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Economy

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

Saudi finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan

Saudi agrees $23bn financing to balance books

Saudi Arabia requires roughly SAR86 billion ($23 billion) in financing this year in order to help balance the kingdom’s books. The 2024 Annual Borrowing Plan was given the green light by finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan on Thursday at a board meeting of the National Debt Management Center. The 2024 budget statement, approved in December, […]

The $530 million Bahrain Marina development, with 200 retail units and restaraunts, is a sign of predicted increased consumer spending in the kingdom

Bahrain’s consumer spend to rise as destination malls open

Consumer spending in Bahrain is forecast to rise this year as its economy grows – with retail confidence reflected by construction starting on a $530 million development. Bahrain Marina will have nearly 200 shops, including international brands, restaurants and cafes, as well as 274 residential units, 182 berths for yachts and boats, and more than […]

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attending the Arab Strategy Forum 2024

Dubai unveils $56bn plan to improve standard of living

Dubai has unveiled a AED208 billion ($56.64 billion) ten-year strategy aimed at making the city one of the top three in the world for standard of living. There are also plans to double the number of Emirati families and triple the number of citizens working in the private sector by 2033. “We aim to double […]

Children on a street in Bourj Hammoud, northeast of Beirut. Lebanon has been hit hard by food price inflation

Gaza war proves ‘another large shock’ for fragile Lebanon

Hopes that Lebanon’s economy could register its first annual growth in five years have been dashed by the impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict, according to the World Bank. Its latest Lebanon Economic Monitor said the fighting and fears of an escalation were “another large shock” to the country’s precarious economy. Before the outbreak of violence […]

PayTabs is a payment solutions provider with offices across the Middle East. Its recent collaborations make it a fintech company to watch

Top 10 fintechs to watch in 2024

Fintechs are big business in the Middle East. An increasing number of financial companies are integrating technology into their services and products, meaning the market is forecast to treble from $1.5 billion in 2022 to $4.5 billion by 2025, according to McKinsey & Company. Here are 10 fintech firms to look out for in the coming […]

A Saudi woman leaves her office. Foreign companies are setting up HQs in the kingdom to gain access to government contracts

‘No loopholes for companies’ to be found in Saudi HQ rules

Multinational companies looking for loopholes in Saudi Arabia’s regional headquarters rules will not find them, although the exceptions set out in the small print could affect negotiations, business relocation experts have told AGBI. As of Monday, foreign companies looking to gain access to billions of dollars worth of government contracts must have their regional headquarters […]

Turkey manufacturing

Turkey’s manufacturing sector weakens for sixth month

Turkey’s manufacturing sector deteriorated for a sixth straight month in December although the industry fared slightly better than in November, data published on Tuesday showed. The Istanbul Chamber of Industry’s Turkey PMI Manufacturing Index registered 47.4 in December, up from 47.2 a month earlier. A figure below 50 indicates the sector is contracting, while above […]

Oman's finance minister Sultan Al Habsi said the budget estimates are designed to ensure that financing needs are met even if there is a decline in oil prices

Oman forecasts 2024 budget deficit despite higher revenue

Oman expects a budget deficit of OMR640 million ($1.66 billion) in 2024, 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Total revenues are projected at OMR11.01 billion, up 9.5 percent from 2023 estimates, with non-oil revenues estimated at OMR520 million, the state-run Oman News Agency reported, citing the finance ministry statement. Oil revenues are […]

Person, Sitting, Furniture

Investment funds circle distressed companies

Investment funds that bet on troubled companies are predicting a rise in Gulf businesses falling into distressed debt as global economic strains intensify. Pockets of financial distress are beginning to emerge in the region, driven by high interest rates, sluggish growth and escalating inflation, industry experts say. Blantyre Capital, a UK-based asset manager that focuses […]

Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. There is confidence that non-oil business will continue to grow, says S&P

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy grows 7.7% in Q3

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy grew 7.7 percent in the third quarter of 2023, driven by the emirate’s proactive efforts to diversify away from hydrocarbons. The emirate’s economy reached its highest quarterly value at AED290.5 billion ($79.09 billion), rising one percent year on year in real gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter, despite the […]

Head, Person, Face

From sports to oil cuts: Saudi Arabia’s year in review

As the curtain comes down on 2023 and Saudi Arabia moves closer to its Vision 2030 deadline, AGBI looks back at the highlights and notable events of the past twelve months in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia wins hosting rights for major events  Saudi Arabia’s drive to draw global attention to its development efforts scored important […]

Soldiers walk past the Sandton Convention Centre, north of Johannesburg, which will host the Brics summit

Saudi Arabia and UAE among five new Brics members

The membership of the Brics bloc will double with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran set to formally join on January 1, Bloomberg reported, citing South Africa’s envoy to the bloc Anil Sooklal. The founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa invited six other nations to become part of their group […]

Nature, Outdoors, Plant

Turkey’s minimum wage hike may elevate inflation further

Turkey’s larger-than-expected minimum wage hike, which impacts some seven million workers, is expected to push already elevated inflation even higher in the coming months, economists and sector officials said. Labour Minister Vedat Isikhan said on Wednesday the monthly minimum wage will be TL17,002 ($578) in 2024, a 49 percent increase from the level determined in […]

containers dockside Oman

UK dominates $60bn foreign direct investment into Oman

Foreign direct investment in Oman hit almost OMR23 billion ($59 billion) by the end of the third quarter of 2023, with the UK accounting for the half of it, preliminary data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information has revealed. Nearly 77 percent (OMR17.67 billion) of the total foreign direct investment focused on […]

People walk through a shopping street in Istanbul on November 27, 2023

Turkey hikes monthly minimum wage by 49%

Turkey is increasing its monthly minimum wage by just under half, to TL17,002 ($578) from January 1 2024. The increase is likely to boost purchasing power among workers, more than a third of whom earn the minimum wage. The announcement came after the country’s labour and social security minister, Vedat Işıkhan, discussed the issue with […]

Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. There is confidence that non-oil business will continue to grow, says S&P

Pakistan’s exports to Saudi Arabia jump 50% to $276m

Exports from Pakistan to the Gulf countries rose 29 percent year on year to $1.26 billion in the five months from July to November 2024. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait were the top export destinations, a report in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn said, quoting data from the State Bank of Pakistan. Exports to Saudi […]

Miner Saudi

Turkey aims to be among top rare earth producers

Turkey plans to boost its production of rare earth elements and be among the top five producers in the world, its energy and natural resources minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, has announced. The country uncovered the world’s second-largest rare earth element reserve in Eskişehir’s Beylikova district in 2022, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported. The reserves of ore […]

Bahrain’s economy expands  2.5%, fuelled by non-oil sector

Bahrain’s economy grew by 2.5 percent year on year in real terms in the third quarter of 2023, driven by 4.5 percent annual growth in the non-oil sector, preliminary data released by the Information and eGovernment Authority shows. The kingdom’s non-oil sector accounted for 83.6 percent of real GDP in Q3 2023, the state-owned Bahrain […]