Economy GCC economic data The latest economic indicators for the Gulf Co-operation Council countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – plus links to in-depth pages on each country April 29, 2025
Economy Saudi Arabia economy The latest economic indicators and demographic trends for Saudi Arabia, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, expats, unemployment and more June 6, 2025
Economy United Arab Emirates economy The latest economic indicators and demographic trends for the United Arab Emirates, including the UAE's GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, expats, unemployment and more June 4, 2025
Economy Oman economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Oman, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more June 6, 2025
Economy Qatar economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Qatar, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more June 6, 2025
Markets Dubai shares slide nearly 2% on Israel and Iran tensions Dubai’s benchmark stock index fell sharply on Friday, as heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a sell-off in heavyweight property shares. The DFM General Index dropped 1.87 percent after Israel launched strikes on Iranian military targets. Israel said it had hit nuclear and missile sites as well as targeting senior commanders, calling it […] June 13, 2025
Oil & Gas Oil jumps over 7% amid rising Middle East tensions Oil prices jumped more than 7 percent on Friday, hitting their highest in months after Israel said it struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose $5.29, or 7.63 percent, to $74.65 a barrel by 01:42 GMT after hitting an intraday high of $75.32, […] June 13, 2025
Analysis Telecoms Analysts opt for small Gulf telcos despite profits at majors The Gulf’s major former telecom monopolies reported steady first-quarter profit growth and have proved a safe haven for equity investors during market volatility this year. However, it is their smaller domestic rivals that analysts prefer. Saudi Telecom Co (STC), the UAE’s e& (formerly and more commonly known as Etisalat), Qatar’s Ooredoo and Kuwait’s Zain are […] June 13, 2025
Opinion Economy How GCC investors should prepare for the coming US recession The troubled US housing market signals a clear warning for the global economy June 12, 2025
Analysis Tech Humanoid robots: coming soon to a workplace near you Nursing, tourism and leisure, even performing arts, and anything dull, dangerous and dirty: the technology world is increasingly bullish on what humanoid robots can do. Humanoid robots are already greeting visitors at Dubai’s Museum of the Future and patrolling the emirate’s beaches, handing out fines and monitoring the use of scooters and bicycles. Jensen Huang, […] June 12, 2025
Oil & Gas Gulf projects feature in Shell’s LNG capacity plans European energy major Shell, the world’s largest trader of liquefied natural gas (LNG), will add millions of tonnes of additional capacity by 2030 from projects under construction, a top executive has said. There is “up to 12 million tonnes of additional capacity that we’re adding between now and the end of the decade,” Cederic Cremers, […] June 12, 2025
Aviation Trump’s Gulf deals help Boeing deliver a blockbuster May Boeing heads into the Paris Air Show after a blockbuster May that included booking 303 new orders and rolling out 38 new 737 MAX jets, a production rate it has been working to reach for more than a year. The company also delivered 45 aircraft last month, it said Tuesday. It was the sixth-highest monthly order tally […] June 11, 2025
Analysis Banking and Finance Why government-related debt is worth a punt Debt sales by government-related entities (GRE) in the Gulf, such as Saudi Electricity Co and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co, offer better investor value than their sovereigns, experts say. Gulf foreign currency sales of conventional and sukuk (sharia-compliant bonds) rose 9 percent to $72.4 billion in the five months to May 31, compared with the […] June 11, 2025
Analysis Tax GCC braces for effects of Trump’s ‘Big, beautiful bill’ A proposal under consideration in the US Congress to impose new levies on sovereign wealth funds and other foreign investors is unlikely to harm GCC-based entities directly, experts have told AGBI. It could, however, have enough of a knock-on effect on the global attractiveness of US assets to convince large Gulf players to reassess their […] June 10, 2025
Analysis Banking and Finance Gulf banks fight back to beat buy-now-pay-later advantage Gulf banks are moving aggressively to claw back billions of dollars in market share from buy-now-pay-later fintechs, turning to new payments infrastructure to reassert control at checkout, according to industry executives. Visa is working with lenders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to expand its “Installment Solutions” platform, which allows credit cardholders to split payments […] June 10, 2025
Analysis Banking and Finance Banks slash IPO fees in Gulf scramble for market share Investment banks in the Gulf are cutting or even waiving fees to secure roles in regional initial public offerings (IPOs). As activity cools elsewhere, companies in the world’s largest oil producing region are selling shares to fund expansion. With IPO activity slowing in the US, Europe and China, legal and financial advisors say the Gulf, […] June 10, 2025
Opinion Markets Looming ‘5 on 10’ crunch will concentrate minds in the Gulf The yield on 10-year US Treasury bills is creeping up towards 5% June 9, 2025
Markets GCC debt issuance plunges but enthusiasm remains New debt issuance in the GCC fell by more than a fifth in the first five months of the year, led by a decline in Saudi sovereign sales, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data shows. Corporate sales of both conventional bonds and sharia-compliant bonds known as sukuk took up some of the slack. In total, […] June 9, 2025
Analysis Banking and Finance GCC banks impress with earnings in first quarter Major banks in the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) generated more than $13 billion in net profit in the first quarter of 2025. This was up by nearly one-tenth compared to a year earlier as increased lending and low loan defaults boosted the banks’ bottom lines. AGBI analysed the earnings of 21 banks across the […] June 9, 2025
Economy Bahrain economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Bahrain, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more June 6, 2025
Economy Kuwait economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Kuwait, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more June 6, 2025
Analysis Aviation Gulf aviation and politics intersect at 30,000 feet As headlines swirled around Qatar’s reported gifting of a private jet to President Donald Trump, the real political theatre last month unfolded in the skies above the Gulf. Within days of each other, regional carriers Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways revealed a combined 238-jet order from Boeing, the troubled US manufacturer, highlighting how aviation serves […] June 6, 2025
Analysis Banking and Finance Qatar and UAE banks vulnerable to interest rate cuts Many Gulf banks reported bumper first-quarter profits thanks to increased lending. But Qatari and Emirati lenders are the most vulnerable to expected interest rate cuts. Kuwaiti dinar aside, the five other Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar, so their countries’ benchmark interest rates mirror those of the United States. The rapid rise in US rates […] June 6, 2025
Opinion Markets From petrostate to deal state: Gulf IPO markets mature The Gulf's regional exchanges are defying the global slowdown and outperforming their Western peers June 4, 2025
Analysis Trade Gulf FDI into US states goes well beyond usual suspects Among the flashiest deals announced during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf in mid-May was Emirates Global Aluminium’s $4 billion investment pledge to build the first new smelter in the US in 45 years in Oklahoma. The tentative agreement, EGA said in a press release, is subject to the parties finalising “state and […] June 3, 2025
