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Economy

Economy and markets news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Economy overview

Economy news

US President Donald Trump greets King of Jordan, Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein at a visit this February. Jordan are facing significant economic headwinds from potential new tariffs

Jordan caught under Trump tariffs’ sword of Damocles

The Middle East and North Africa is expected largely to avoid the direct impact of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, with the possible exception of Jordan. The spectre of a 20 percent US tariff taking effect in July is “difficult to ignore,” according to Racha Helwa, a senior economist and director of the empowerME Initiative […]

Unexpected high oil prices allowed Oman to overcome its predicted budget deficit

Higher oil prices wipe out Oman’s 2024 budget deficit

Higher-than-budgeted oil prices wiped out Oman’s OR640 million ($1.7 billion) deficit for 2024, according to the finance minister, although the IMF has warned that the Gulf state still faces economic challenges.  Oman posted a surplus of $1.4 billion last year as it sold oil at an average price of $82 per barrel, a third higher […]

Workers at a Saudi Aramco onshore rig. Excluding the oil major, Saudi Arabia has about $600bn of domestic assets it could sell

Oil price fall poses spending dilemma for Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has various assets it could sell as the drop in oil prices pushes up the country’s 2025 budget deficit, economists have said. The country could also opt to plug the gap by issuing more debt or altering its spending plans. Saudi Arabia’s debt-to-GDP ratio is only 29 percent, according to S&P Global Ratings, […]

Morocco returned better than expected results in the first quarter of 2025

Morocco reports fiscal surplus in first quarter

An increase in revenues on the back of higher direct taxes turned a projected fiscal deficit in Morocco into a surplus in the first quarter of 2025, according to official data. Revenues swelled by a fifth after direct taxes increased by 40 percent and indirect taxes grew by 10 percent, the General Treasury said. A […]

Depressed oil prices, falling to a four-year low, contributed to a slowdown in Saudi Arabia's economic growth in the first quarter

Oil price slump hits Saudi Arabia’s economic growth

Growth in Saudi Arabia slowed in the first quarter of 2025 amid depressed oil prices and fears of an escalating global trade war. Figures released by the General Authority for Statistics on Thursday showed that the non-oil economy grew by 4.2 percent, while real GDP grew by just 2.7 percent. Oil activities contracted by 1.4 […]

Jihad Azour, IMF Middle East and Central Asia director, says Bahrain 'cannot avoid consolidation'

IMF official urges Bahrain to cut debt and spending

The International Monetary Fund is urging Bahrain, the Gulf’s most indebted country, to do more to reduce liabilities, bring government finances under control and spur economic growth. “It’s a no brainer,” Jihad Azour, IMF Middle East and Central Asia director, said in an interview with AGBI in Dubai. “They need to consolidate; they cannot avoid […]

An LNG tanker docked in Dubai. The region has a 21% share of global natural gas reserves

Rising gas exports to boost Gulf economies, says IMF

Increased natural gas production in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman will boost their economic growth in the medium term, the International Monetary Fund has predicted. Qatar, the world’s third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, is due to nearly double its annual output to 142 million tonnes by 2030.  Saudi Aramco said in March […]

Doha. Qatar's business measures contributed to an 87 percent annual increase in the number of new commercial licences

Industrial investments in Qatar reach $13.8m in Q1

Qatar attracted QAR50 million ($13.8 million) worth of new industrial investments in the first quarter of 2025, with eight new factories beginning operations, according to its ministry of commerce and industry.  Commercial registrations in the three months to March rose 32 percent year on year, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, after a […]

A Lebanese bank customer protests outside the Ministry of Economy in Beirut. Depositors have faced cash-withdrawal restrictions since 2019

The start of Lebanon’s economic recovery may be in sight

Lebanon may be weeks away from agreeing a landmark financing deal with the International Monetary Fund that its international partners have made a prerequisite for further support. Domestic political shifts within the country, and heightened efforts by countries to support the new government, have helped facilitate a number of measures on which an IMF deal […]

Eric Trump was in Dubai representing the Trump Organizaton to launch a new luxury tower in partnership with real estate developer Dar Global

