The UAE central bank tightened monetary policy in March 2018 following the US Federal Reserve’s first hike in interest rates since Jay Powell took over as Fed chair. The repo…

The International Monetary Fund and the Tunisian authorities were close to reaching a staff-level agreement in late March 2018 on the policies needed to complete the second review of Tunisia’s…

The direct economic and financial impact of the diplomatic rift between Qatar and neighburing countries in the region is “fading”, according to the International Monetary Fund. While economic activity was…

Ratings agency S&P has affirmed Kuwait’s credit rating, saying the outlook for the Gulf state is stable and that it will likely return to economic growth in 2018. It said…

Saudi Arabia almost certainly contracted in 2017 as the government pressed ahead with cuts in oil production. NBK bank has estimated that the economy contracted by 0.7% in 2017 overall…

Incumbent president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi won an overwhelming victory in the election in March 2018 to secure a second term as leader. The result had never been in doubt as…

Two of the largest emirates in the UAE posted strong growth in the third quarter, indicating that the whole economy will post up upbeat figure. Abu Dhabi grew by 5.3%…

Qatar showed resilience in first full quarter since the economic embargo against the emirate. Growth in the Qatari economy accelerated strongly in the third quarter of 2017, official figures showed.…

A senior United Nations executive used a speech in January 2018 to push for the country to hold credible elections this year in a bid to ensure a peaceful shift…

The first elections in a decade to be held in May 2018 offer a much-needed opportunity to engage the public in a dialogue on how to support macroeconomic stability and…

Economic growth is set to turn positive in 2018 after falling in 2017, but not at the pace that been hoped. The International Monetary Fund used its January 2018 annual…

The Saudi authorities used a big spending Budget for 2018 to send a strong signal to investors, businesses, and analysts both inside and outside the kingdom that the government was…

Egypt must grasp the opportunity offered by stronger growth and economic stability to push on with the “deep and lasting” reforms, the IMF has said. “This macroeconomic turnaround at home…

Economic prospects in 2018 and beyond will critically depend on rapid improvements in the political and security situation, and ultimately whether an end to the on-going conflict will allow for…

US President Donald Trump revealed in October 2017 that he would formally lift a host of sanctions against Sudan, after deciding that decades of punitive efforts had done little to…

In November 2017 Standard & Poor’s ratings agency responded led to a sharp deterioration in Oman's external current account thanks to the oil price shock with a cut to the…

Morocco’s sound macroeconomic policies and reform implementation have helped improve the resilience of the economy, the International Monetary Fund said in January 2018 it had completed the third and final…

The domestic macroeconomic turnaround and the supportive global economic environment provide a unique opportunity for the Egyptian authorities to carry the reform momentum into areas that have historically been hard…

Bahrain’s sovereign debt moved closely to the highly speculative bracket in December after Standard & Poor’s lowered Bahrain’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Bahrain to B+…

The economy is expected to recover ground albeit slowly, the International Monetary Fund said in October 2017 as it raised its economic forecasts. Its world economic outlook lifted its GDP…

The UAE announced in December 2017 that it had formed a new military and trade partnership with Saudi Arabia, throwing the future of the longstanding Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the…

The recent measures taken by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and UAE against Qatar have resulted in a further decline in real estate market confidence, with transactional activity and values being…

There was a huge spike in political uncertainty after the entire cabinet resigned following the interrogation of one of its members during a parliamentary session. Kuwait swore in a new…

The launch of anti-corruption crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had made clear that MbS intends to push through profound reform of the way that Saudi Arabia operates as…

In November 2017 Jordan’s cabinet endorsed a draft 2018 state budget law projecting public revenues at JOD8.5bn and foreign grants at JOD700m while the post-grant deficit was forecast at JOD543mn…

United States president Donald Trump must decide in January 2018 if he wants to continue to waive energy sanctions on Iran, or refuse to do so and risk breaking the…

Hopes that Egypt’s economy is finally turning the corner were boosted in December 2017 by figures showing that activity in the non-oil business sector expanded for the first time in…

Oil production posted the biggest decline in output of any country in October 2017, according to the latest data from the International Energy Agency. The overall monthly decline was 90,000…

Hopes of a restart to production were boosted in October 2017 when US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces captured Al-Omar, Syria's largest oil field from so-called Islamic State (IS). IS captured…

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas could lead to a 20%-30% increase in the PA’s 2018 budget that is being negotiated over the final weeks of 2017. The PA’s budget for…