Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Finance

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

Finance overview

Finance news

Shoppers in a mall in Istanbul. The Turkish consumer price index measure of inflation has fallen for 10 months

Turkish inflation cools but may soon rise again

Turkey’s inflation rate eased for the tenth straight month in March, although there are concerns that persistent political unrest could lead to a reversal of this trend in coming months, as the cost of a weaker currency and disruptions to the economy flow into the pricing chain.  The consumer price index fell to 38.1 percent […]

Turkey's Izmir port. While exports to Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman fell, these losses have been eclipsed by huge rises in exports to the UAE and Qatar

UAE enters the major league of Turkish export markets

Turkey’s exports to the GCC bloc rose sharply in February, driven by a strong increase in shipments to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE figures offset falls in sales to some other GCC member states. The numbers were released before the detention two weeks ago of Istanbul mayor and leading opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu, which […]

A house in Amizmiz, Morocco, that was destroyed in an earthquake. The new IMF credit line will assist the country in rebuilding

IMF loans Morocco $4.5bn to support economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a new credit facility for Morocco to help in crisis prevention and to support reform. The new two-year $4.5 billion flexible credit line (FCL) will assist the country in rebuilding buffers and accelerating structural reforms in an uncertain external environment, the IMF said in a statement. The facility […]

Gold, traditionally seen as a hedge against political and financial uncertainty, has surged over 19 percent so far this year

Safe-haven gold hits record peak after Trump’s tariffs

Gold hit a record high on Thursday as nervous investors rushed towards safe-haven assets following US president Donald Trump‘s more aggressive-than-anticipated tariffs against major trading partners. Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $3,145.93 an ounce, as of 00:18 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $3,167.57 earlier in the session. US gold futures firmed 0.1 percent […]

President Donald Trump announced a raft of trade tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC

Middle East fails to escape Trump’s tariffs

US President Donald Trump unveiled far-reaching new tariffs on Wednesday, including on the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East. Speaking from the Rose Garden of the White House, the president outlined a minimum 10 percent universal tariff on all imports into the United States, regardless of origin. This will […]

US treasuries are considered a haven for Gulf investors – and there are few alternatives aside from gold, says one expert

US treasuries could become less of a safe bet for Gulf investors

Economic advisers to President Donald Trump have proposed radical policies that could dim the allure of US government bonds for Gulf sovereign investors. The bonds, commonly known as treasuries, are considered among the lowest-risk investments. Many countries with excess dollars – from trade surpluses with the US or the sale of dollar-denominated goods such as […]

Damac chairman Hussain Sajwani at his residence in Dubai. Forbes calculates his wealth at more than $10 billion

Damac chairman Sajwani’s wealth doubles to more than $10bn

The fortune of Hussain Sajwani, the chairman of Dubai-based Damac Properties, has doubled in the last year as he takes his place among the world’s wealthiest individuals to become the richest businessman in the Middle East. The 72-year-old real estate magnate is worth $10.2 billion, the annual rich list from Forbes says, significantly higher than […]

Sign of the times: The new Saudi riyal, left, and the Dirham

UAE and Saudi Arabia to introduce their own currency symbols

Within five weeks of each other, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have announced newly designed currency symbols for the riyal and the dirham, a decision that both countries says would strengthen their respective currencies’ place in the global economy. They join a small, but growing, list of states that use unique symbols to refer to […]

The trade volume between Iraq and the US has more than doubled over the past two years, with oil exports increasing by more than 110%

Iraq’s trade balance surplus with US at $6bn

Iraq has a trade balance surplus of nearly $6 billion with the US, a senior government official has said. This comes from oil exports to the US more than doubling in two years, state-run Iraq News Agency reported, quoting prime minister’s financial advisor Mazhar Mohammed Salih. The trade volume between the two countries has more […]

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People November 9, 2017 in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China

