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Jordan’s tourism sector notched its third consecutive month of double-digit growth. The sector’s income rose 17.2% y-o-y in August to USD 1.1 bn, continuing a growth trajectory that kicked off in June, according to preliminary Central Bank of Jordan data, cited by Petra. The reversal of fortunes in June-August was robust enough to tip the 8M income figures into growth territory, rising by about 3% y-o-y to USD 5.6 bn. While the growth rate is much lower than what was logged in 2025, it marks a reversal of a bleak downward trend that peaked in April when income fell as much as 27%, and occupancies fell across the country nearly to zero.
Some travellers are not yet back to Jordan, and the breakdown for the 8M period shows who’s still missing. Income from Arab visitors rose 16.3% and Asian 9.5%, while income from other segments continued to fall: Jordanian expatriates (-5.9%), Americans (-17.1%), and Europeans (-23.7%).
Zoned in
Egypt’s investment-zone regime is becoming the standard regulatory wrapper for Gulf-backed real estate megaprojects. The Madbouly cabinet last week approved a draft decree designating Qatari Diar’s 4.9k-feddan Alam Al Roum development an investment zone, according to a cabinet statement. The USD 29.7 bn project runs along the Alexandria-Matrouh coastal road and will host residential, tourism, commercial, administrative, and service activities.
Alam Al Roum is the second Gulf sovereign-backed megaproject to receive the designation in 18 months. ADQ’s USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma development — 90 km east along the same coast — got both an investment zone and a special free zone in April 2024, along with a golden license. The pattern generalized to a domestic developer in July, when the cabinet approved The Spine, a 506-feddan, EGP 1.4 tn TMG project inside Madinaty in New Cairo — Egypt’s first privately developed investment zone.
Why the designation matters: The regime bundles fiscal incentives with a single-window regulator. Projects inside investment zones qualify for streamlined approvals through the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones’ (GAFI) Investor Service Center, which handles incorporation, permits, and land allocation. They also get a flat 2% customs duty on imported machinery and a deduction of up to 50% of investment costs from taxable income for up to seven years, under the Investment Law of 2017 (pdf).
ZOOMING OUT- Egypt is repurposing a tool designed for industry to mega real estate projects. At least 20 projects have the designation, with five considered real estate and tourism projects, in our calculation — all granted sometime in the last two years.
Sukuk starter
The first of more to come? Syrian banks are putting together a syndicated Islamic financing package to fund state-led development projects. The package is arranged by Al Baraka Bank Syria, QNB Syria, and the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria, with sovereign backing from the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Syria.
This marks the first time the government has tapped domestic banks for funds in post-Assad Syria. It also comes as Syria’s financing needs grow due to reconstruction needs and a rising energy imports bill due to Hormuz disruptions. After ending 2025 with a surplus, Syria ran a USD 1 bn deficit in 1H 2026.
The details are sparse. The package size, its interest rate, and tenor were not disclosed, but we know it will fund two projects in Damascus: An underground tunnel linking the city’s west and east, and the final phase of the Qasioun Journey tourism project.
Can this model be replicated? Government officials are hoping the financing package will work as a model that could extend to larger projects, while offering a structure to follow for other banks in the country. Whether this materializes will be key to watch — Syrian banks’ domestic liquidity is shallow, and the sector is in need of big injections to recapitalize, we reported earlier this year.
Thinning buffers
17.2% — that’s how much Iraq lost from its foreign reserves in the first seven months this year. Iraq entered 2026 with USD 97.4 bn in its buffers, and was at USD 80.6 bn by the end of July, according to Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) data. CBI investments also contracted by USD 14 bn over the same period, and vault cash collapsed from USD 1.47 bn to just USD 95 mn. Assuring the public: To address media debates around FX shortages, the CBI announced that it holds sufficient foreign exchange reserves to fulfill all demands for foreign currency to finance foreign trade, settle payment card transactions, and meet travelers’ requests for USD at the official exchange rate — attributing the weakening exchange rate mostly to speculation as a result of geopolitical developments.
REMEMBER- As Iraq continues to struggle with exporting its crude oil, public debt has reached IQD 106.07 tn (c. USD 81 bn) at the end of June — up 2.8% from May and 17.2% since the start of 2026. With rising debt and reduced domestic liquidity, the Iraqi government is faced with two options: reduce spending on investments or seek foreign financing either from multilateral lenders like the IMF or foreign commercial banks at high rates, a scenario we previously flagged back in May.
