13 hours ago
Egypt’s Core Inflation Eases To 14.1% As Food Prices Climb
RIYADH: Egypt’s annual core inflation slowed by 0.8 percentage points to 14.1 percent in September, although rising vegetable prices pushed up monthly consumer costs, highlighting persistent pressure on household budgets. The Central Bank of Egypt reported the decline, while data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics showed annual urban headline inflation slowing to 13.9 percent from 14.5 percent. Monthly urban inflation rose to 1.3 percent in September from 0.1 percent in August, but remained below the 1.8 percent recorded in September 2025. Monthly core inflation also increased, climbing to 0.8 percent from 0.3 percent in August. Despite the annual slowdown, inflation in Egypt remains substantially higher than in several Gulf economies. The rate in Saudi Arabia held at 1.8 percent in August, while Oman’s reached 3.4 percent, according to official data. S&P Global expects Egypt’s inflation to average 12.9 percent in fiscal 2026/27 before easing to 9 percent by fiscal 2028/29. Ramzi Abou Abdallah, senior market analyst at Phystone Financial Advisory, told Arab News that easing annual inflation does not necessarily translate into lower consumer prices, noting that food-price volatility, particularly in vegetables, disproportionately affects lower-income households. “For households, the distinction between slower inflation and falling […]
13 hours ago
First Czech charter flight lands in Salalah with 150 tourists
Salalah – The first charter flight from the Czech Republic arrived at Salalah Airport carrying 150 tourists on Sunday, marking the resumption of the winter tourism programme in Dhofar, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism announced. Charter flights support Oman’s efforts to diversify tourism source markets, expand international air connectivity and strengthen Dhofar’s appeal among European travellers. The resumption of charter services is expected to improve access to the governorate’s natural, cultural and heritage attractions, while reinforcing tourism links between Oman and the Czech market. Dhofar offers visitors a mix of scenic coastlines, pristine beaches, historical and archaeological sites, and rich cultural heritage. The winter season also provides opportunities to explore the region’s landscapes, discover its heritage and experience its distinctive traditions and hospitality. The ministry said the return of charter flights would create opportunities to strengthen cooperation with tour operators, airlines and other tourism industry partners, supporting efforts to attract more international visitors to the governorate. Increased visitor numbers are also expected to generate demand for tourism-related services and benefit small and medium enterprises operating across the sector. The ministry continues to work with public and private sector partners to promote Oman’s tourism offerings internationally, expand its presence in […]
14 hours ago
At Least 10 Supertankers Approaching Port Of Fujairah Reverse Course Amid Iran’s Attacks
A growing number of empty supertankers have been turning away from the Persian Gulf as escalating Iranian attacks threaten a critical transfer hub for wartime oil shipments, Bloomberg reports. At least 10 very large crude carriers and several Suezmax vessels approaching the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates have stopped or reversed course in recent days, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. While other vessels are still continuing on their journeys into the region, the retreat of these tankers amid near-daily attacks around the Strait of Hormuz – some near Fujairah itself – raises fresh concerns over the sustainability of oil flows through the waterway. Fujairah is commonly signaled as an interim destination by vessels ultimately sailing to the Gulf of Oman, where they can collect cargoes via ship-to-ship transfer, or onward into the Persian Gulf. That makes the number of ships heading toward the port a broader indicator of tanker operators’ appetite for approaching the waterway. The shift threatens a key workaround that has helped Persian Gulf oil exports recover to near prewar levels. Large crude carriers can wait off Fujairah and in Omani waters outside Hormuz while shuttle tankers make the riskier transit through the […]
3 days ago
China Buys Record Amount Of Gold As India Panics, Scraps Key Tax Relief On Precious Imports
Gold is climbing notably this morning, underscoring the potential for the precious metal to ratchet higher into year-end thanks to sustained buying from central banks and retail investors. On the retail side, the total known ETF holdings of bullion are up this week, set to match the 12-week streak of gains posted through April 18, 2025. That means the stockpile exceeds the peak touched just before the outbreak of the Iran war. And central banks are backing up the truck as The Financial Times reports that China has spent a record sum importing more than 1,000 tonnes of gold this year as the central bank and local investors pour cash into bullion amid rising geopolitical tensions abroad and poor returns on local assets. The world’s second-largest economy spent $158.8bn on gold in the first eight months of the year. That compared with spending of $96.5bn for all of 2025 on 886 tonnes of gold. The jump comes after China reined in gold purchases last year during an intense rally that sent bullion prices soaring from about $2,625 a troy ounce at the start of 2025 to a peak of $5,595 in January. There are signs that Chinese investors are increasing […]
4 days ago
US Treasury Hits Remaining ‘Shadow Fleet’ Shipping Iranian Oil To Asia With New Sanctions
The Trump administration is late this week moving to identify, punish, and cut off remaining tankers in Iran’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ which are still engaged in shipping Iranian oil to Asia. Thursday saw the US Treasury impose sanctions on 17 vessels and their owners involved in transporting Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals – with these being mostly aging oil tankers which conduct ship-to-ship transfers and other evasive, concealment tactics. The Treasury Department hailed the action as effectively neutralizing the vast majority of the Islamic Republic’s remaining shadow fleet, through which Tehran still rakes in potentially billions in foreign oil sales, circumventing the ongoing US naval blockade of its ports. However, it’s commonly estimated that some 20 million barrels of Iranian crude remain aboard ships which are far outside the reach of the Persian Gulf-centered US naval blockade, sitting off southeast Asian ports. “Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime’s oil sales,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated alongside the sanctions announcement. “No enabler of Iranian sanctions evasion is safe from the full force of Treasury’s authorities,” Bessent added. […]
5 days ago
The Information & eGovernment Authority is carrying out the Labour For
iGA Launches 2026 Labour Force Survey Across Bahrain More than 4,000 households across all governorates are being surveyed from October to December The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) is conducting the Labour Force Survey 2026, targeting a random sample of more than 4,000 households across all governorates of Bahrain. The field survey is being carried out from October through December 2026 through face-to-face interviews and telephone calls, following standards and methodologies accredited by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Duaa Sultan Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive for Statistics and Population Registry at the iGA, said the survey aims to provide accurate statistical data on labour force characteristics, economic activity and changes in the labour market. She said the findings will support the development of evidence-based plans and policies related to the labour market. The iGA contacts selected households through 17878070 to introduce the survey and arrange field visits. Researchers visiting households will carry official identification cards, while their names and photographs can be verified through the iGA website. The authority stressed that information collected during the survey will be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes. It also urged selected households to cooperate with researchers and complete the required interviews.
