Green shoots, new pipelines

High-frequency data published this week provide tentative signs that the slump in the Gulf economies has started to ease. But activity is at depressed levels and the Gulf will probably record its the largest fall in GDP since the 1980s this year. Meanwhile, the announcement of plans to build new pipelines in the Gulf suggests that governments are looking at how to adapt to the reality that Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz will pose a long-term risk to their economies.