<description>With the Iran War underway, the United Arab Emirates is looking for some economic certainty. The rich Arab nation is home to a lot of foreign-held deposits, and they’re worried investors will pull those funds. So, they’re looking for an economic backstop. Enter: currency swap lines. Today, we explain why the UAE is looking to its close ally, the U.S., for a currency swap line and how it would work.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The Indicator has a weekly newsletter! Be among the first to sign up now: &lt;a href="http://npr.org/newsletter/indicator"target="_blank" &gt;npr.org/indicatornewsletter&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Related episodes: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/13/nx-s1-5607023/where-the-us-got-20b-to-bail-out-argentina"target="_blank" &gt;Where the US got $20B to bail out Argentina&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5609382/argentina-loan-bessent-treasury-bailout"target="_blank" &gt;Scott Bessent’s $20 billion dollar gamble on Argentina&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;plus.npr.org&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Fact-checking by &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;Sierra Juarez&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Music by &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;Drop Electric&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. Find us: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;TikTok&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;Instagram&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;Facebook&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://npr.org/indicatornewsletter"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;em&gt;Newsletter&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. &lt;/em&gt; &lt;br&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy"&gt;NPR Privacy Policy&lt;/a&gt;</description>

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

The UAE wants a dollar lifeline

APR 30, 20268 MIN
The Indicator from Planet Money

The UAE wants a dollar lifeline

APR 30, 20268 MIN

Description

With the Iran War underway, the United Arab Emirates is looking for some economic certainty. The rich Arab nation is home to a lot of foreign-held deposits, and they’re worried investors will pull those funds. So, they’re looking for an economic backstop. Enter: currency swap lines. Today, we explain why the UAE is looking to its close ally, the U.S., for a currency swap line and how it would work.The Indicator has a weekly newsletter! Be among the first to sign up now: npr.org/indicatornewsletter Related episodes: Where the US got $20B to bail out ArgentinaScott Bessent’s $20 billion dollar gamble on ArgentinaFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy