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Economy & Business

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

Around 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is 35 years old or younger, according to the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, providing ample opportunity for an educated and technology-savvy national workforce in the coming decades.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

A tourist boat passes near crude oil tankers, bulk carriers, and other vessels anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, June 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

The US-Israel-Iran war produced a historic oil supply shock but not a severe global economic crisis, due to ample prewar supplies, China's energy pivot and strategic reserve releases.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Explainer

Gulf states push incentives for investors, expats after war dents image

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Explainer

Syria’s energy push could soon get a major boost from Chevron: What to know

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via 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

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Xi Jinping Vladimir Putin BRICS

Iran increases trade with BRICS including China as it looks to join bloc

Iran has seen a 14% year-on-year increase in non-oil trade with members of the five-state alliance, which includes Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

Two pairs of US hundred dollar and Egyptian hundred pound notes are held before a window showing the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and the Nile river on January 16, 2023. - With Egypt's economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink. The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan agree

Egypt inflation drops to 31.5%, but food prices still rising

Annual inflation fell slightly in April compared to the previous month as the central bank readies its next decision on interest rates.

A general view shows 09 March 2004 the Shaybah mega-project, the first, and so far sole, oilfield development in Saudi Arabia's vast Al-Rub al-Khali desert, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of the eastern oil center of Dhahran. The Shaybah mega-project, which sits on top of some 15 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, more than a drop in the ocean of Saudi Arabia's estimated total reserves of about 260 billion barrels, has been producing oil to the tune of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) for less

Saudi Aramco profit drops 19% on lower oil prices

Aramco has signed major deals with companies in China, the United States and South Korea recently, and OPEC+ recently announced a supply cut.

Lionel Messi PSG

Lionel Messi move to Saudi Arabia from PSG 'a done deal': Report

Jorge Messi said the decision on a transfer of the 2022 World Cup winner will not be taken until the end of the season.

Retired servicemen clash with soldiers outside Lebanon's central bank during a demonstration demanding inflation adjustments to their pensions, Beirut, Lebanon, March 30, 2023.

Lebanon’s angry depositors demand their money back from banks

Bank depositors staged a sit-in in Beirut to protest the banks' illegal policies imposed on their deposits amid a stifling economic crisis.

An aerial picture shows heavy traffic on two main highways in Kuwait City on March 27, 2023, after heavy rain the previous night caused flooding and road closures. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

How Kuwait’s political gridlock is hampering economic policymaking, competitiveness

Kuwait’s continued political gridlock has obstructed the government's ability to advance an effective economic policymaking and reform agenda.

Robert Mogielnicki

Robert Mogielnicki

Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after witnessed a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, July 22, 2019. (Photo by Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images)

In boost to China, UAE and Kuwait become 'dialogue partners' in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The Gulf states made up half of the new partners at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in 2023.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken on April 29, 2023, shows a Palestinian fish vendor at a market in Gaza City.

Anger at Hamas brews as taxes increase in Gaza

Amid growing poverty in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas government imposed in the past year a further series of taxes and custom fees.

Retired servicemen try to remove the barbed wire barricade outside Lebanon's central bank during a demonstration demanding inflation-adjustments to their pensions in Beirut on March 30, 2023. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's finance minister questioned by European investigators

In a first, Lebanese Finance Minster Youssef Khalil was questioned today in the case against Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and his brother, who are accused of embezzlement.

Moroccan Prime Minister

Analysis

UK 'obvious choice' as Morocco seeks to diversify trade

In recent months, a flurry of partnerships have been announced between the countries in sectors including transport and renewable energy.

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

Qatar Airways Cargo

Qatar Airways becomes first Middle East airline with cargo hub in Africa

The Qatar Airways Group, which owns Qatar Airways Cargo, already owns a 49% stake in RwandAir, Rwanda's national carrier.

Federal Reserve

Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia raise interest rates after US Federal Reserve

The Fed’s controversial and aggressive rate hikes to combat inflation could be coming to an end, and this will have ramifications for fiscal policy in the Gulf. Qatar initially said it would not raise rates, but later announced a rate hike.