6 days ago
After Iran’s Rial, Hormuz Claims Its Second Currency: Iraq Devalues Dinar 13% To Keep Paying Salaries
Last weekend, we noted that the clearest scorecard of the US economic war on Iran is the rial, which cratered to a record 2.7 million per dollar (the slide that we first flagged in “Iran’s Deadline Expires Today”… Rial Collapses, and which has only accelerated since). Turns out Tehran has company. On Wednesday, Iraq devalued its currency by 13%, with the central bank raising the dollar-selling price for the public to 1,520 dinars from roughly 1,320. Per Reuters, the cabinet adopted the new structure on Tuesday, effective Wednesday: the Finance Ministry now sells its oil dollars to the CBI at 1,500, banks get them at 1,510 and the public pays 1,520. That makes Iraq, as Bloomberg notes, the first Gulf Arab state to devalue since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February. It probably won’t be the last thing in the region to break, but it is the first currency peg to do so, which is a different kind of milestone. The central bank’s official explanation was a masterpiece of the genre: the decision was taken “in view of the current economic and financial conditions, and based on the recommendation of the cabinet,” and, rest assured, foreign reserves […]
6 days ago
World Bank Warns Asia Is Running Out Of Money To Fight Energy Shock
Asian countries have responded more aggressively than others to the energy supply crunch caused by the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran and now they are running out of resources to continue their response, the World Bank warned in a new report. The report actually focuses on the potential of artificial intelligence to help Asian economies grow but names energy import vulnerability as one major headwind to that growth. “Subsidies have been by far the most common policy response [to the crisis] among emerging and developing economies,” the World Bank said, adding that “Countries with substantial subsidies in place generally have had smaller increases in retail gasoline prices than non-subsidizers, but this relationship weakened considerably for headline inflation.” Energy remains a spot of weakness for Asian countries due to their overwhelming dependence on imports but, according to the World Bank, AI can change that by motivating a shift towards greater domestic electricity generation, which would in turn lead to lower demand for imported energy commodities. Meanwhile, Asian countries’ response to the energy crunch has led to lower prices at the cost of lower foreign exchange reserves, the lender also said. The longer the crisis continues, the greater the effect on […]
1 week ago
Iranian rial at new low, as central bank sells dollars to support currency
DUBAI: Iran’s rial continued its decline on Saturday, as the central bank announced an injection of up to $2 billion to support the currency while the economy faces US sanctions and a naval blockade. The US dollar was sold around 2.688 million rials, up from 2.632 million on Friday, according to free-market tracking website bon-bast.com, while alanchand.com reported 2.695 million rials per dollar. State television said state banks began selling up to $2 billion to support the currency, which has lost more than half of its value in the past year. With an inflation rate of more than 70 percent, life is becoming ever tougher for ordinary citizens unable to afford basic necessities or rent as a US blockade cuts the state’s financial lifeline – oil exports. Many Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies or gold. Mehdi Darabi, an aide to the central bank’s governor on foreign exchange affairs, blamed the decline of the rial partly on what he said were false predictions by US officials of the collapse of the Iranian economy. “It is suggested that the Iranian economy is about to crash… The enemy is using this to affect the […]
2 months ago
By 2050, The World’s Most-Populous Cities Will All Be In Africa Or Asia
Across 150 years, familiar urban giants rise, fall, and give way to a new generation of megacities. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, ranks the 15 most populous cities worldwide from 1950 to 2100 using population estimates from the European Commission’s JRC via Our World in Data. City boundaries were consistently defined based on satellite imagery and population data. Tokyo led the 1950 ranking with 12.6 million people, followed by New York with 9.3 million. The Big Apple was not the only massive Western city at the time. Of the 15 most populous cities in 1950, over half were found in either Europe or the Americas. This included London (7.9 million), Moscow (5.5 million), and Paris (5.4 million). The table below ranks the 15 most populous cities in 1950: The rankings began changing quickly over the following decades. By 1975, London had fallen out of the top 15, while Paris (7.4 million) and Los Angeles (7.7 million) had also slipped in rank. The second half of the 20th century also saw the rise of Latin American metropolises such as São Paulo and Mexico City, which by 2000 had surpassed New York as the most populous cities in the hemisphere. By 2000, Asia […]
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