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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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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.

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

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.

A peddler sells roasted corn cobs by the medieval Sultan al-Ghuri Complex in the Azhar district of Cairo.

Egypt keeps interest rates unchanged to start 2023

Inflation in Egypt was on the rise at the end of 2022, with food prices being of particular concern.

Employees stand at the Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project, in the United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi, during a visit by the French economy minister on January 31, 2023. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE and Saudi Arabia to compete for top global ranking in green energy

Here's how the UAE and Saudi Arabia can become the world's top green energy providers.

Afshin Molavi

Coal miners move a wagon of coal at a small coal mine on Dec. 9, 2021, in Zonguldak, Turkey.

Turkey plans to expand renewable energy but sticks to coal, nuclear

Clean energy advocates say Turkey should speed up its shift to renewable sources not only out of environmental concerns, but also to reduce its costly reliance on imported energy.

The skyline of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 28, 2014, is seen at night in this aerial photograph from a helicopter. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia’s ambitions loom large over UAE’s business expat community

Pro: Saudi Arabia is trying to pry multinationals away from the UAE's financial hubs, forcing business expats in the Gulf to make a difficult decision.

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Saudi traders work at a bank in Riyadh on March 19, 2008. Asian stocks soared today after a big bounce on Wall Street as the US Federal Reserve slashed interest rates in a bid to contain a spiraling financial crisis and risk of recession. (Photo credit should read HASSAN AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Qatar stays put after US, Saudi Arabia, UAE raise interest rates

The Gulf central banks’ moves followed the US Federal Reserve raising its rates. Inflation increased in both Qatar and Saudi Arabia at the end of 2022.

A money changer counts notes at his shop in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sept. 22, 2022.

Explainer: What is behind Lebanon's new exchange rate?

There are multiple exchange rates between the Lebanese pound and the US dollar, and the official rate being below the black market rate helps financial institutions pass on their losses to the public.

A flame from a Saudi Aramco oil installion known as "Pump 3" is seen in the desert near the oil-rich area of Khouris, 160 kms east of the Saudi capital Riyadh, on June 23, 2008. (Photo credit MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Signaling US, OPEC+ agrees to keep oil production unchanged

Experts say the decision by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers could be motivated by a desire to maintain calm with the United States.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman looks on during a press conference after the 45th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on October 5, 2022. (Photo by VLADIMIR SIMICEK/AFP via Getty Images)

OPEC+ likely to maintain oil output at meeting, in gesture to US

While the OPEC+ group is expected to maintain oil production at its virtual meeting set for Feb. 1, global demand for oil is estimated to reach a record high in 2023.

Delegations attend the 46th ordinary session of the Council of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Authorities Governors, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 18, 2022.

Saudi GDP grows 8.7% in 2022 due to oil, non-oil growth

One credit-rating agency said Saudi Arabia’s GDP growth will slow down in 2023.

A picture take on Sept. 14, 2017 shows an Airbus A380 of Emirates landing at the tarmac at Dubai's International Airport.

Analysis

Gulf logistics ambitions skirt net-zero carbon emissions goals

The Gulf states are expanding their transportation networks and logistics hubs, which would seem to threaten their stated goals reducing carbon emissions.

Sebastian Castelier

By Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Stock market brokers work at the Egyptian Stock Market in the capital Cairo on January 6, 2013. A top International Monetary Fund official will visit Egypt on January 7, for talks likely to focus on the $4.8 billion loan agreement frozen last month because of political unrest in the country. AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Pound devaluation, IMF deal send Egypt’s stock market soaring

PRO: Egypt's stock market has started 2023 as one of the world’s best-performing exchanges. Here's what it will take to maintain that momentum.

Marc Español