Quotes of the month

March 06, 2019

March 2019

“People spend a lot of time managing the present and very little time managing the future… You really need to spend time to think about the future”

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, head of Dubai’s Mashreq Bank, argues that track record is no excuse for complacency

“Everyone got into the game of copying Dubai and that is a huge mistake”

Ali Al Shihabi, founder of the think tank Arabia Foundation, says that no non-oil, globally competitive business model has developed anywhere in the Gulf

“When oil prices are high, diversification goes off the agenda. But when they fall, there is not enough revenue to carry out reforms”

Abdulkarim Bucheery, former CEO of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, says plans to diversify have not been successful

“It’s the same movie but with different subtitles”

Bill Rhodes, former senior vice-chairman of Citigroup, says that Latin America’s debt crises all had their own characteristics but many lessons should have been learned

“Even if I did a big acquisition in Argentina, it wouldn’t move the needle and there would be too much risk for the reward”

Roberto Setubal, chief executive of Itaú Unibanco, suggests that, from the perspective of expansion, the Chilean market is bigger, as are those in Colombia and Mexico

“You have to work every day to preserve your macro strength, and Latin American countries should not forget that”

Agustin Carstens, former head of the Bank of Mexico, says the persistent inflationary pressure faced by Latin American central banks still sets them apart from other EM regions

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Front End Quotes of the month March 2019