Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi inflation rebased, headline rate hits two-year high The rebasing of Saudi Arabia’s inflation data, which came alongside August’s data release, has resulted in only minor changes to the headline inflation readings, but it underlines the shifts in... 15th September 2025 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi foreign investment report, OPEC+ decision Media reports picked up on data published by Saudi Arabia this week which showed that 2024 was a record year for foreign direct investment inflows. But this didn’t take account of the fact that there... 11th September 2025 · 7 mins read
Commodities Update OPEC+ desire to pump will lead to oil prices falling OPEC+ seems to be cautiously optimistic on the strength of the oil market as it remains committed to unwinding voluntary output cuts. However, we suspect it will become increasingly clear that the oil... 8th September 2025 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly OPEC+ meeting, Saudi debt issuances & housing reforms We suspect that the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday will result in a decision to keep oil production unchanged in October, rather than raise production further. But the risks to oil prices are still skewed to... 4th September 2025 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Middle East & North Africa PMIs (Aug. ‘25) The whole economy PMIs for August strengthened a little in the Gulf states, though the surveys still suggest that activity private non-oil sectors has softened in Q3. Elsewhere, while Egypt’s PMI fell... 3rd September 2025 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi Vision 2030 & non-oil trade, Tunisia protests A report from the Saudi statistics office this week provided further evidence that women are playing a greater role in the economy – one area where the Vision 2030 reforms have had significant success... 28th August 2025 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi Vision 2030: where do things stand with five years to go? Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform programme passed the halfway mark last year and we published an in-depth Focus evaluating the progress so far. This Update takes a fresh look at how close the... 27th August 2025 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack (Aug. ’25) Our Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. Oil prices have fallen back in the wake of the Israel-Iran ceasefire and, with... 22nd August 2025 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly MENA Weekly: Abdalla stays on as rate decision looms, PIF Annual Report Hassan Abdalla’s term as Egypt’s central bank governor was renewed this week which bodes well for the ongoing shift to macro orthodoxy and broader structural reform. First up on his agenda will be... 21st August 2025 · 6 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack Emerging Markets Chart Pack (Aug. 2025) Our View: The Q2 GDP figures out so far point to robust growth across much of the emerging world, but we think growth will soften over the second half of the year. While growth across much of Asia... 14th August 2025 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jul. 2025) Saudi Arabia’s headline inflation rate slowed from 2.3% y/y in June to 2.1% y/y in July, its weakest pace since February. As we flagged in a recent Focus, we think that inflation will continue to... 14th August 2025 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly MENA Weekly: Saudi’s austere turn, CBE Monetary Policy Report takeaways Q2 budget figures show that Saudi Arabia's deficit is on track to be larger than the full-year projections set out in the Budget. Officials are turning to fiscal consolidation (via cuts to capital... 7th August 2025 · 8 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Middle East & North Africa PMIs (Aug. ’25) July’s batch of whole economy PMIs were soft across the Gulf as fiscal policy becomes less supportive of non-oil sectors. Elsewhere, Egypt’s economic recovery has continued to strengthen, supported by... 5th August 2025 · 2 mins read
Climate Economics Monthly Climate Monthly: UK insufficient climate spending; renewables in Saudi The UK government is set to guarantee higher prices for renewable developers to secure new generating capacity and provide electric vehicle subsidies to support the rollout. More broadly, though... 31st July 2025 · 5 mins read
Emerging Markets Financial Risk Monitor EM Financial Risk Monitor (Jul. 2025) Most EM currencies have strengthened against the dollar in recent months. Limited external vulnerabilities – our aggregate EM currency crisis risk indicator remains near multi-decade lows – have... 31st July 2025 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response Saudi Arabia GDP (Q2 2025, Flash Estimate) Saudi Arabia’s flash estimate of Q2 GDP showed that the economy grew by 2.1% q/q, an improvement on the 1.1% expansion recorded in the first quarter, largely on the back of the unwinding of oil... 31st July 2025 · 2 mins read
