The United Arab Emirates, the second-largest Arab economy, isn't
concerned about recent oil price fluctuations and won't issue any
federal sovereign bonds before 2012, the country's finance minister
said.
"The Ministry of Finance is not worried about the fluctuating oil prices
witnessed in the market recently," minister of state for financial
affairs, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, said in the ministry's June newsletter.
Al Tayer added that recent oil price increases weren't directly
affecting cost and would only be reflected over time, and inflation in
the U.A.E.--an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
member--therefore wasn't expected to exceed 2% in 2011.
Crude oil prices earlier this year hit their highest levels since 2008
amid concerns over tight supplies and political unrest in parts of the
Middle East and North Africa, with New York crude futures rising to as
much as $114 a barrel in April. Oil prices have dropped to levels below
$100 a barrel since the International Energy Agency said last week it
would release some of its strategic crude stockpiles to make up for
production losses in Libya.
Al Tayer also said the U.A.E.'s "federal government will not issue
sovereign bonds before 2012, and only if deemed necessary. He added that
the U.A.E. was working on launching "a bond market parallel to the
stock markets, which will increase initial issuance on a federal and
local level."
Recent political unrest in the region had led to an inflow of funds into
Gulf Cooperation Council economies from other Arab states, but the
developments have not had any "significant impact on GCC economies at
the current time," Al Tayer said.