Section

Business

Markets, industries, and the forces reshaping the region's economy.

Page 8

Business

The US Government Now Owes $40 Trillion, and Its Answer Was to Start Buying Back Its Own Bonds

Gross federal debt crossed forty trillion dollars on 18 August. Two days later the Treasury said it would more than double its repurchases of long-dated bonds. Yields fell, gold rose, bitcoin ran, and the underlying arithmetic did not change.

Aug 22, 2026/4 min read

The Treasury Building in Washington DC, headquarters of the US Department of the Treasury

Business

Google Was Handed the Right to Buy $12.2 Billion of Its Chip Supplier, If It Buys Enough Chips

Marvell granted Google a warrant over nearly 59 million shares, most of which only vests if Google hits purchasing targets running to fiscal 2033. It is a customer being paid in equity to remain a customer, and that structure is spreading.

Aug 22, 2026/3 min read

A close view of repeated circuit dies patterned across a silicon wafer

Business

Mohammed bin Salman's Record, Measured Against the Numbers He Set Himself

A decade after Vision 2030 was announced, the non-oil economy is the majority of Saudi output, the sovereign fund has grown roughly sixfold, and about 1.3 million more Saudi women are in work. The record is strong, and the interesting part is the method.

Aug 22, 2026/5 min read

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, official portrait

Business

The Strait of Hormuz Has Been Shut for Almost Six Months. Oil Is at $93, Not $200, and That Gap Is the Story.

A potential war is the wrong frame. Fighting began on 28 February and the strait closed on 4 March. The economic damage is real and measurable, and it is far smaller than the forecasts issued in the first month, for reasons worth understanding.

Aug 22, 2026/5 min read

Satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Musandam Peninsula

Business

Three Soft Data Prints in One Week Cut the Odds of a September Rate Hike From Fifty to Thirty One

Note the direction. Markets are not arguing about how fast the Federal Reserve cuts. They are pricing the probability that it raises, and gold has just had its best month since January.

Aug 21, 2026/3 min read

Market data screens showing price movements across several instruments

Business

The Thirty-Year Treasury Is at 5.32 Per Cent and the Federal Reserve Has Not Touched a Thing

Long government borrowing costs are at multi-decade highs across the United States, Germany, France and Japan. The cause is not central bank policy. It is the sheer volume of debt being issued, and some of it is paying for data centres.

Aug 18, 2026/5 min read

The United States Treasury building in Washington

Business

Serious Banks Are Forecasting Gold at $4,500 and at $6,000 for the Same December

Citi, Goldman, Deutsche, HSBC and Societe Generale have published year-end gold targets a third apart from one another. The spread is not sloppiness. It is an argument about what gold is for.

Aug 18, 2026/4 min read

Business

Palladium Is the Only Precious Metal That Did Not Set a Record in January. That Is the Whole Story

Gold, silver and platinum all peaked in the same fortnight in January. Palladium's record is still from March 2022 and it is not going to be beaten, because the engine it was bought for is being discontinued.

Aug 18, 2026/4 min read

A catalytic converter, the largest single use of platinum group metals

Business

Silver Went to $121 and Came Most of the Way Back. The Shortage That Did It Has Not Gone Away

Silver set a record just under $122 an ounce in late January, then lost close to half of it. The London squeeze behind the spike has eased rather than ended, and the metal is still up almost 74 per cent on the year.

Aug 18, 2026/5 min read

A cast silver ingot beside a scattering of silver granules

Business

UAE Employers Have Stopped Asking Whether You Use AI and Started Asking to See It

Hiring is building across technology, finance, healthcare, logistics, real estate and construction. What has changed is not which sectors are recruiting. It is what counts as evidence on a CV.

Aug 18, 2026/3 min read

Professionals in a meeting in a modern office

Business

The UAE's Quietest Business Problem Is How Long It Takes to Get Paid

Persistent payment delays and rising default concerns are squeezing liquidity across the Emirates, in the same half that produced the region's largest volume of new project awards. Both things are connected.

Aug 17, 2026/3 min read

Cranes above a construction site against a city skyline