The UAE economy is resilient and still presents many investment opportunities in both the long and short term, Mohammad Al Aryan, CEO and Co-CIO of Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco), a global investment management firm, said yesterday.
Speaking at the Majlis Mohammad Bin Zayed as part of a lecture called Combining Resilience and Agility: Adjusting to the Realities of Global Re-alignments, Al Aryan, whose firm is the world’s largest bond investor with approximately $1.3 trillion (Dh4.7 trillion) of assets, said: “The UAE has a healthy economy due to its strong balance sheet and the ability to produce what others highly demand in the world.” He said global growth was now being heavily impacted by nations which had little influence in the past.
“The world economy is now influenced by countries that previously had little or no systemic influence,” said Al Aryan, adding that former debtor nations are “building unforeseen wealth and enjoying unprecedented influence and facing unusual challenges.” He underscored the drivers of global change which include thinking about new opportunities and risks and constructing an appropriately diversified and internationalised portfolio, which require upgraded system’s infrastructure to reflect the realities of today’s and tomorrow’s world. He said the Eurozone cannot grow to keep up with debts.
Structural reform
“The EU should distinguish between the countries with heavy and crushing debts and the ones with few debts in order to handle the issue in a better manner by adopting structural reforms,” said Al Aryan. “The case of Greece is becoming absolutely acute. The policymakers have succeeded in creating a wedge between rising asset prices and a more uneven economic and financial situation.”
He referred to the readjustment process of the world economy, warning that if it does not happen, it will affect the entire globe. “Ongoing global economic realignments require a reassessment of the big picture by defining transparent metrics for growth, jobs, inflation, financial soundness and social indicators.”
Markets: A broad reflection
Mohammad Al Aryan, CEO and Co-CIO of Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) said what is happening in the markets is a broader reflection of a tug-of-war’ taking place in the global economy. Policymakers, he argued, don’t have as much ammunition as they used to.
“Although joblessness is coming down, it remains at high levels and it is increasingly structural in nature. Growth is becoming sluggish again,” he said.
