Economy & Business - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Business and Economy Cover Image

Economy & Business

Cars drive past the gates of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sept. 19, 2026.

Riyadh’s skies remain unsettled after deadly Houthi strikes

Saudi authorities confirmed Friday that Thursday’s first attack struck airport facilities and the second hit a Saudia aircraft.

Travelers queue to check in their luggage at the terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, on March 10, 2026.

Riyadh airport issues travel alert as Yemen's Houthis claim fresh attack on Saudi Arabia

Hundreds of flights to and from the Saudi capital were canceled or delayed on Thursday, with passengers being urged to check with airlines before heading to the airport.

A man walks past a closed foreign exchange office in Baghdad on October 7, 2026. Iraq's central bank devalued the dinar currency against the dollar on October 7, with the country facing a deepening crisis brought on by the Middle East war. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq devalues dinar 13% as Hormuz disruption hits oil revenue

The central bank said in a statement that it had revised the official exchange rate to 1,520 Iraqi dinars per dollar from around 1,320.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the Pnyx hill, where ancient Athenians held democratic assemblies, with the ancient Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis seen in the background, in Athens on October 7, 2026. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Rubio says Iran ‘lost’ Hormuz. Has it?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Iran has “lost complete control” of the waterway, pointing to the recovery in Gulf oil exports in September.

Latest News

Flights continue in Saudi Arabia despite Houthi attacks, airspace threats

Travelers consult the departures screens at the terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, on March 10, 2026.

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

A view of a traffic roundabout in central Latakia, Syria on June 12, 2025. The city's road network converges near the coast, forming one of the busiest urban intersections in the province. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Mideast oil exports surpass prewar levels despite pipeline, ship attacks

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Sept. 7, 2026.

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

Analysis

Gulf oil exports are back, but how durable is recovery?

nyse

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Employees install new solar panels at the Kalyon Energy's Karapinar Solar Power Plant, Karapinar, Turkey, December 2, 2021.

UK, Poland guarantee $272M loan for Turkey's second-largest solar project

The seven solar power plants will have an aggregate power-generating capacity of 390 Megawatt peak and service Bor-Nigde, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa-Viransehir provinces.

PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Aramco CEO predicts 1.6-2M bpd oil demand rise after sharp price fall

The bullish perspective follows the price of Brent crude falling amid the global stock downturn and coincides with Aramco buying a more than $700 million stake in a Saudi energy complex.

Passengers look at the flight board at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Aug. 6, 2024.

Travelers scramble as airlines cut flights amid fear of Iran-Israel war

Germany's Lufthansa extended a suspension of services to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman and Erbil to Aug. 13.

Refinery Sarir in Libya.

Libya’s largest oil field sees output reduction after shutdown by protesters

The Sharara field in southwestern Libya, which pumped out nearly 270,000 barrels per day of crude on Saturday, fully halted production Monday and was running at reduced production Tuesday due to ongoing protests.

Customers wait outside currency exchange stores on Aug. 5, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.

Global stocks tank over fears of Middle East war, US recession

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost 3.1% while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index lost 3.7% of its value after markets opened in New York Monday morning.

A customer buys US dollars in exchange for Turkish lira at an exchange office in Ankara, Turkey, July 20, 2023.

Turkey’s annual inflation slows down to 9-month low of 61%

The drop in the second consecutive month was slightly more than the estimates.

PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi PIF signs deals worth up to $50B with six Chinese institutions

As one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the $925 billion Saudi PIF is already heavily invested in China.

A picture taken on Jan. 17, 2016, shows the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's SABIC sees second quarter profit rise by 85% to $580M

The company's results are encouraging news for the petrochemicals sector, which has been weathering a downturn since the COVID-19 pandemic.

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN - JULY 17: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (Photo by Chris duMond/Getty Images)

US election drama raises stakes for Mideast economic powers eyeing 2025

United Airlines passenger aircrafts are lined up at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Shekel drops 1.2% as United Airlines, Delta halt Israel flights after Haniyeh's killing

The currency fell by 1.2% after Hamas blamed Israel for the strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Bloomberg reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a national event at the Turkish Pavilion of Expo 2020, in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on February 15, 2022. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Growing Gulf-Turkey investment ties evolving unevenly following Erdogan’s $50B breakthrough

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Tourists walk past the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure on July 21, 2024 in Giza, Egypt. The colossal tombs near Cairo, built around 4,500 years ago for Pharaoh Khufu and completed circa 2560 BCE, are the only surviving wonders of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

IMF greenlights release of $820M to Egypt, cites economic improvement

The Washington-based fund said in a statement that the decision was a result of the third review of Egypt’s 46-month Extended Fund Facility arrangement that was approved on Dec. 16, 2022.