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Economy & Business

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

The UAE accounts for 12% of OPEC's output, but tensions had been simmering over intragroup rivalries and the country wanting to export more oil.

United Arab Emirates

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

Pistachio prices rose to around $4.57 a pound in March, their highest since 2018, according to data company Expana.

A view of Dubai Marina in Dubai on March 3, 2026.

UAE’s cash request tests US ties as Iran war strains Gulf financial muscle

Amid growing economic fallout from the regional war, Abu Dhabi’s bombshell request for a war-time financial lifeline from the United States is less about cash and more about clout — for now.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

IEA delivers grim gas supply forecast as oil notches 15% weekly rise

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a LNG berth in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, prefecture April 8, 2026.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Which airlines are cutting flights amid Hormuz fuel disruption?

Refueling trucks are seen at Southend Airport on April 17, 2026, in Southend, England.

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

BAY ISMOYO / 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

Fisherman work on a fish farm off the coast of Moroccan city of M'diq, on October 3, 2019. - With fish stocks declining in the Mediterranean, struggling Moroccan fisherman are hoping to turn to aquaculture as a way to secure their future. Figures from Morocco's department of maritime fishing confirm the decline. Catches in the eastern Oriental region dropped from 14.7 tonnes to 7.4 between 2013 and 2017. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Expiration of Morocco-EU fisheries deal has implications beyond Western Sahara

Olivia Hooper

By Olivia Hooper

Tunisian employees of travel agencies and the tourism sector demonstrate in front of the Tourism Ministry on October 20, 2020 in Tunis to call for state subsidies in consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. - Tunisia, which was already battling high unemployment before the start of the pandemic, has seen a record shrinking of its economy. The key tourist industry has all but collapsed, with tourism income plunging 60 percent and swathes of hotels likely to close permanently, officials said last month. (

Tunisia gains economic breathing room with boost from Saudi Arabia, but budget problems linger 

A $500 million boost from Saudi Arabia is providing short-term relief to Tunisia’s government as it struggles to meet debt obligations and cover the state budget.

Stephen Quillen

Stephen Quillen

This picture taken on December 11, 2019, shows a view of railroad tracks by a quarry site at the Jubail Industrial City, about 95 kilometres north of Dammam in Saudi Arabia's eastern province overlooking the Gulf. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

In a first, Saudi Arabia seals deal with Brazil’s largest miner VBM

The Vale partnership will give Riyadh access to assets in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia.

UK investment minister Dominic Johnson in Kuwait

UK investment minister: GCC trade deal would develop AI, fintech sectors

In 2022, trade between the UK and GCC countries amounted to 33.1 billion pounds ($42.6 million).

The front page of the Hurriet Daily news displays a headline of yesterdays interest rate hike at a news stand on June 23, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish Lira weakened to a record low of 25.74 against the dollar, a day after the central bank hiked interest rates from 8.5 percent to 15 percent in the first rate decision since the appointment of new central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan and the re-election of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Erdogan taps ex-NY Fed official as Turkey's deputy Central Bank head

In a major reshuffle, the Turkish president has dismissed all three deputy Central Bank governors as his government ramps up efforts to regain the confidence of Western investors.

A file picture shows Kuwait's largest oil refinery at Al-Ahmadi complex, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital Kuwait City, Kuwait, Nov. 21, 2014.

Kuwait to begin drilling in disputed gas field with Iran

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s dispute with Iran over the Durra gas field is coming amid improved ties between Iran and the Gulf.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Central Bank raises year-end inflation forecast to 58%

Turkey’s new Central Bank Governor Gaye Erkan reiterated the bank’s commitment to tighter monetary policy, but maintained that the shift would be gradual.

Stacks of Iraqi dinars are seen at a currency exchange shop, Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2023.

Iraqi dinar falls 17% against dollar amid US restrictions over Iran deals

The current depreciation follows 14 Iraqi banks being barred from using the dollar amid a crackdown on smuggling to Iran.

France's forward Kylian Mbappe kicks the ball during the UEFA Euro 2024 group B qualification football match between France and Greece at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, in the northern outskirts of Paris, on June 19, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Kylian Mbappe declines Saudi meeting to discuss record $333 million transfer

A report from L'Equipe newspaper said that the French captain never considered a move to Saudi Arabia.

Guests attend the Global AI 2020 (Artificial Intelligence) Summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 21, 2020

Middle East startups navigate funding crunch as global venture slump deepens

A once hot venture market for Middle East startups is cooling amid an enduring global investment slump.

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

The US Federal Reserve Building is seen in Washington on May 3, 2023.

Gulf central banks raise interest rates after US Federal Reserve decision

Gulf central banks also held firm in June when the Fed paused its rate hikes.

Turkey market

Turkey’s tax hikes squeeze consumers amid growing deficit

The Central Bank’s high-profile governor Hafize Gaye Erkan makes her first appearance before the press and economists as Turkish consumers feel the burden of price and tax hikes that continued throughout July.