China’s investors seek shelter from Trump in Saudi Arabia

President Trump’s trade war is strengthening economic ties between Saudi Arabia and China and encouraging Chinese investors to increase their holdings in the kingdom, analysts say.  As China and its near neighbours face the imposition of economic tariffs – “the most beautiful word in the world”, according to the 47th president – Saudi Arabia has […]

President Donald Trump signing an executive order applying tariffs to all auto imports. The GCC's bilateral trade with the US is worth around $80 billion

The Gulf must brace for indirect hits from Trump’s tariffs

Gulf states may stave off new tariffs US president Donald Trump is expected to announce but the measures’ indirect impact on the global economy and oil prices loom large. The region’s focus, industry watchers say, should be on diversifying trade relationships while embracing the UAE and Saudi Arabia playbook of investing in the United States […]

New residential buildings being constructed for people left homeless after the earthquake in Hatay province, Turkey

World Bank gives $500m to create new jobs in Turkey

Turkey is to receive $500 million from the World Bank to support economic recovery in areas devastated by the February 2023 earthquakes, according to a statement. The earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people and displaced more than 3.3 million. They are estimated to have inflicted a $104 billion hit on the Turkish economy, the Strategy and […]

Karim Souaid, a former investment banker and asset manager, is the sixth governor of the Banque du Liban

After 2 years without a central banker, Souaid divides Lebanon

Last Thursday the Lebanese cabinet approved Karim Souaid as the sixth governor of the country’s central bank, Banque du Liban.  Souaid, a former investment banker and asset manager, takes up the post after two years in which Lebanon had no formal banking chief and as the country enters a seventh year of economic and political […]

Indian snack maker Haldiram's will use the new funds to expand across the US and the Middle East

IHC invests in Indian snack maker Haldiram’s

Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC), New York-based Alpha Wave Global and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek have invested in an Indian snack maker as part of an equity financing round, PwC, the financial advisor to the deal, said in a statement. Indian government-owned Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that IHC and Alpha Wave collectively acquired […]

People, Person, Adult

Trump to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar by May

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he plans to visit Saudi Arabia as early as May to sign an investment agreement in what will be the first foreign trip of his second term, with stops also planned in Qatar and the UAE. “It could be next month, maybe a little later,” Trump told reporters […]

A labourer handles gold bars that are going to be melted at a gold refiner in Istanbul

Gold continues to soar as investors seek refuge

Gold soared to an all-time high of $3,128.06 per ounce on March 31, as investors seek refuge from escalating geopolitical tension, unpredictable trade policies and a shifting monetary landscape.  Gold has rallied more than 18 percent so far this year but analysts say that there is still room to run. A range of factors lies […]

More international traders are taking an interest in the Saudi bourse, so trading drops off less during Ramadan

Saudi bourse less affected by Ramadan than in previous years

Trading on Saudi Arabia’s bourse has changed little this Ramadan as the growing influence of institutional and professional traders offsets the impact of a decline in retail investor activity. Historically, Gulf nationals have been the dominant force on the region’s stock markets. Individuals often meet at the bourses to trade and socialise. Such habits would […]

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at President Donald Trump's speech to the US Congress in March

Assets at Kushner’s Affinity soar after Gulf cash injection

Assets under management at Jared Kushner’s investment company Affinity Partners jumped 60 percent last year to $4.8 billion, according to a regulatory filing. The company received a cash injection from Middle East investors, including Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, launched the investment firm in 2021 after leaving the White House […]

Abu Dhabi's real estate sector expanded by 4.2 percent, pointing to steady demand and investment in property development

Abu Dhabi economy grew 4% to $327bn in 2024

The non-oil sector has pushed Abu Dhabi’s economic growth to a new high. Real GDP in the the UAE’s largest and most wealthy emirate expanded by 4 percent year on year in 2024, reaching AED1.2 trillion ($327 billion), state-run Wam news agency reported. The growth was driven by an annualised 6 percent increase in the […]