Iran’s demand that oil tankers pay transit tolls in cryptocurrency for passing through the Strait of Hormuz has cast a new light on the country’s $7.8 billion crypto economy and the role digital currencies play for regimes operating outside the mainstream financial system, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Iran war is darkening the outlook for the world economy — whether or not a fragile ceasefire holds, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the fund will downgrade its forecast for the world economy next week. “Had it not been for this shock, we would have been upgrading global growth,” Georgieva said in remarks before next week's IMF-World Bank spring meetings.

Iran told mediators it would limit the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz to around a dozen a day and charge tolls under the cease-fire struck by President Trump, showing Tehran plans to tighten its grip on the world’s most important energy-shipping lane, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ships that pass will have to coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the powerful paramilitary group that has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, Arab mediators said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that imports from countries supplying Iran with military weapons will face immediate 50 per cent tariffs with no exemptions, announcing the threatened duty in a social media post just hours after agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran, Reuters reported.

Egypt's non-oil private sector deteriorated at its sharpest pace in almost two years in March, as the Middle East wardrove ​up costs and dampened client demand, a closely watched ‌business survey showed on Sunday, Reuters reported. The headline S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers' Index fell for a fourth consecutive month, dropping to 48.0 in March from ​48.9 in February — its lowest reading since April 2024. The ​figure remained below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth ⁠from contraction, though it was broadly in line with the ​survey's long-run average of 48.2.

Vast development sites around Riyadh trumpet images of a shiny new future for Saudi Arabia—part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s grandiose Vision 2030 agenda to turn the petrostate into an international hub of trade, technology and culture. Appeals for investment are sprinkled on ubiquitous construction fencing, along with English-language catchphrases such as “redefining livability” and “an extraordinary new normal.” Mohammed’s vision extended to a pledge to invest up to $1 trillion in the U.S.