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Economy

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

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 […]

Turkey aims for single-digit inflation by 2026

Turkey is expecting annual inflation to drop to single digits by the end of 2026, according to treasury and finance minister Mehmet Simsek. Inflation is currently at 65 percent and is expected to drop to 36 percent next year and 14 percent in 2025, Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing Simsek’s speech at the Turkuvaz Media […]

Turkey credit rating

Turkey continues to hike policy rates to tame inflation

Turkey’s central bank increased its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 42.5 percent to combat inflation. Headline inflation edged up in November, but remains in line with the outlook presented in the recent inflation report, it added. The annual inflation rate surged to 61.98 percent in November, its highest level this year, data […]

Workers make tiles at a small factory in Old Cairo. The EBRD provided €400 million to SMEs in Egypt in 2023.

Egypt to receive half EBRD regional funding in 2024 

Egypt will receive the lion’s share of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s regional funding in 2024, having accounted for about 55 percent of its funds this year, the regional head of the EBRD has told AGBI.  “Egypt is by far our largest country of operation in the region and will account for more […]

Accessories, Glasses, Adult

UAE’s new federal authority to combat financial corruption

The UAE has established a federal accountability authority that will set up a supreme policy to combat financial and administrative corruption. The new entity replaces the supreme audit institution, after a decree issued by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s state-owned Wam news agency reported. The authority’s functions include reviewing and auditing […]

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al Sisi will not want to devalue the pound

Egypt’s Abdel Al Sisi wins third term as president

Abdel Fattah Al Sisi swept on Monday to a third term as Egypt’s president in an election where he faced no serious challengers. The election, in which he took 89.6 percent of the vote according to the National Election Authority, was held as Egypt struggles with a slow-burning economic crisis and tries to manage the risk of spillover […]

An exchange office showing weakened rates for the lira. Its value has since fallen further

Turkish lira expected to weaken further in 2024 

Turkey’s currency will weaken by about one-third versus the dollar next year to hit new all-time lows, analysts predict, as a sharp increase in interest rates does little to tame domestic inflation or convince Turks to hold the ailing lira. The tenure of Hafize Gaye Erkan, Turkey’s central bank’s governor appointed in June, may also […]

A security guard at newly constructed housing in Riyadh. Increasing homeownership is a Vision 2030 target

Saudi mortgage lending rises despite GDP slowdown

Saudi banks’ mortgage lending to individuals and businesses rose in the third quarter, up 13 percent on 2022, despite a slowdown caused by lower oil prices and oil output cuts.  A bulletin released this week by the central bank reported loans of SAR591.7 billion ($158 billion) to individuals and SAR155.5 billion to companies in Q3. […]

The Central Bank of the UAE maintained its base rate on overnight deposit facility at 5.4%

UAE and Qatar keep rates steady in line with US Fed

The central banks of the UAE and Qatar have followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The Central Bank of the UAE maintained its base rate on overnight deposit facility at 5.4 percent, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The central bank also decided to maintain the interest rate on […]

Free trade agreement negotiations between India and Oman are said to be on 'fast-track mode'

India aims to sign trade deal with Oman this month

India is planning to conclude a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with Oman by the end of the month, according to a media report. The negotiations are on a fast-track mode, with a team of officials from India’s commerce ministry holding talks in Muscat, Business Standard, an Indian financial daily, reported. If the deal is […]

Weak global growth in 2024 could prompt further Opec+ cuts if the oil market shifts decisively into surplus, said Fitch Ratings

Fitch predicts strong growth for Mena oil producers in 2024

Oil exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region will register stronger growth in 2024, supported by the momentum in non-oil real GDP and stabilising oil production following output cuts in 2023, Fitch Ratings said. Brent crude oil is expected to average $80 per barrel with robust oil prices likely to support […]

Prices of meat, fruit and vegetables in Egypt all fell during November

Egypt inflation falls to 36.4% on price declines

Egypt’s annual inflation declined to 36.4 percent in November 2023, compared to 38.5 percent in October, the country’s statistical agency said. The fall in inflation was driven by decreases in prices across various sectors, Egypt Today newspaper reported, citing the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (Capmas). Meat and poultry prices fell by 1.5 […]

The Ibra Main Market, Oman. Moody’s said a lower debt burden increased the country’s resilience to potential future shocks

Moody’s upgrades Oman credit ratings on lower debt burden

Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) upgraded Oman’s credit ratings on lower debt burden due to supportive oil prices and spending restraint. The ratings agency raised the Sultanate’s long-term issuer and long-term senior unsecured ratings to “Ba1” from “Ba2” and changed the outlook to stable from positive.  The upgrade reflects the expectation of further improvements in the […]

Mohammed Al Jadaan, Saudi minister of finance. The kingdom has appointed an executive specifically to lead its virtual assets and digital currency programme

Saudi 2024 budget forecasts $21bn deficit but GDP set to rise

Saudi Arabia has approved its 2024 budget, which forecasts a deficit of SAR79 billion ($21.1 billion), accounting for 1.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The estimated total revenues are SAR1.17 trillion, while total expenditure is forecast to be SAR1.25 trillion, the finance ministry said in a statement. The kingdom projected a budget deficit […]