Citi’s Jane Fraser sees Gulf states driving decade of Mideast growth

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser sees the Gulf states sparking explosive growth in coming years across the region.

“The Middle East is probably on a rip for the next decade or so in terms of how much investment and new industries, new clients are coming in,” Fraser told Bloomberg in an interview today while visiting Dubai.

She highlighted the region’s expanding links with India and China as a powerful draw for global financial institutions like Citi, which has been building up operations alongside rivals such as Jefferies, Lazard, and JPMorgan.

With governments accelerating privatizations and encouraging stock listings, Fraser also pointed to the Gulf as a global hotspot for IPOs, which have raised more than $5 billion this year.