The current political turmoil in the region continues to have a negative impact on the Gulf’s projects market, with the total value of projects planned or under way falling by 0.2 per cent to $2.52 trillion for the week up until 19 April.

The GCC projects market, which accounts for about 74 per cent of the total Gulf market, dropped by 0.3 per cent.

Evidence of the impact of the unrest on the projects sector can be found in Bahrain, with the country’s projects market falling by 3.5 per cent. Ongoing political instability in the kingdom resulted in $2.5bn of real-estate projects being put on hold.

Oman, which has also been affected by the political unrest, recorded a 0.2 per cent drop in its projects market as a water supply project was completed and no new projects were announced.

However, the market decline is not just limited to countries affected by the protests.

Newly completed or stalled projects have resulted in market falls for politically stable countries in the Gulf. Qatar and the UAE recorded drops in their projects markets of 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. Qatar’s market fell as a $1.4bn real-estate project was put on hold and no new projects were announced. In the UAE, $1.7bn-worth of projects were completed and projects totalling $2bn were put on hold.

Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest projects market, was the only country in the GCC to witness growth in the value of its projects. It recorded a 0.1 per cent increase, with the $600m Saudi Aramco project in Shoaiba the main reason for the rise.

Outside the GCC, Iran’s projects index remained flat. Iraq recorded a 0.2 per cent rise after the announcement of new power plants at Al-Qaim and Najaf.