North Africa/Middle East

Saudis, Other Oil Giants Announce Surprise Production Cuts

Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers on Sunday announced surprise cuts totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, a move that could raise prices worldwide, the Associated Press reported. Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid worldwide inflation.

Saudi Arabia
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Egypt Raises Interest Rates to Curb Surging Inflation

Egypt’s Central Bank said it raised interest rates on Thursday as the embattled Middle Eastern country continues to battle surging inflation and a depreciating currency, the Associated Press reported. In an online statement, the bank’s monetary policy committee said the most basic lending rate, the overnight deposit rate, has increased from 16.25% to 18.25%. The hike aims to ease spiraling inflation, with the annual figure reaching 32.9% in February, up from 26.5% in January.
Egypt
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IMF Warns Without Reforms, Lebanon Could See Hyperinflation

The International Monetary Fund gave a grim assessment Thursday of Lebanon’s prospects for getting out of its deepening financial crisis, saying that without reforms, the country is headed for hyperinflation, the Associated Press reported. Since late 2019, tiny Lebanon has fallen into the worst economic crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class that has ruled the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
Lebanon
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Lebanon to Sell Unlimited US Dollars to Prop Up Collapsing Pound

Lebanon's central bank will begin selling unlimited amounts of U.S. dollars in a bid to halt the spiralling devaluation of the Lebanese pound, Governor Riad Salameh said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Salameh set a new rate for Sayrafa, the central bank's exchange platform, at 90,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar on Tuesday. He set the rate at 70,000 on March 1 but it has steadily crept up, trading at 83,500 on the platform on Monday. The Lebanese pound's parallel market rate weakened from roughly 121,000 to the U.S.
Lebanon
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Lebanon's Central Bank Chief Again Charged with Corruption

Lebanon’s Central Bank chief was again charged with corruption on Wednesday, this time after failing to show up for questioning before a European legal team visiting Beirut in a money-laundering probe linked to the governor, officials said, the Associated Press reported. According to the judicial officials, Gov. Riad Salameh, his brother Raja Salameh and an associate, Marianne Hoayek, were charged with corruption and ordered detained. Their assets were also frozen. The case is separate from other legal proceedings against Salameh underway in Lebanon.
Lebanon
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Lebanon's Pound Hits a New Low as Banks Go Back on Strike

Lebanon's embattled currency hit a new low Tuesday, trading at an unprecedented 100,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar on the black market as the crisis-hit country's banks went back on strike, the Associated Press reported. The pound has kept sinking since Lebanon's financial meltdown erupted in 2019, following decades of rampant corruption and mismanagement by the country's political and financial elite. Three-quarters of Lebanon's population of over 6 million now lives in poverty and inflation is soaring.
Lebanon
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Egypt Devaluation Calls Grow Louder, Longer as Crunch Time Nears

Traders are on a record-long streak of hedging against a decline in the Egyptian pound as some Wall Street banks warn growing pressures on the currency could soon force the central bank’s hand in allowing another devaluation, Bloomberg News reported. Time may be short for a country facing what Citigroup Inc. said is growing pent-up demand for dollars that won’t ease without more currency flexibility and stronger investment flows. Half measures haven’t been enough, stalling deals and resulting in an underperformance of Egypt’s bonds.
Egypt
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Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX to Sell Sequoia Stake to Abu Dhabi Firm for $45 Million

Liquidators for defunct crypto exchange FTX asked a judge to approve the sale of its interest in a fund of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to an Abu Dhabi state-backed investment firm, in a deal valued at $45 million, Bloomberg News reported. FTX agreed to sell the interest in the Sequoia Capital Fund, which previously belonged to its sister trading outfit Alameda Research’s venture arm, to Al Nawwar Investments RSC Limited on Wednesday, its estate said in a filing to Delaware’s bankruptcy court late that same day.
United States
United Arab Emirates
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FTX Reaches $45M Deal to Sell Interest in Sequoia to Abu Dhabi's Investment Arm

FTX’s investment arm, Alameda Research, has struck a $45 million cash deal to sell its interest in Sequoia Capital to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, according to court documents filed Wednesday, CoinDesk reported. The deal, subject to approval by Delaware bankruptcy court Judge John Dorsey, is part of the bankrupt company's attempts to sell its investments in early stage crypto and tech ventures in a bid to repay creditors.

United Arab Emirates
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In Egypt, Government and Poor Struggle with Troubled Economy

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its second year, has pushed up food and energy prices worldwide, adding another layer to Egypt’s economic crisis, the Associated Press reported. Soaring inflation, a severely weakened currency and other problems have followed decades of government mismanagement and broader disruptions, starting with the turmoil from the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprising, then years of militant attacks, followed by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Egypt
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