IslamicFinance.de

As oil prices plunge to four year-lows, the big news in the Gulf's debt market is that it is outperforming most of the rest of the world. Although the Gulf's oil exporters will suffer from low oil prices, Gulf bond prices have mostly been firm since June, for two reasons. One is that most investors and economists think the big Gulf Arab economies are not seriously under threat; they have amassed huge financial reserves. Also, Gulf funds and investment institutions have large amounts of free cash - the result of the region's economic boom - which they are happy to use to buy local bonds whenever foreign investors are tempted to sell.