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Banking news and finance news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis
Banking and Finance news
Sohar International Bank, Oman’s second-biggest bank by assets, reported a decline in first-quarter profit on lower net interest income and higher staffing costs. The bank registered a net profit of OR21.5 million ($56 million) in the three months to March 31, a decline of 15 percent over the same period last year. “Compared to the […]
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are following divergent investment strategies around US government bonds, which have long been a safe haven for sovereign and institutional investors worldwide. The two countries are among the world’s top 20 biggest holders of the bonds, with a combined value of almost $250 billion. The UAE acquired almost $43 billion […]
Mubadala deployed AED119 billion ($32 billion) of capital last year, a rise of nearly 34 percent on 2023, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund has revealed in its latest earnings report. The fund, which is thought to have been the world’s most active sovereign investor in 2024, has not released data on its annual revenues […]
The UAE has approved a new strategy that aims to more than double the assets of its Islamic banks in the next six years. The government aims to increase the assets of Islamic banks from AED986 billion ($268 billion) to AED2.56 trillion by 2031, state-run news agency Wam quoted vice president and prime minister Sheikh […]
The first Token2049 of the year drew a record 15,000 attendees to Madinat Jumeirah
Cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs has outlined plans to expand in the UAE after winning approval to operate in Dubai. Based in San Francisco, Ripple was the first blockchain payments provider to be licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in March, the company said in a statement. One in five Ripple customers is based […]
Money Fellows, a Cairo-based startup that digitises the so-called Middle East jamiyya savings model, has raised $13 million to expand across North Africa and beyond, the company has announced. Jamiyya, which is also known as sanduk, is part of the Rotating Savings and Credit Association (Rosca) technique whereby a group of people agrees to contribute […]
Saudi Arabia may have to tighten its reins on spending on the back of a decline in international oil prices, analysts have said. The country’s first-quarter budget deficit of SAR59 billion ($16 billion), reported this week, was the biggest in three years. “A deficit was broadly expected, says Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial […]
Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has posted the biggest profit in its 19-year history, reversing a loss in 2023, according to the Bahrain News Agency. Its consolidated net profit reached BD363 million ($963 million) in 2024, versus a net loss of BD497 million the year before, the state-run agency reported. “The past year marked a […]
The IMF may laud Oman for cutting its debt and bringing its budget deficit under control but unemployment in the Gulf’s third most populous country is growing, posing a policy challenge to the government. In January, the month for which the latest data is available, unemployment rose to 3.6 percent, compared with 3.3 percent the month […]
Bahrain’s current account surplus narrowed last year on the back of lower oil revenue and higher external debt servicing, a ministry of finance report shows. The update may add to concerns around Bahrain’s fiscal challenges. A country’s current account balance is a record of its transactions with the rest of the world. Bahrain, the Gulf’s […]
Yield hungry investors have snapped up OR32 million ($83 million) in short-term Omani treasury bills. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) auctioned the six-month T-bills on Wednesday offering a coupon of 5 percent. The CBO said the offer was oversubscribed by more than 10 times. Analysts said the rates on offer through the treasury bills […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will begin the fifth review of Egypt’s $8 billion economic reform programme, with a team scheduled to arrive in Cairo this week, the IMF said in a statement on Monday. The IMF board approved the fourth review on March 11, unlocking a disbursement of $1.2 billion in a 46-month IMF […]
Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit rose nearly fourfold in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, driven by a sharp drop in oil revenues. The kingdom reported a budget deficit of SAR59 billion ($16 billion) in the quarter ended March 2025 from $3.3 billion a year before. Total revenues fell 10 percent to […]
Egyptian financial technology startup Bokra and Aman Holding have arranged a near $60 million bond to help finance credit to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country, Aman said. The Cairo-based startup arranged EGP 3 billion ($59 million) worth of shariah-compliant debt in partnership with Egypt’s Aman Project Finance, a unit of Aman Holding. […]
Morocco’s trade deficit widened in the first quarter after a surge in imports, the economy and finance ministry reported. The shortfall grew by nearly a fifth, or 17 percent, to MAD71.6 billion ($7.8 billion) in the three months to March 31, compared with MAD61 billion in the same period last year, ministry data this week […]
Oman and Algeria have signed an agreement to create a joint venture oilfield services company in the North African country, according to local media. The agreement was signed on Monday. Algeria’s state oil operator, Sonatrach, signed the agreement with Abraj Energy Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oman’s global integrated energy group OQ, during sultan of […]
Turkey’s annualised inflation has fallen for the eleventh month in a row, though the rate of decline is slowing, reducing the chances that the central bank will hit its year-end target. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3 percent in April while the annual rate of inflation declined to 37.9 percent, according to data issued […]
Dubai Holding is to list its residential real estate investment trust (REIT), shrugging off local investor scepticism towards the structures and becoming the first initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai stock exchange this year. The investment conglomerate owned by Sheikh Muhammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emirate’s ruler, said on Monday that it will […]
Iraq expects its non-oil sector to grow by 4 percent in 2025 after increasing by 5 percent last year, the country’s finance minister said on Monday. The budget deficit was ID 5 trillion ($3.8 billion) last year, below forecast, Taif Sami told the official Iraqi news agency. Citing the International Monetary Fund, the minister said […]
Higher-than-budgeted oil prices wiped out Oman’s OR640 million ($1.7 billion) deficit for 2024, according to the finance minister, although the IMF has warned that the Gulf state still faces economic challenges. Oman posted a surplus of $1.4 billion last year as it sold oil at an average price of $82 per barrel, a third higher […]
Dubai real estate developer Omniyat has raised $500 million to fund its sustainable developments. The order book of the inaugural three-year green sukuk was oversubscribed 3.6 times, reaching $1.8 billion. The sukuk will be listed and traded on Nasdaq Dubai and the London Stock Exchange’s international securities market. The pricing details were not given. Sukuk […]
