSBC United Arab Emirates (UAE) Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose in December to 58.4 points due to a substantial rise in new orders, but the outlook for 2015 looks more gloomy, said the Dubai branch of the British bank here Tuesday.
The PMI rise signals an expanding non-oil private sector and production growth in the UAE, a major oil supplier, ticked up from the previous month to the second-highest in the series to date, said HSCB.
However, Simon Williams, chief economist for Middle East and North Africa at HSBC, said “We expect lower oil prices to weigh on the economy into 2015.”
He added that for now demand is holding up well. “That new orders as well as output have remained strong is particularly encouraging.”
Despite the fall in oil prices, overall input price inflation rose in December in the UAE non-oil private sector, supported by a sharper increase in purchasing costs and modest wage growth, said HSBC.
Peter Baltussen, chief executive office of Commercial Bank of Dubai, said at the Arab strategy forum last month that he expected some impact of declining oil prices on the real economy, “on the property market in particular.”
However, Baltussen said UAE’s 23 local banks had strong balance sheets and are able to whether the impact as they have virtually no exposure in high risk-asset classes or crises regions in the world.
Arjuna Mahendran, chief investment officer of Emirates NBD, a leading bank in UAE, said only a harsh winter in Europe, East Asia and elsewhere can stabilize oil prices as the world is awash with the “black gold” after the OPEC states decided in November to maintain the 30-million-barrel daily oil output.
The UAE harbors approximately eight percent of the world’s known oil reserves, according to the international energy agency in Paris. Oil prices (Brent) fell towards 50 U.S. dollars per barrel earlier in the week, the first time in five and a half years.
The survey-based HSBC United Arab Emirates (UAE) Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose in December to 58.4 points due to a substantial rise in new orders, but the outlook for 2015 looks more gloomy, said the Dubai branch of the British bank here Tuesday.
The PMI rise signals an expanding non-oil private sector and production growth in the UAE, a major oil supplier, ticked up from the previous month to the second-highest in the series to date, said HSCB.
However, Simon Williams, chief economist for Middle East and North Africa at HSBC, said “We expect lower oil prices to weigh on the economy into 2015.”
He added that for now demand is holding up well. “That new orders as well as output have remained strong is particularly encouraging.”
Despite the fall in oil prices, overall input price inflation rose in December in the UAE non-oil private sector, supported by a sharper increase in purchasing costs and modest wage growth, said HSBC.
Peter Baltussen, chief executive office of Commercial Bank of Dubai, said at the Arab strategy forum last month that he expected some impact of declining oil prices on the real economy, “on the property market in particular.”
However, Baltussen said UAE’s 23 local banks had strong balance sheets and are able to whether the impact as they have virtually no exposure in high risk-asset classes or crises regions in the world.
Arjuna Mahendran, chief investment officer of Emirates NBD, a leading bank in UAE, said only a harsh winter in Europe, East Asia and elsewhere can stabilize oil prices as the world is awash with the “black gold” after the OPEC states decided in November to maintain the 30-million-barrel daily oil output.
The UAE harbors approximately eight percent of the world’s known oil reserves, according to the international energy agency in Paris. Oil prices (Brent) fell towards 50 U.S. dollars per barrel earlier in the week, the first time in five and a half years.
