Banking and Finance

A picture taken from a station of Dubai's Palm Monorail, shows traffic on a road in Palm Jumeirah on August 28, 2025.

World Bank ups Middle East 2025 economic outlook as oil, tourism rebound

The lender expects gross domestic product growth in the region to average 2.8% this year, up from its April forecast of 2.6%.

People walk past a branch of Turkish bank HalkBank on Dec. 1, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Supreme Court clears path for Turkey’s Halkbank trial over Iran sanctions

The Turkish president personally raised the Halkbank case with US President Donald Trump at the White House, as Ankara pushes for a settlement to avoid a drawn-out legal battle.

Installation view of CONVERGE in Seven Contours, One Collection at MACAAL © Ayoub El Bardii.

Culture

Marrakech's African Contemporary Art Museum reinvents itself two years after quake

Marking the two-year anniversary of the 2023 earthquake, Marrakech’s Museum of African Contemporary Art highlights the city’s recovery and its growing role as a hub for African art.

PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Blackstone, Abu Dhabi's Lunate set up $5B GCC logistics investment platform

The new platform will capitalize on the growing logistics sector in the Gulf.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

PayPal, UAE's DP World sign MoU to speed digital payments

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

UAE wealth fund ADIA scoops into $18B Haagen-Dazs owner Froneri

United Arab Emirates

What’s next for Saudi Arabia’s budget balancing act as deficit doubles?

A Riyadh Metro train makes its way along a track in the middle of a road in Riyadh on December 3, 2024.

Iran rial hits record low 1.13M to dollar as UN snapback sanctions resume: What to know

Iranians drive next to a billboard displaying pictures of nuclear scientists, centrifuges and a sentence reading in Farsi, "Science is the power," at the Enqelab Square in Tehran, on Aug. 29, 2025.

Israel economy

Israel interest rates to continue upward trend

Battling growing inflation, the Bank of Israel has significantly raised the country’s interest rates twice in recent weeks.

Workers on bikes deliver Egyptian traditional Baladi bread.

How interest rate hikes affect Egypt’s economy

The central bank may raise rates further by 100 to 200 basis points in 2022 to be in line with tightening global monetary policies. Yields on T-bills are set to rise.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s middle class priced out of home ownership

Buying a home has become an elusive dream even for middle-class professionals in Turkey as the country’s economic woes erupt into a perfect storm over the housing market.

Obsolete Turkish lira banknotes.

Turkish lira continues to fall

Turkey is in the midst of an economic crisis marked by high inflation.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

n Emirati man follows the market's movement at the Dubai Financial Market.

UAE meets $400 million target in first bond auction

The Emirati government decided to sell bonds in dirhams to boost the local banking sector and diversify financially.

United Arab Emirates

Palestine COVID

World Bank praises Palestinian easing of COVID rules, criticizes Israeli control

The international financial body recommended several governance reforms for the Palestinian Authority to increase economic growth.

Egyptians sit under umbrellas on the beach in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt, Sept. 12, 2015.

Egypt wants shipping agencies to deal in pounds amid dollar flight

After Egypt’s currency devaluation in March, the Egyptian government hopes to ease the strain on its banking system by mandating that international shipping agencies accept Egyptian pounds instead of US dollars as payment.

StoreDot's headquarters in the Israeli coastal city of Herziliya on Feb. 16, 2021.

Fundraising by Israeli startups expected to decline during 2022

A survey of Israeli startup companies shows a significant drop in fundraising.

A general view of the Egyptian Stock Market in the capital, Cairo, on Jan. 6, 2013.

UAE investments boost Egyptian economy

The United Arab Emirates is seeking profits by investing $2 billion in Egyptian state-held stakes in some companies.

H.M. King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Saudi Arabia sends $50 million to Jordan for budget as economy falters

The Jordanian government is working to close tax loopholes and increase its revenue collection amid its economic struggle.

An aerial view taken on April 12, 2022, shows the city of Mariupol, during Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine.

Analysis

The Takeaway: Ukraine war worsens Middle East oil gap

Sudan’s Burhan accuses UN envoy; Egypt increases support for Sudan; Libya cracks down on human rights activists; Turkey’s farmers face economic pinch; Islamic State uses dust as cover in Iraq … all in less than 1,200 words!

Andrew Parasiliti

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Andrew Parasiliti , Elizabeth Hagedorn

A customer leaves a currency exchange agency near Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, on Dec. 2, 2021.

Inflation storm worsens Turkey’s income distribution gap

Banks and big companies have benefited from Ankara’s controversial policy to keep interest rates low, while soaring inflation eats into the real income of the wage-earning masses.