Dubai: Spending has been robust in the first seven weeks of the year, driven by consumer confidence, American Express’ senior official said.
“We have seen very buoyant and robust start to our business in the first seven weeks of the year and that is driven by consumer confidence and externally the economies have been strong despite lower oil prices,” Mazin Khoury, Chief Executive Officer of American Express Middle East told Gulf News.
Countries in the GCC have been reeling under the pressure of falling oil prices, which have fallen more than 50 per cent since last year. However that has not impacted consumer confidence.
“These economies have sovereign wealth funds and high reserves.” Khoury said tied to that is very high consumer confidence and a strong start to 2015. “We are seeing a continuation of strong consumer confidence last year into this year,” he added.
American Express began operations in the Mena region in 1959 and set up its first office in Bahrain in 1977. The company operates in 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa.
American Express Middle East employs more than 500 staff in the Mena region, covering its consumer card, corporate payments and merchant businesses.
