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Economy & Business

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

Benchmark Brent crude surpassed $120 per barrel on Wednesday, reaching the highest levels yet seen during the US-Israel-Iran war.

An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on Feb. 3, 2012.

Iranian rial hits new record low as blockade, war take toll: What to know

The rial had another collapse in late 2025, triggering massive protests and riots in the country that were ended by a forceful government crackdown.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

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

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

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)

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

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

United Arab Emirates

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

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

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar's energy giant cements Lebanon deal, substituting Russia

The Qatari firm officially took over the stake previously held by a Russian company.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Russia sign bank messaging agreement to override SWIFT

Both countries are banned from the SWIFT financial messaging system due to US and European sanctions.

People walk past a fruit seller's stall in the Azhar district of Cairo

In Egypt, economic heat of Russia's war in Ukraine is only getting worse

Average Egyptians told Al-Monitor that everything from the price of tomatoes to bread is taking a toll on daily life and household decisions as country's economy reels under the heavy toll of the war in Ukraine.

Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA: A Saudi banker displays the new one hundred riyal banknote bearing the portrait of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud at a bank in Riyadh, 05 June 2007. The banknotes featuring the king are the fifth issue released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). AFP PHOTO/HASSAN AMMAR (Photo credit should read HASSAN AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf governments enjoy fiscal flexibility; must spend wisely over coming years

Pro: With lower energy prices forecasted in the short-term, GCC governments will have to spend smartly to ensure momentum continues for their economic diversification efforts.

Robert Mogielnicki

Robert Mogielnicki

SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt's Sisi meets Modi, inks 'strategic partnership' on landmark India visit

The trip could lead to greater cooperation between India and Egypt on trade, the Suez Canal, green hydrogen and more.

The Ritz hotel is pictured in central London on May 18, 2020.

Saudi Arabia leads Middle East's luxury property buyers in London

The Middle East made up some of the top buyers of London luxury real estate in late 2022, only falling behind European and UK buyers.

By Salim A. Essaid

Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of Qatar, departs after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery on May 20, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Qatar's energy giant joins Lebanon gas exploration group

France’s TotalEnergies, which is also part of the consortium, said they hope to start drilling in Lebanese waters for oil and gas in 2023.

A Tunisian farmer harvests wheat on June 26, 2008 in the Mateur area near the northern Tunisian city of Bizerte. A two-day conference organized by the African Development Bank (BAD) opened on June 25, 2008 in Tunis to boost agriculture in light of the food crisis hitting Africa. Experts are to evaluate and analyze difficulties affecting the African agricultural sector in order to be more reactive to needs. AFP PHOTO FETHI BELAID (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia’s food crisis will worsen without an IMF deal

Francisco Serrano

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Baghdad dinar protest

Protests in Iraq amid local currency devaluation, Central Bank changes

Restrictions from the US Federal Reserve, corruption, and Iraq’s lack of an electronic banking system have all led to the dinar’s recent fall in value against the dollar.