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Economy & Business

A picture taken from a station of Dubai's Palm Monorail shows traffic on a road in Palm Jumeirah on Aug. 28, 2025.

Feature

Cheap oil, tighter finances, wars constrained Mid East economies in 2025

Low oil prices, tighter financial conditions and elevated geopolitical risk hampered growth across much of the Middle East and North Africa this year.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

View of Damietta Segas LNG Terminal, in Damietta, Egypt, which is an export terminal belong to Spanish Egyptian Gas Company.

Analysis

Egypt’s $35B Israel gas deal buys time, tests fragile energy partnership

The agreement is a critical stopgap as Cairo grapples with domestic power demands, but the last two years have tested Egypt-Israel energy cooperation in unprecedented ways.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Employees install new solar panels at the Kalyon Energy's Karapinar Solar Power Plant on December 02, 2021 in Karapinar, Turkey.

Turkey hits renewable milestone as solar surpasses gas in power capacity

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a statement that wind and solar capacity combined had risen to 39,215 megawatts by the end of November.

Traffic moves on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai on March 24, 2025.

Analysis

Gulf finance hubs race to expand as hedge funds flock to Dubai, Abu Dhabi

The Gulf’s top financial hubs have posted another strong year in 2025, with the UAE spearheading a regional push to attract hedge funds, asset managers, crypto and fintech firms as regional neighbors target growth of their own.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Egypt lands $572M UAE-backed solar deal, expanding Gulf's clean-energy footprint

Solar panels in a Sinai desert, Egypt.

Morocco’s markets rise as World Cup spending fuels largest IPO in decades

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO - AUGUST 20: In this handout image from Populous, digital renderings of the proposed Stade Hassan II stadium in Morocco, projected to be the largest football stadium in the world with 115,000 capacity are depicted on August 20, 2024 in Casablanca, Morocco. The stadium design is by Populous and Oulalou + Choi (Photo by Populous via Handout/Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer: OPEC+ will not boost oil production after Russia cut

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are so far not reacting to Russia’s production cut as they stand to benefit from the move.

A general view of the Egyptian Stock Market in the capital Cairo on January 6, 2013.

Egypt plans to sell stakes in 32 state-owned companies within year

The announcement comes as the government is moving to reduce the state’s footprint in the economy, and includes two military-owned enterprises and three banks.

An employee works at the Tunisian Sergaz company, that controls the Tunisian segment of the Trans-Mediterranean (Transmed) pipeline, through which natural gas flows from Algeria to Italy, in El-Haouaria, some 100km east of the capital Tunis, on April 14, 2022.

Is Italy pursuing a 'rebalancing' in North Africa?

Algeria is set to double liquified natural gas exports to Europe as Algeria finesses ties with Italy.

A woman walks out of a currency exchange shop displaying a giant US dollar banknote.

Egypt's economy takes another hit with rating downgrade

Moody’s also said Egypt’s ability to generate domestic funding will help its economic outlook.

LEAP technology conference, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 6, 2023.

China, US deals and robots headline Saudi Arabia's LEAP tech event

China's Huawei, Hectar, Lenovo were among major deals reached at Saudi's flagship technology event.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq lowers dollar-dinar exchange rate

The Iraqi dinar has been depreciating against the dollar amid restrictions from the US Federal Reserve and other issues.

A picture taken on September 24, 2020 shows the Brega oil port in Marsa Brega, some 270kms west of Libya's eastern city of Benghazi. - Libyas state oil firm lifted force majeure on what it deemed secure oil ports and facilities on September 20, a day after strongman Khalifa Haftar said he was lifting a blockade on oilfields and ports. The blockade, which has resulted in more than $9.8 billion in lost revenue according to the state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC), has exacerbated electricity and fuel shor

Libya’s oil production unlikely to reach 2 million barrels per day ever again

Pro: Libya hopes to increase oil production to over 2 million barrels per day in the medium term. Here's why that is unlikely to happen. (subscriber only, access with free trial)

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

Collapsed buildings are seen in Hatay, following the two earthquakes that hit on Monday, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023.

In Turkey, questions about country's preparedness after massive earthquake

Only 0.5% of spending from the central government budget last year went to programs related to urban improvements and disaster management in quake-prone Turkey.

A man counts Egyptian pounds at a currency exchange shop in downtown Cairo on Nov. 3, 2016.

Egypt’s non-oil sector suffering under high inflation: Report

Egypt is experiencing rising inflation and the depreciation of its currency, but the country’s stock exchange is doing well and the IMF recently agreed to a massive aid package.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

HSBC warns Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul will harm Israel's economy

The leading European bank echoed last week's warnings by JPMorgan over the negative effects the judicial reforms pushed by the current Israel government could have on the country’s economy.

NASER JAFARI/TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images

Iran stops taxing foreign currency imports amid liquidity crunch

The Central Bank of Iran has a shortage of foreign currency and the United States is seeking to stop the flow of dollars into the country.

JPMorgan warns about investment risk in Israel

The major US investment firm is concerned about the government’s judicial reform efforts contributing to domestic volatility.