The dramatic fall in the price of oil since June 2014, amplified by the worsening economic circumstances in China is prompting many to worry about the financial and political stability of major oil exporting nations.
However, not every country is equally vulnerable. Large differences exist within OPEC for example, depending on the size of a country’s sovereign wealth fund and the amount of foreign exchange reserves a country holds. Common wisdom is that countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are well placed to weather the storm. However, they too are at risk given their propensity to take out more and more cash from sovereign wealth funds, and thus put pressure on future economic investment plans as well as debt burdens on the population in the coming years.
Anadolu News Agency from Turkey spoke about this issue with Sijbren de Jong and several other experts. The full interview can be read here.