Gulf economies inch up World Bank league table

Most Gulf countries have improved their standings in the latest edition of the World Bank’s Doing Business report, which is often cited by analysts and government officials when assessing the competitiveness of an economy. The UAE was easily the highest ranked in the region, with a global ranking of 26 (out of 190 countries), up from 34 last year.Among the rest of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), the next best was Bahrain (63, up from 66), Oman (66, up from 69), Qatar (83, down from 74), Saudi Arabia (94, up from 96) and Kuwait (102, down from 98).