Saudi Arabia says it’s stepping up efforts to combat illicit financial activity.

Saudi Central Bank Governor Ayman Al-Sayari said during a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force in Washington, D.C., last week that the kingdom is aligning its regulatory framework with international standards and has updated anti-money laundering laws to strengthen supervision, confiscation mechanisms and cross-border cooperation.

Al-Sayeri also called for stronger international coordination to fight terrorist financing and arms proliferation.

“We support adopting a risk-based approach in implementing international standards requirements and mutual evaluation processes, and we welcome financial innovations,” Al-Sayari said. 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is weighing whether to withdraw funding from LIV Golf after years of heavy losses and weak television audiences in the U.S., putting the breakaway league’s future in doubt.

The decision comes as the PIF announced a new five-year strategy on Wednesday, with the sovereign wealth fund’s Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan saying it would slow down some of its biggest projects as it focuses on “increasing the efficiency of investments,” The Financial Times reports.

LIV Golf, launched in 2022 with billions in PIF backing, has disrupted professional golf by luring top players with lucrative contracts but has struggled to build a sustainable business model. The league has reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars annually, including about $600 million in 2024, as media rights and fan engagement failed to match expectations.

The potential shutdown follows stalled merger talks with the PGA Tour and comes amid broader scrutiny of Saudi spending priorities and the league’s limited commercial returns. Any move to end funding would leave dozens of players who defected from the PGA Tour facing uncertain futures, capping a four-year upheaval that reshaped the economics and politics of professional golf.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil, meanwhile, told staff in an internal email sent this week that the 2026 season will proceed “as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” pushing back on speculation about the league’s future, ESPN reports.

Jordan and the UAE signed a $2.3 billion agreement to develop a rail project connecting the country’s phosphate and potash mines to the port of Aqaba.

L’imad Holding, the new sovereign wealth fund overseen by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed, will partner with multiple Jordanian entities to build and operate the 360-kilometer (225-mile) railway, with construction to begin in 2027.

Jordan’s Transport Minister Nedal Katamine said it was the country’s largest transport project in decades and one of the biggest in the region.

The deal highlights L’imad’s growing role in Abu Dhabi’s dealmaking, Bloomberg reports. 

Gulf states are ramping up investments and financial support tied to defense and energy, channeling billions of dollars into security-linked companies as the conflict with Iran reshapes priorities across capital markets and government policy.

Abu Dhabi-based BlueFive Capital is planning a $3 billion fund focused on aerospace and defense, targeting companies tied to military and advanced technologies as the UAE positions itself as a hub for security-related investment, Bloomberg reports.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia is reinforcing its geopolitical alliances by providing Pakistan with $3 billion in fresh financing and extending a separate $5 billion deposit, helping Islamabad stabilize its reserves and meet external obligations, including a loan repayment to the UAE.

The support is an indicator of Pakistan’s reliance on Gulf backing amid financial strain, with the repayment accounting for a significant share of its foreign reserves and highlighting the strategic role of Gulf capital in regional stability.

Beyond defense and finance, Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is increasing its focus on the Middle East, planning major investments in energy security, critical minerals and infrastructure, as global investors pivot toward assets tied to supply resilience and long-term strategic needs.

The International Monetary Fund slashed its economic forecast for the Middle East and North Africa and said it expects lower global growth, blaming the Iran war for disrupting trade and energy markets.

The region’s GDP growth forecast has been cut to 1.1.% in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, 2.8 percentage points lower than its January projection for this year.

Saudi Arabia is faring better than other countries, while the economies of Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar are now expected to ​contract, Reuters reports.

Growth is expected to rebound to 4.8% by 2027, presuming energy production and transportation return to normal over the next few months.

“MENA countries are facing unprecedented challenges, exceptional uncertainty in their outlook,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li said during a panel discussion in Washington.

UAE tourism needs to “reinvent itself” to recover from the impact of regional war, officials and hospitality players told a special meeting convened to address the industry in crisis.

From the dazzling Dubai Gold Souk and Burj Khalifa skyscraper to Abu Dhabi’s cluster of brand new museums, the normally bustling sites that are the engine of the country’s tourism economy have fallen quiet since the start of the war.

At a newly formed Tourism Majlis, organized by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, leaders gathered to confront a sharp drop in visitors following the Iran crisis and share ideas to shape a coordinated recovery plan.

Chaired by Ras Al Khaimah Ruler Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the discussion stressed that recovery would require a clear, unified strategy rather than quick fixes, with a focus on collaboration across all seven emirates. 

Expats in the Middle East are shopping for second homes in Europe and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for second passports as the Iran war fuels safety concerns and drives demand for stable overseas assets.

Hotspots for house-shoppers include London, Paris, Geneva and Monaco, which are seeing increased interest from expats living in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, Bloomberg reports.

Buyers are focusing on prime, ready-to-move-in properties and working through family offices and brokers to secure residences quickly, with some shifting funds out of the region as security risks rise and travel patterns change. 

In parallel, demand from UAE expats for passports from other countries has increased since the start of the war, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports. It cites an Indian-Arab family of four that secured citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis under a government program that charged about $270,000.

Meanwhile, U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is seeking to attract expats from the Gulf by promoting Britain as a safe haven and repairing relationships strained by recent tax changes, The Financial Times reports. She plans to revisit tax rules that currently risk double taxation on income from U.S. LLCs for those relocating to the U.K., according to the FT.

Faltering sales in Dubai are threatening a much-needed recovery for the luxury retail market, just as LVMH, Kering and Hermès prepare to report earnings.

Revenues at Mall of the Emirates were down 30-50% for some brands in March compared to the same period last year, while footfall declines across flagship retail hubs, including a steeper slump at Dubai Mall, point to a broader pullback in discretionary spending among tourists and residents alike.

Even relatively resilient locations such as The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi recorded weaker sales, suggesting the downturn is spreading beyond Dubai’s tourism-dependent economy.

The figures cast doubt on the Middle East’s role as a rare growth engine for luxury brands, as geopolitical tensions threaten to delay an already fragile global recovery in the sector, Reuters reports.