Oil Billionaires Must Bridge Gulf ; Middle East Oil and Religion Are the Pressures Which Drive the Politics and Economics of the Middle East. But As the Oilmen Get Richer, Millions Across the Arab World Are Suffering. Alistair Lyon Investigates

Birmingham Post › April 04, 2008

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Summary

While Gulf Arab oil producers reap windfall earnings, their poorer cousins elsewhere in the Arab world are struggling with soaring energy and food bills.

Inflation has surged in Gulf countries, fuelled partly by lavish spending of record oil and gas revenues. This is also spurring demand for everything from housing to power and water.

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Extract

Oil Billionaires Must Bridge Gulf ; Middle East Oil and Religion Are the Pressures Which Drive the Politics and Economics of the Middle East. But As the Oilmen Get Richer, Millions Across the Arab World Are Suffering. Alistair Lyon Investigates

Gulf states with currencies pegged to the dollar have also been hit by the global weakness of the US currency, which is driving inflation by making some imports more expensive.

But wrestling with rising prices is a grimmer business in Arab capitals not cushioned by oil wealth. From Cairo in ...

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