MIDDLE-EAST & NORTH AFRICA The recycling of surplus petrodollars through the global financial system is set to intensify, with Saudi Arabia and the five other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council exporting at least $450bn of capital over the course of this year and next, the Institute of International Finance predicted on Tuesday.
The capital exports are the mirror image of the oil-rich region’s massive current account surplus. The IIF, a lobby group for global financial institutions, forecasts that this surplus will jump 37 per cent this year to $227bn, and decrease only fractionally in 2007.
