(AFP) "Nothing that goes up in price in Egypt comes back down, ever," said Walid Ibrahim, another cab driver, shaking his head at a petrol station." sg.news.yahoo.com/egyptians-fe...
"Seven months later, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and the pipeline never took off."
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
WSJ: "Even more oil might have been able to head out via the Red Sea had another pipeline not fallen hostage to regional hostilities. At the start of 1990, Iraq and Saudi Arabia opened a massive pipeline that was supposed to take Baghdad’s crude all the way to Yanbu ..."
Note the unwritten part of the story: the source of some free market access and on-the-ground information about life in Turkmenistan was ... Iran.
Turkmenistan: "According to an AFP journalist, mandarins in Ashgabat cost $1.90, apples more than $2 and a pack of cigarettes has risen to $3 -- pretty much double what they were." sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/iran-wa...
Mongolia / offer document for new Eurobonds, $500m 2032. Loaded with useful information including on principal mining projects (not least coal), the Development Bank of Mongolia (DBM), and public debt. links.sgx.com/1.0.0/prospe...
Bangladesh (AFP): "On Tuesday, [petrol] queues stretched for 1.5 km [] through Dhaka's city centre. "My boss left the car here & took a rickshaw to reach his destination," Kamrul Hasan, who was waiting in a vehicle almost at the end of the queue, told AFP." sg.news.yahoo.com/india-tighte...
"Restaurants and hotels across India also warned of disruptions to operations, after a separate ministry order on Monday that prioritised domestic LPG supplies to households." sg.news.yahoo.com/india-tighte...
India (AFP): "To meet the gap, gas supplied to petrochemical facilities and power plants would either be fully or partially curtailed.
Indian industries including several ceramics and tile firms have already said they are facing a cutback in gas supplies that could impact production ..."
Egypt (Reuters): "The increases of about 14% to 17% on a wide range of petroleum products are the first this year and follow a hike of nearly 10.5% to 12.9% in October." www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
"Unlike its neighbors, such as Indonesia and Thailand, which are partially shielded by fuel subsidies, prices at the pump in the Philippines are more market-driven."
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/b...
Pakistan: "Fuel allowances for government departments would be cut in half, and 50% of government staff would work from home to save fuel, he said. All government offices except banks would also operate four days a week, [PM] Sharif said." www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...
"Vietnam currently imposes tariffs of 10 percent on unleaded gasoline and seven percent on diesel, aviation fuel and kerosene -- all of which have been slashed to zero effective immediately." sg.news.yahoo.com/vietnam-mull...
"The river banks broke as the rains continued and cars were swept off and water flowed into our shops destroying property for many people," Frederick Wasonga, who sells car accessories in the city centre, said." www.msn.com/en-gb/news/w...
Kenya / Nairobi floods: "AFP reporters saw on Saturday heavily damaged roads and infrastructure from Nairobi's vast slums to upmarket areas ..."
“It’s difficult to say [] whether [Africa] will see net gains,” [Nick] Hedley [Zero Carbon Analytics] said. “Oil producers could benefit from higher crude prices, but ordinary citizens will likely face higher transport & fuel costs, & potentially higher interest rates.” apnews.com/article/iran...
"Bangladesh has also shut universities and brought forward the Eid holidays, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Many educational institutions were already closed for Ramadan." sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/banglad...
"though exorbitant prices will put some buyers off. Pakistani energy bills could soar under the terms of recent International Monetary Fund loans." www.wsj.com/world/middle...
WSJ: "Taiwan, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are more exposed, said [Ross] Wyeno [S&P Global]. He expects demand to fall in all four countries as well as bids to attract cargoes heading to Europe, ..."
Bangladesh: "Due to the current tensions, five of the country's six fertiliser factories have been closed until March 18, an official with the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, Ahsan Quddus Kuntal, told AFP." sg.news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-r...
“Sulfur is essentially the commodity that is most exposed,” said Mr. Lawson at the CRU Group. “It’s fairly astonishing, the exposure that all these different markets have to sulfur as a raw material.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/b...
NYT on impact on agricultural inputs of Gulf conflict: "If sulfur becomes scarce, that will be felt most acutely in Morocco, where factories use it to make phosphate fertilizer ..."
Nairobi: "Some residents blamed the flooding on clogged drainage systems, stating that city authorities ought to have prepared by ensuring there was functional drainage infrastructure ahead of the rainy season." apnews.com/article/keny...
IMF working paper: "Tenures of governors with politically motivated appointments are associated with higher and more volatile inflation, realized and expected." www.imf.org/en/publicati...
"and financial policies to safeguard macroeconomic stability in Gabon and the region. Policy dialogue with the authorities will continue in the weeks ahead, including during the upcoming IMF Spring Meetings." www.imf.org/en/news/arti...
Gabon / IMF mission: "Discussions highlighted the potential benefits of ongoing reforms to improve public financial management, governance, the business climate and to fight corruption, and underscored the criticality of ensuring prudent fiscal ..."
"Senegal has announced a plan to close 19 govt agencies which account for around 1,000 jobs, with officials in the debt-burdened country expecting the move to save at least 55 bn CFA francs ($97.95 million) over the next three years, a statement said." www.cnbcafrica.com/2026/senegal...
"Part of the fiscal savings generated by the swap will be redirected toward expanding access to education, contributing to improved human capital outcomes and enhanced job opportunities for future generations." www.worldbank.org/en/news/pres...
"This mechanism aims to prepay costly commercial debt with the proceeds of a competitively procured and guaranteed commercial loan, thereby reducing debt service costs and improving debt sustainability ..."
Angola / World Bank DPF ($750m) plus guarantees ($240m + 2nd loss) to enable a debt for development swap: "The two guarantees will provide the Government of Angola with additional fiscal space to invest in its development priorities through a debt-for-development swap ..."
