UAE personal finance confidence is being fuelled by stabilising oil prices as records show 2017 has started positively when it comes to individuals making investments.
It has been widely expected that UAE residents would hold onto savings at the start of the year as people look to see what the local job market and international financial markets looked like.
But with oil prices around 80% higher than at the start of 2016, the general feeling is one of optimism which is translating into confident savings decisions.
Globaleye Vice President Alex Herbert believes the confident start to 2017 is set to continue as long as oil prices remain relatively high.
“At the moment, consumer confidence is up, people are feeling more secure and therefore able to look at their financial planning with a degree of certainty and clarity,” he said.
“The oil price seems to have stabilised and is currently sat in at the mid $50 mark, almost 80 per cent higher than this time last year. The Middle East economy is heavily affected by the oil price and the stabilisation seems to have brought renewed confidence when making personal investment decisions.”
The company has found that both clients and prospective clients are making important investment and insurance decisions quicker compared to this time last year.
By contrast the first few months of 2016 was one of the worst in history, with the dramatic fall in the price of oil, investors were cautious when making decisions about their finances.
Mr Herbert said: “One of the most important factors when making investment decisions is stability and the first two months in 2016 provided none. Fast forward 12 months and it is a completely different story, global markets have consistently hit record highs with the FTSE recording 14 straight consecutive trading sessions.”
With 2017 already providing expected volatility with ‘hard’ Brexit and possibly other European referendums, as well as the Trump effect, uncertainty looks to be coming. But for now people, predominantly expats, are confident in their investment portfolios.
