The UAE’s bailout of Bahrain will irk the Saudi booster boys

Good morning, friends, and happy Friday to you all. It’s been a blessedly quiet 24 hours across the region, with zero reports of missiles or drones in the UAE, Saudi, and Qatar.

We’re sliding into a big weekend: The US and Iran seem on track to hold peace talks in Islamabad tomorrow, and Egypt is taking a breather — Sunday is Coptic Easter and Monday is a national holiday for Sham El Nessim, the traditional spring festival.

The only person unhappy with prospects of peace talks bearing fruit: The CEO of Texas-based Atlas Survivor Shelters, who says demand from the GCC elite for safe rooms and underground bunkers is “up a lot.”

WATCH THIS SPACE- The UAE has thrown a USD 5.4 bn lifeline to Bahrain (pdf) — a move Saudi Twitter will doubtless interpret as a slap in the face. (The mudslinging between Saudi and Emirati booster boys and bots alike on X has been rather intense the past week…)

On deck for the week ahead: It’s IMF / World Bank spring meeting week in Washington (the bank just downgraded its GCC growth forecast by 3.1 percentage points to 1.3%) and EBRD said overnight that it will deploy EUR 5 bn this year to shore-up economies including Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, among others. –Patrick