Eric Trump: the Gulf is dependent on a strong America

The Gulf region is dependent on a strong United States and wants security so local economies can flourish, the US president’s son Eric Trump said in an interview with Reuters. In Dubai as an executive of the president’s family business, the Trump Organization – which launched a new tower in the city in partnership with […]

Turkey retained its stable rating from S&P Global despite protests and turbulence arising from the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul

Risks for Turkey’s economy despite stable credit rating

Turkey’s economic outlook has retained its “stable” rating, according to ratings agency S&P Global, despite heightened political and economic uncertainty since March, with more downside risk than upside opportunity. The agency had raised Ankara’s sovereign debt rating to its present BB-, just below investment grade, in November, the second increase in 2024. It affirmed that […]

President El Sisi of Egypt rides the Cairo metro with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, with planning minister Rania Al Mashat. The line is operated by a French company and Egypt is seeking more private sector involvement in its economy as it implements IMF reforms

IMF urges Egypt to accelerate sale of state assets

The International Monetary Fund has urged Egypt to move faster in selling off state assets to spur growth and reduce debt. The country’s economic growth is forecast to increase from 2.4 percent in fiscal year 2024 to 4.3 percent in fiscal year 2026, according to Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central […]

Mena economic data

Mena economic data

The latest indicators for the largest Middle East and North Africa economies outside the GCC, including Egypt, Iran and Turkey

GCC economic data

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

The Metropolitan Palace Hotel (formerly the Hilton) in Beirut, owned by UAE billionaire Khalaf Al-Habtoor

Owner plans to cut up and remove five-star hotel from Beirut

UAE billionaire Khalaf Al-Habtoor is considering hiring a Chinese company to deconstruct his five-star hotel in Beirut and move it to another country, following a decision in January to end all investment in Lebanon. Al-Habtoor is considering dividing the 185-room Metropolitan Palace Hotel into pieces and shipping the parts by sea out of Lebanon, possibly […]

The PIF Tower in Riyadh. Despite some misses, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 shows progress in key areas like Public Investment Fund growth

Saudi Vision 2030 exceeds PIF targets, but others lag

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) exceeded its 2024 target for assets under management by $60 billion, but the kingdom missed other annual goals in its Vision 2030 economic transformation and social development strategy. PIF now manages about $940 billion of assets, nearly 7 percent above its $880 billion target for the year, according to […]

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani at the raising of the new Syrian flag at the UN in New York

Saudi Arabia and Qatar to settle Syria’s World Bank debt

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have jointly agreed to cover Syria’s arrears of $15 million with the World Bank.  “This commitment will pave the way for the World Bank Group to resume support and operations in Syria after a suspension of more than fourteen years,” Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry said in a statement, according to UAE […]

The cargo port in Jeddah. Saudi Exim Bank's increased credit is driving non-oil export growth

Saudi Exim Bank’s credit doubling aids non-oil growth

The Saudi Export-Import Bank (SEIB) doubled its credit facilities last year, helping to develop non-oil exports of the world’s second largest oil producer, the local Arab News reported. Credit facilities jumped 103 percent to SAR33.5 billion ($8.9 billion) compared with the year before, with export financing rising 70 percent to around SAR12 billion, the newspaper […]

IMF director Kristalina Georgieva had 'a lot of praise to offer' to the GCC states

IMF praises GCC economic diversification efforts

Senior International Monetary Fund officials commended Gulf states this week for their efforts to expand sources of economic growth and fiscal revenue beyond oil. They also urged more intra-GCC trade, as global commerce is roiled by steep and volatile US tariffs. “I have a lot of praise to offer because they have been pursuing reforms […]

Syria's infrastructure and economy was devastated through civil war

UK lifts sanctions on Syria

Britain said on Thursday it would support efforts to rebuild Syria’s financial system by removing sanctions to encourage investments in financial services, energy production and other sectors. London also lifted asset freezes on Syria’s Defence and Interior Ministries and a range of intelligence agencies, reversing penalties imposed during Bashar al-Assad’s presidency. The West is rethinking […]