Regional malaise? Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy is sputtering, with the latest data showing that “businesses and Saudi consumers were still struggling to cope with government policies. Private sector activity grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent, compared with 0.9 percent in the previous quarter,” Bloomberg reports. Lest the Statelet of Qatar start feeling its oats on that front, “Qatar’s economic growth was slowing even before a Saudi Arabia-led bloc severed diplomatic and transport links in early June,” the business information service notes. Qatar is expected to grow this year at 2.5%, or about the slowest pace since 1995.

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