The Gulf countries, including the GCC states as well as Iraq and Iran, saw $8.6bn wiped off their collective projects markets in the week ending 17 April.

The decline was the index’s biggest in two months.

Leading the decreases was Saudi Arabia, the region’s biggest projects market. Its value declined by $5.9bn, a drop of 0.5 per cent.

The region’s second-biggest market, the UAE, saw a similar decline of 0.5 per cent, with $4.3bn wiped off its value. The drop came as four schemes worth a total of $2.2bn were put on hold and 20 projects with a total value of $1.3bn were completed.

Iran and Iraq also saw significant falls over the week.

The value of Iran’s projects market dropped by $1.6bn, a contraction of 0.8 per cent, while Iraq saw a decline of $3.4bn.

The decline in Iran comes amid ongoing discussions over its nuclear programme and the removal of sanctions.

Iraq’s projects market has been significantly affected by the conflict between the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the country’s Western-backed government. It is down by 22.5 per cent year-on-year.

Only three countries posted expansions over the week. Bahrain, the region’s smallest market, grew by 1.7 per cent as four new schemes worth a total of $1.1bn were announced.

Bahrain’s projects market is up by 14.8 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Oman saw 13 new schemes added over the week, helping it to add $3.9bn to its projects market over the week, an expansion of 2.4 per cent.

Qatar, the GCC’s third-biggest market, increased by 0.5 per cent as nine new projects were announced, worth a total of $1.5bn.