Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Fall in Egyptian pound not a cause for panic The latest fall in the Egyptian pound may delay interest rate cuts and raising the cost for the government of servicing its FX debts. But these challenges should be manageable. And the bigger picture... 26th October 2026 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Bahrain needs more financing sooner rather than later Bahrain probably requires the other Gulf countries to pledge further financial support in order to sustain its dollar peg and roll over maturing external debt. We remain of the view that this will be... 21st October 2026 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s debt burden to remain on a downwards path Egypt’s public finances still look poor on the surface, but there are reasons to think that the public debt burden will decline over the coming years. That will have positive spillover effects... 14th October 2026 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update The implications of the Houthi attacks on Riyadh The recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, threaten to set back the recovery in the Kingdom’s non-oil economy, even if the damage to the tourism sector proves to be limited. The key... 12th October 2026 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Qatar: North Field to turbocharge the recovery Qatar’s economy has been dealt a much larger blow from the Iran war than many of its Gulf neighbours. So long as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz flows more freely from early next year, as we... 7th October 2026 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi and UAE lead recovery in latest Gulf PMI data The whole economy PMIs for September show that the Gulf’s recovery is taking shape but is uneven. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are faring strongly. But recoveries in Kuwait and particularly Qatar appear... 5th October 2026 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Resilience in Gulf credit growth unlikely to last If the Fed hikes interest rates further and oil prices fall back over 2027-28, as we anticipate, the current strength of lending growth in the Gulf is likely to lose steam. That will hold back... 30th September 2026 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Counting the fiscal cost to the Gulf from the Iran war The disruption to energy flows from the Iran war will cause government budget balances to improve in Oman and the UAE (high prices have more than offset the impact on export volumes). But balances... 15th September 2026 · 3 mins read
Commodities Update Key questions on the closure of the East-West pipeline The attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline could impact up to 4% of global oil supply and each week of the pipeline’s closure could knock up to 0.3%-pts off Saudi Arabia’s GDP. Uncertainty about... 14th September 2026 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Recovery in the Gulf strengthens The whole economy PMIs for August, released today, suggest that a recovery in the Gulf’s non-oil sectors is taking hold. The UAE and Kuwait saw the strongest increases, and non-oil activity in Saudi... 3rd September 2026 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Tunisia: risk of currency, sovereign debt crises growing Tunisia’s fragile external position has deteriorated further since the onset of the Iran war and the dinar appears increasingly overvalued. Officials have tightened access to foreign currency in a bid... 2nd September 2026 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Which EMs benefit if tourists don’t return to the Gulf? The recovery in tourism by non-GCC nationals to the Gulf remains slow. If this persists, shifting travel patterns might result in significant gains in some smaller economies in the Caribbean and the... 18th August 2026 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Gulf tourism still struggling Early signs suggest that tourism in the Gulf, particularly intra-GCC travel, is starting to rebound. That benefits Bahrain’s economy more than most. But tourists from outside the region appear more... 17th August 2026 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi recovery to be hampered by lending slowdown Private sector credit growth in Saudi Arabia has slowed sharply over the past year and we think it’s likely to act as a headwind to the recovery in non-oil sectors from the Iran war. 11th August 2026 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Can Iran continue to hold out? Iran’s financial lifeline has been cut by the US blockade, and the economy will remain in a very depressed state unless it can secure concessions. But whether this happens ultimately comes down to the... 10th August 2026 · 3 mins read
Commodities Update Iran’s Hormuz proposals muddy the waters Even if Iran’s proposed restrictions on US, Israeli, and other “hostile” ships using the Strait of Hormuz are passed into law, they are unlikely to be a major obstacle to energy flows given that most... 7th August 2026 · 3 mins read
