The Middle East Economy

Bahrain’s economic story over the past year is one of two parts: while the government has given much attention to the nation’s stubborn fiscal deficit and a challenging process of subsidy reduction, a longer-term focus has remained on the objective of economic diversification that the kingdom established in the early years of this century....

One of the most important issues currently facing the Middle East is the changing composition of its demographic structure. A massive cohort of young people – known as a youth bulge – is challenging policy makers, with youth policy affecting security, education, the labour market and welfare programmes, among other areas. Given the relative...

Since Saudi Arabia began reducing its domestic wheat production in 2008, the issue of food security has been high on the agenda for GCC governments. The kingdom, which was once self-sufficient in the grain and even exported to the wider region, recognised a fact that is true across the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. It is running out of water...

Ramped-up investment programmes and solid private sector expansion helped sustain Bahrain’s economic growth in 2015, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. According to the IMF, the final figure for GDP growth in 2015 is expected to be 3.2%. While down on the 4.5% growth recorded in 2014, this places Bahrain’s economy ahead of the...

The name Bahrain means “two seas” in Arabic. It is unclear what the term specifically refers to, and for much of its history, Bahrain was the name for the eastern coast of Arabia. Only recently has it come to identify the islands of the Awal archipelago.