Oil & Gas Oil may hit $90 on Russia curbs and Iran output cut Brent crude oil prices could rise above $85 a barrel in the short-term if the latest round of US sanctions against Moscow leads to lower Russian oil output, Goldman Sachs said on Sunday. Prices could touch $90 a barrel if the decline in Russian output coincides with a reduction in Iranian production, the bank said. US president Joe Biden imposed the broadest package of sanctions so […] January 13, 2025
Finance Saudi Arabia exceeds 2030 target for regional HQs Global companies opening regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia have exceeded the Vision 2030 target, the investment minister has said. The number of companies setting up their main regional base in the kingdom has reached 571, primarily in the industrial sector, Khalid Al Falih told Asharq Business, an Arabic-language financial portal. The Gulf state, he said, […] January 13, 2025
Economy New Lebanese president faces uphill task on economy Joseph Aoun, the new Lebanese president who was elected on Thursday, faces an uphill task of pulling his country out of the worst financial crisis since independence, according to analysts. After a presidential vacuum of more than two years, the 60-year-old Maronite Christian and former army commander takes over the Baabda presidential palace against the […] January 10, 2025
Economy Lebanon’s bonds rally after new president elected Lebanese government bonds extended their three-month-long rally on Thursday as the crisis-ravaged country’s parliament voted in a new head of state for the first time since 2022. Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president. It came after 12 failed attempts to pick a president and boosted hopes that the country might finally be able to start addressing […] January 10, 2025
Trade Trump tariffs: Middle East braces for pain after gain Middle East exporters to the US are likely to see a short-term increase in business ahead of the much talked about trade tariffs which are expected to be announced when Donald Trump returns to the White House this month. The US president-elect campaigned on a protectionist America-first agenda, promising to introduce sweeping tariffs globally. Trump […] January 10, 2025
Economy Egypt’s inflation reached two-year low in December Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate fell to 24.1 percent year on year in December, as expected, from 25.5 percent in November, its lowest in two years, data from statistics agency Capmas showed on Thursday. Inflation began surging in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted foreign investors to withdraw billions of dollars from Egyptian treasury markets. It […] January 9, 2025
Economy Oman’s GDP projected to reach $102bn in 2025 Oman’s gross domestic product (GDP) at constant prices is projected to grow to OR39.43 billion ($102.42 billion) in 2025, up from the anticipated OR38.39 billion in 2024, according to a media report. The Sultanate recorded a GDP increase of 1.9 percent to OR28.15 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2024, compared to […] January 9, 2025
Economy Trump tariffs could hit foreign investment, Oman warns Oman’s buoyant non-oil sector will help the sultanate’s economy expand this year at nearly twice the rate of 2024, its sovereign wealth fund has forecast. However, the fund warned that US president-elect Donald Trump’s plans to implement tariffs on its trading partners could hamper ambitions by the sultanate to increase foreign direct investment and reduce […] January 9, 2025
Trade Turkish exporters cashing in on end of Syrian conflict The end of the civil war in Syria is already paying dividends for Turkish exporters. Shipments have increased in the first weeks after the overthrow of the Assad regime, with a further ramping up forecast as stability is established. Turkey’s exports to Syria increased by just under 20 percent year-on-year in December, with more than […] January 9, 2025
Economy Tech companies fuel spike in Saudi business registrations Commercial business registrations in Saudi Arabia increased by more than two-thirds in the fourth quarter of 2024, led by a proliferation of technology-based companies setting up in the kingdom. Over 160,000 new records were issued throughout the three-month period, taking the number of active commercial registrations in the country to more than 1.6 million, according […] January 9, 2025
Real Estate Kuwait real estate transaction value up 34% in 2024 The value of real estate transactions in Kuwait grew 34 percent year on year in 2024. In total, 4,950 transactions were worth KD3.73 billion, or around $9 billion, in 2024, compared with 4,442 transactions worth KD2.78 billion in 2023. Only the country’s coastal strip saw a decline in transactions, with deals dropping 44 percent. Residential […] January 8, 2025
Economy Turkish pensions increase falls short of expectations Turkey has increased payments on pensions, but observers say the latest rise does not keep up with the cost of living. On January 7 Vedat Isıkhan, the labour minister, announced that the minimum monthly state pension would be increased by 15.75 percent, taking the base rate payment to TL14,469 ($409). A second increase, forecast to […] January 8, 2025
Finance Iraq targets 20% non-oil revenue to close fiscal gap Iraq has set a target to raise non-oil revenues to 20 percent of national income to tackle the country’s persistent budget deficit, a senior official has said. Non-oil revenues – which include tax and customs as well as earnings outside the hydrocarbon sector – rose to nearly 12 percent in the first nine months of […] January 8, 2025
Analysis Employment UAE and Kuwait companies struggling to hire staff Companies in the UAE and Kuwait are struggling to afford new staff as a result of squeezed margins, according to the latest business sentiment survey. For the third successive month, non-oil companies operating in the UAE highlighted a reduction in prices charged, with discounting used to support sales amid a highly competitive market. This was […] January 8, 2025
Economy Muscat-listed Ominvest secures $500m to fuel growth Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest) has secured a $500 million loan for expansion and investment opportunities in the Sultanate and the wider region. The financing deal, arranged by Gulf International Bank (GIB), ABK, and Gulf Bank, will allow the Muscat-listed company to pursue “impactful investments and generate substantial value for the company and […] January 8, 2025
Economy UAE rolls over $2bn payment due from Pakistan The UAE has agreed to roll over the payment of $2 billion due from Pakistan in January, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has said. Speaking at a press conference, Sharif said that the Emirati president extended the $2 billion repayment due this month in a one-on-one meeting during the UAE leader’s visit to Pakistan on […] January 8, 2025
Economy Oman targets $1.9bn to plug 2025 budget deficit The Omani government intends to raise OR750 million ($1.9 billion) in 2025 to address the projected budget deficit and service public debt. The funds will come through eight issues of government development bonds valued at OR550 million and two local sukuk issuances worth OR200 million, Muscat Daily reported citing the finance ministry’s 2025 budget guidance. […] January 8, 2025
Tax Kuwait’s multinationals tax to raise $825m a year, says minister Kuwait expects its tax on multinational businesses to generate nearly $825 million a year, the country’s finance minister has said. Noora Al Fassam told state television on Tuesday that the 15 percent tax would affect nearly 300 companies – 45 from Kuwait and the other GCC states and about 250 from other countries. Fassam described […] January 7, 2025
Opinion Economy A roadmap for a new Syria The challenges are daunting and the stakes are high January 7, 2025
Infrastructure Iraq expects road and rail project to provide 20,000 jobs Iraq’s planned $17 billion project to build a rail line and motorway up to the border with Turkey aims to create at least 20,000 jobs for citizens, officials said. Transport minister Razzak Al-Saadawi said the Road Of Development project, which is backed by the UAE and Qatar, will include the construction of several industry cities […] January 7, 2025
Economy Turkey seeks to curb foreign-currency borrowing The central bank of Turkey has further tightened access to foreign currency borrowing by businesses, while opening the door for an increase in some lira-denominated commercial loans. The country’s central bank last week announced it was lowering its ceiling on foreign currency loan growth to 1 percent a month, down from the previous upper limit […] January 7, 2025
Economy Non-oil activity hits 9-month high in UAE Non-oil activity hit a nine-month high in the UAE in December. The country logged a 55.4 rating for the month in S&P’s global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in the non-oil economy, up from 54.2 in November. Survey respondents said new business in the UAE had expanded at the fastest rate for nine months. However, they […] January 6, 2025
