Publications

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the decline in global oil demand and prices dealt the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries a health crisis and a commodity market shock. In this issue of the Gulf Economic Update, the focus is on fiscal revenues and structural reforms including strategic investments in digitalization and telecommunications. Strategic investment in advanced telecommunications technologies, including 5G, is underway in the GCC. But beyond capital spending on infrastructure, the telecommunications sector would benefit greatly from improvements in the legal, regulatory, and competition frameworks under which service providers operate.