Finance EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […] April 28, 2024
Analysis Finance More GCC insurance mergers likely after flooding impact Consolidation in the GCC’s insurance sector – already underway because of rising competition and stricter regulations on solvency capital requirements – could be accelerated by the impact of the flooding in the region last week. Ratings agency S&P Global said this week that many insurance companies – mainly in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia […] April 25, 2024
Real Estate UAE puts up 2 billion dirhams to pay for flood-damaged homes The UAE has pledged AED2 billion ($545 million) to help rebuild homes of citizens that were damaged in this month’s floods. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai, said on X (formerly Twitter) that the UAE’s cabinet of ministers had also formed a committee to assess the flood […] April 24, 2024
Analysis Finance UAE insurers face ‘very severe’ impact from floods UAE insurers have been “badly hit” following April’s freak rains, a veteran industry executive warned on Tuesday, but the scale of companies’ losses from the floods will depend on their own reinsurance cover. The UAE experienced its heaviest rains in 75 years last week. The downpour turned main roads, particularly in Dubai, into waterways, leaving […] April 24, 2024
Real Estate Emirates REIT in profit after revaluation gain Dubai’s Emirates REIT reported a 55 percent rise in annual profit after making a nine-figure revaluation gain on its property portfolio. A REIT – a real estate investment trust – is a company that owns income-producing assets related to real estate such as buildings, land and real estate securities. Through REITs investors can have fractional […] April 17, 2024
Logistics Volumes up at Saudi ports in spite of Red Sea attacks Container volumes at Saudi Arabia’s ports were up last month compared to March 2023 despite continuing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, data from the kingdom’s ports authority shows. The Saudi Ports Authority, known as Mawani, oversees 10 ports. These include facilities in Jeddah, Yanbu and Jazan on the country’s Red Sea coast, and […] April 11, 2024
Manufacturing Auto industry buoyant despite Turkey’s woes Production in Turkey’s auto industry is continuing to rebound after four years of falls, despite soaring interest rates dampening domestic demand and the country’s volatile currency making it tough for automakers to plan their activities. Turkey is the world’s 12th biggest automaker, the country’s government says. It made 242,000 vehicles in the first two months […] April 11, 2024
Analysis Economy Military’s role in economy muddies Egypt’s debt plan The military’s role in the Egyptian economy makes it unlikely the country will meet International Monetary Fund targets to increase tax revenue as a proportion of GDP, which could spell trouble for the hugely indebted nation. Egypt’s public external debt – money borrowed in foreign currencies – was $165 billion in September 2023, having more […] April 11, 2024
Economy Middle East exports to rebound as Red Sea fears ease Middle East goods export volumes, which include oil and gas, will expand 3.5 percent this year, the World Trade Organization predicts, adding that disruptions to Red Sea maritime trade are proving less severe than feared. The WTO’s Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, published on Wednesday, says this expected increase contrasts with a 1.6 percent […] April 11, 2024
Sustainability Spacecraft that spots Gulf gases wins extra funding A Bahraini-British project to develop a spacecraft that will monitor Gulf greenhouse gas emissions from space has been awarded a further £1.4 million ($1.8 million) grant by the UK Space Agency. The partnership between the Bahrain National Space Science Agency, YBA Kanoo Group in Manama, and the University of Leicester and Geospatial Insight of Birmingham […] April 10, 2024
Analysis Economy US rate cuts to ease Turkey’s debt and benefit exports For Turkey, long-anticipated US interest rate cuts could be more significant in terms of stimulating growth in its major export markets than easing the costs of servicing its spiralling foreign currency debt. Turks have faced a deepening cost of living crisis as veteran president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s unorthodox economic policies exacerbated a collapse in the […] April 9, 2024
Analysis Economy Lebanon needs more than US rate cuts to turn its economy around Probable US interest rate cuts could help Jordan and Morocco attract additional foreign investments as well as easing their already manageable loan repayment commitments, experts predict, but Lebanon’s financial problems remain so acute that a reduced debt burden will make little difference. US 10-year treasury yields – the most important determinant of government borrowing conditions […] April 9, 2024
Trade Finance platform aims at $2.5trn trade funding hole A blockchain-based platform that lets institutions and wealthy individuals provide finance to importers and exporters for returns of up to 9 percent a year could help fill a multi-trillion-dollar hole in international trade, it says. In trade finance, the involvement of third-party financial companies removes payment and supply risks for sellers and buyers respectively. Historically, […] April 8, 2024
Analysis Economy Egypt will still feel the heat despite US rate cuts Likely US interest rate cuts will lower Egypt’s interest repayment costs on its vast public debts. But this will do little to ease pressure on the country to sell national assets in order to reduce its overall borrowings. Egypt’s public external debt – money borrowed in foreign currencies – was $110 billion in 2022, having […] April 5, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Manufacturing Stellantis boss hails ‘massive untapped potential’ in Gulf Samir Cherfan tells AGBI about his plans to lift car sales across the GCC April 4, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance Reasons to be cheerful for UAE banks with Egyptian subsidiaries Despite the plunge in the value of the Egyptian pound, UAE banks’ subsidiaries in the country remain a strong long-term asset, analysts have told AGBI. Three Emirati banks – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Dubai’s Emirates NBD – have acquired Egyptian lenders. The pound-to-dollar exchange rate stood at about EGP31 at […] March 28, 2024
Analysis Markets Emerging market ETFs look light on Saudi engagement Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index are underexposed to Saudi Arabia but are more closely aligned to weightings of the other three Gulf countries included in the benchmark, an AGBI analysis shows. The inclusion of four Gulf countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index over the past decade has led to […] March 26, 2024
Analysis Markets Gulf weightings increase on MSCI Emerging Markets The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has increased the weightings of Gulf countries since their inclusion on the benchmark, as regulators loosened rules and companies ease foreign ownership restrictions to make it easier to invest. According to MSCI, more than $1.3 trillion in assets under management (AuM) was benchmarked against its emerging markets indexes as of […] March 21, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance Liquidity strain set to push Saudi banks to seek more funds Saudi Arabian banks’ loan books are set to expand faster than their deposits again in 2024, raising costs and pushing lenders to seek additional funding sources. However, the kingdom’s banks are expected to increase their annual profits this year as government-led infrastructure projects and likely cuts to benchmark interest rates boost margins for its two […] March 20, 2024
Analysis Trade Weakening dollar should strengthen Gulf exports The US dollar will fall against the euro and Chinese yuan, economists are forecasting, reducing the purchasing power of Gulf currencies but making the bloc’s exports more competitive. A weaker dollar will raise the relative cost of imports from China and much of the European Union, but other factors are more likely to affect inflation […] March 19, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance UAE banks struggling to match 2023’s record profits Banks in the UAE will struggle to repeat last year’s record annual profits in 2024, after the introduction of corporate tax, expected US interest rate cuts and the likely absence of the bumper one-off gains that bolstered their bottom line in 2023. However, a slight decline in profitability would still represent a strong performance by […] March 15, 2024
Banking & Finance Gulf wealth funds put investing in US well ahead of China Most sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf remain heavily invested in the US, while China represents a much smaller part of their portfolios, data from the consultancy Global SWF shows. The data also shows that the portfolios of Gulf sovereign wealth funds vary widely in terms of their geographical distribution. This is partly a result […] March 8, 2024
