GCC liquidity 'tight' but swift recovery expected

Alasdair Warren, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International, told delegates at the annual DIFC event that the group was 'fundamentally bullish' on the region.

'My personal suspicion is that the region will recover quicker than anywhere else,' Warren said.

'There are three fundamental reasons: The Gulf's hydrocarbon wealth; small real economies; and the governments' ability to reinflate the economy far quicker than anywhere else with the reserves of capital that they hold.'

Warren added that Goldman Sachs therefore rated the Gulf as good for investment and said that he foresaw the region playing a relatively greater global role than it has in the past as a result of the swift recovery.

'We are fundamentally bullish on the region,' Warren said. 'The opportunities it presents are very attractive, but the difficulty is in accessing them.

'In terms of turning the market around, sentiment is very important here and a lot of these issues can be dealt with very quickly by governments.'