Doha

LOW oil prices are forcing Gulf states to borrow to prop up their economies and are now taking their toll on the region's banks too, complicating their efforts to raise capital required by regulators.

The impact of crude's fall from more than US$100 to below US$30 a barrel in less than 18 months has already been felt by oil and gas revenue dependent Middle Eastern countries which have had to borrow to prop up their economies.