State of emergency extension highlights terror threat As the second anniversary of the June 2015 terrorist outrage at the Sousse resort approaches, it is clear that the threat of a…

Trump’s Syria strike shifts agenda The United States launched a military strike in April 2017 on a Syrian government airbase in response to a chemical weapons attacks that killed dozens…

Oman cut to junk by S&P Ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook for Oman for the second time in six months in May 2017, demoting the sovereign debt to junk…

IMF sees economic contraction risk A 1.5% contraction in oil production and only a tepid recovery of the non-oil sector are likely to keep economic growth depressed in 2017. The…

Growth accelerates in face of oil slowdown The Bahraini economy expanded by 3% in 2016 as a slowdown in the hydrocarbon sector was offset by stronger growth in the rest…

Surprise rate hike should be last The Egyptian central bank ordered an unexpected and sharp rise in interest rates at the end of May 2017 in response to another spike…

Forecast cuts by IMF echo growth slowdown The International Monetary Fund followed the lead of the World Bank and cuts its economic outlook for Qatar in its April 2017 world…

Forecast cuts by IMF echo growth slowdown The International Monetary Fund followed the lead of the World Bank and cuts its economic outlook for Qatar in its April 2017 world…

Growth surge masks slower outlook A jump in growth in the first quarter of 2017 masked a more modest outlook for growth from the International Monetary Fund. The annual rate…

Budget The Kuwait government has set out a budget for the year that began on 1 April 2016 to continue its plan to diversify the economy away from the public…

Potential Trump visit reassures Saudis; King reinstates benefits Speculation that US President Donald Trump will add a visit to Saudi Arabia to a trip to Europe in May 2017 in…

Church bombings put Egypt on terror alert Egypt declared a state of emergency in April 2017 after two bomb blasts struck Coptic churches killing at least 47 people and wounding…

Economic growth to crumple in face of oil impact Economic growth will slow to a crawl in 2017, the International Monetary Fund said as it slashed its economic forecasts. Its…

Yemen is a victim of what the United Nations declared in March 2017 was its largest humanitarian crisis since it was founded in 1945. Stephen O’Brien, the UN under secretary-general…

The United States stepped up its support by the attacks by its Syrian allied in their assault on the city of Raqqa in March 2017. The Pentagon said members of…

Former US President Barack Obama decided in his last week in power to lift trade and economic sanctions against the Khartoum government. He cited “a marked reduction in offensive military…

South Sudan is on the brink a full-blown economic and social crisis as the situation has taken a dramatic turn for the worse over the summer of 2016. According to…

The Palestinian Authority faces a financing gap of almost $470m despite successful efforts to contain spending on the wage bill and in non-priority areas. The fiscal deficit (before grants) is…

The International Monetary Fund confirmed its outlook for economic growth of just 1% in 2016 and 2% in 2017 in its annual article IV assessment of the economy in January…

Hopes of a kickstart to the economy in the wake of the International Monetary Fund’s $12bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and its proposed reform programme have so far failed to…

The Omani government indicated its determination to tackle the impact of falling oil revenues on its public finances with the tough budget it unveiled in January 2017. The budget envisages…

An attempt to broker a meeting in February 2017 between the leader of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, and Libyan general, Khalifa Haftar, who controls a…

Major inroads into parliament made by opposition parties and their allies in the snap election held in November 2016 are likely to change the politics of Kuwait over the coming…

The central bank surprised financial markets by raising all of its interest rates by half a point (0.5 percentage points) in February 2017. This come hard on the heels of…

The IMF transferred the first tranche of the $5.4bn Stand-By Arrangement agreed in October 2016 at its first review in December. The Iraqi authorities are making “mixed progress” towards meeting…

Strong growth in the third quarter of 2016 buoyed hopes that the kingdom would be able to withstand the impact of the fall in oil prices. It posted annualised growth…

The head of the International Monetary Fund’s mission in Egypt has defended the economic reform programme that was part of the deal to offer the $12bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF).…

The UAE ended 2016 on a mixed note with private sector business seeing its strongest monthly increase in activity in December for 16 months but also a sharp rise in…

Countries in the MENA region and the West pledged around $8bn in aid and loans over the next four years at a conference in November 2016. The money announced in…

Qatar will post growth of just 1.8% in 2016, according to the January 2017 forecasts from the World Bank, which cut its outlook from the 3.3% it forecast just seven…