For decades, investing directly in Saudi Arabia's stock market was reserved for the world's largest financial institutions. As of February 1, 2026, that changed completely. The Capital Market Authority eliminated the Qualified Foreign Investor framework entirely, opening the Tadawul, Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, to
South Africa's benchmark FTSE JSE All Share Index has been one of the quiet success stories of global markets in 2026, and the reason sits underground in the country's gold belt. Gold entered the year on a parabolic run, surging to an all-time high of
FTSE Russell's decision to upgrade Vietnam to secondary emerging market status effective September 21, 2026, is the most significant development in Vietnam's capital market history. The move will channel an estimated $6 billion from passive index trackers and up to $25 billion in total long-term
The French government under Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu entered 2026 with a budget package containing €44 billion in fiscal measures, equivalent to approximately 1.5% of GDP. The plan targets a public deficit of no more than 5.1% of GDP this year, a modest improvement from 5.4% in
Bank Negara Malaysia reduced its overnight policy rate to 2.75% in July 2025 and has held it steady since. That is nearly twelve months of unchanged rates in an environment where central banks across Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa have been actively moving their benchmarks in either direction,
Most central banks around the world adjust monetary policy by raising or lowering interest rates. Singapore's Monetary Authority takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of setting a benchmark rate, the MAS manages monetary policy by controlling the level and rate of appreciation or depreciation of the Singapore dollar
France entered 2026 with a fiscal situation that most eurozone governments would find alarming. The budget deficit reached 5.8% of GDP in 2024, the highest in the entire euro area. For 2026, the European Commission projects the deficit will remain at 5.1% of GDP. The IMF predicts France&
East Africa is on track to grow by 5.8% in 2026, up from 5.4% in 2025, making it the fastest-growing sub-region on the African continent by a significant margin. West Africa is projected at 4.4%, Central Africa at 3%, and Southern Africa at 2%. The
Ethiopia is the IMF's fastest-growing African economy in 2026, projected to expand 9.2%, more than double the sub-Saharan Africa regional average of approximately 4.3%. That number is the result of specific, deliberate interventions that have been years in the making, not a commodity windfall
The numbers coming out of Taiwan's statistics office in 2026 are the kind that make economists do a double take. The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics now forecasts GDP growth of 9.6% for 2026, the highest rate in 16 years. In the first quarter of
Malaysia recorded the strongest year-on-year increase in private equity deal value across all of Southeast Asia in 2025, reaching $5.3 billion according to Bain and Company's Southeast Asia Private Equity Report. That number would have seemed improbable five years ago, when Singapore dominated regional dealmaking
Gold has always had a special place in the Indian household. Weddings, savings, generational wealth transfer, and crisis protection have all historically run through the yellow metal. What is changing in 2026 is not the affection for gold but the form it takes. Indians are increasingly moving from physical gold