Energy Oil will cushion Middle East from economic impact of Ukraine war The war in Ukraine will sharply reduce economic growth in the Central Asian region in 2022, but higher oil prices will partly cushion the blow for the Middle East and North Africa, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. Both regions, however, will feel the impact of surging commodity prices, the IMF said, warning higher […] April 29, 2022
Real Estate Turks “bewildered” as rents outpace rampant inflation Undeterred by industry figures showing rents in Istanbul have doubled inside a year, yoga instructor Ceren Tabak was fully prepared to spend most of her salary on housing costs when she decided last month to look for a home of her own. But she says real estate agents laughed when she quoted them the 6,000 […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Lebanese central banker says ready to answer Swiss questions Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh is ready to meet Swiss prosecutors in person to answer questions about their money-laundering investigation, he said in a television interview. Salameh is facing investigations in Lebanon and five European countries into the alleged embezzlement of some $330 million in public funds with the help of his brother, Raja, […] April 29, 2022
Tourism Visitors to Turkey jump 130% in March The number of foreign visitors arriving in Turkey jumped 129.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.08 million in March, data showed on Friday, as the sector continued to recover from the impact of measures to combat the spread of coronavirus since 2020. The arrivals compared with a level of 718,097 foreign visitors in March […] April 29, 2022
Tourism Airbus wins backing for 2024 jet output European planemaker Airbus looks set to raise narrowbody jetliner production for 2024 after reaching a compromise deal with at least two suppliers following months of wrangling over the speed of post-pandemic recovery. The world’s largest planemaker is restoring and slightly expanding pre-pandemic output for best-selling models as traffic rebounds in the West, but has been […] April 29, 2022
Tourism China’s airlines post heavy losses on coronavirus curbs China’s three biggest airlines have reported heavy first-quarter losses as prolonged coronavirus curbs weighed on travel demand and a weakening Chinese currency and rising fuel prices inflated costs, trends which persist in the current quarter. Analysts expect another year in the red for Chinese airlines as Beijing sticks with its zero-coronavirus policy to stop the […] April 29, 2022
Tourism Hong Kong eases coronavirus rules for aircrews Hong Kong will shorten mandatory hotel quarantine for passenger flight crews to three days from seven, while cargo crews will be exempt, modest steps at unwinding coronavirus curbs that have turned the city into one of the world’s most isolated places. The changes, which take effect in May, give the global financial hub’s aviation trade […] April 29, 2022
Energy Repsol’s profit doubles on high oil and gas prices Spain’s Repsol posted a first-quarter profit upswing on Thursday, bolstered by higher oil and gas prices and recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Commodities prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, sending further shockwaves through markets already reeling from last year’s collision between tight supplies and high demand in economies reopening after coronavirus lockdowns. Adjusted […] April 29, 2022
Real Estate In north Syria, business hub hopes to drive recovery In an industrial zone in northern Syria’s rebel-held city of Al-Bab, Abu Omaral-Shihabi’s smelter churns out iron bars he says can compete with any produced in Syria and beyond. The industrial zone is an unlikely business hub. It is located on the edge of a city which was once occupied by Islamic State and now […] April 29, 2022
Energy Volkswagen and BP consider e-car charging alliance in new regions Europe’s top carmaker Volkswagen and BP are planning to deepen their electric charging partnership and could expand it to other regions and technologies, the CEOs of both companies said on Thursday. “There are so many more areas where we are complementary,” Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Duesseldorf […] April 29, 2022
Energy Ecuador Energy Minister resigns, as country starts talk over new oil contracts Ecuador’s Energy Minister Juan Carlos Bermeo resigned on Thursday, saying he had “completed a cycle,” just as the country begins the process of renegotiating oil block contracts with private companies. Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso appointed Bermeo as minister of energy and non-renewable natural resources in June last year, charging him with the mission to build […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Orsted defies Russia, refuses to open roubles account for gas payments Denmark’s Orsted has no intention of opening a rouble account in Russia to accommodate Moscow’s demand for gas payments in the Russian currency, the energy firm’s CEO said on Friday. Orsted sold its oil and gas assets in 2017 to focus on offshore wind energy but retains a long-term gas deal with Russia’s Gazprom which […] April 29, 2022
Energy Germany: Gazprombank accounts do not breach Russia oil sanctions European energy firms can open special accounts with Gazprombank to pay for Russian gas, a key demand by Moscow, without breaching sanctions if transferring euros or dollars to them fulfils their contractual obligations, the German Economy Ministry said. Russia cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland this week for failing to pay in roubles, raising […] April 29, 2022
Real Estate Qatar Holding launches tender bid on Italy’s Coima Res Evergreen, controlled by Qatar Holding, said on Thursday it had launched a voluntary tender and exchange offer on the whole share capital of real estate company Coima Res at 10 euros ($10.50) per share. The offer, which aims at clinching acceptances equal to at least 95% of Coima Res and delisting the Italian company, comes […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance UAE freezes assets of Kinahan drug trafficking gang The United Arab Emirates has frozen the assets of Ireland’s Kinahan drug trafficking gang, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The United States, which earlier this month offered a $5 million reward for help arresting the leaders of the gang, has likened it to some of the world’s most notorious crime networks. Daniel Kinahan, one […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Guterres urges unconditional funds for Afghanistan aid UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan had “deteriorated alarmingly” and urged donors toprovide “unconditional and flexible funding” towards its $4.4 billion appeal for aid. Opening a high-level pledging conference, he said the Afghan economy had all but collapsed since the Taliban takeover in August and nine million Afghans […] April 29, 2022
Media & Advertising Trump finally posts on Truth Social: “I’M BACK!” Former US president Donald Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social late Thursday for the first time since the app he founded launched two months ago, saying “I’M BACK!” Trump broke his silence as Elon Musk sealed a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, which last year permanently banned Trump citing a risk of […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Sterling set for biggest drop in six years against dollar Sterling rose against the dollar on Friday but was still set for its sharpest monthly drop since October 2016, while edging higher against the euro. The dollar dropped from its recent 20-year high while still on track for its best month since 2015, bolstered by a combination of expectations for US rate hikes and growth […] April 29, 2022
Angry Credit Suisse shareholders reject 2020 discharge Credit Suisse shareholders on Friday rejected by a wide margin the board’s proposal to provide the beleaguered Swiss bank’s management a discharge from liabilities for the 2020 financial year, as investor ire over a slew of costly missteps grows. The board’s proposal to provide managers a legal discharge for 2020 — a sign of backing, […] April 29, 2022
Media & Advertising Musk told banks he will rein in Twitter pay Elon Musk told banks that agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc that he could crack down on executive and board pay at the social media company in a push to slash costs, and would develop new ways to monetize tweets, three people familiar with the matter said. Musk made the […] April 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Egypt seeks private sector participation in state-owned assets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the government to set a program for the private sector’s participation in state-owned assets, with a target of $10 billion annually for four years, state TV quoted him as saying on Tuesday. The broadcaster did not mention any other details about the method of participation. The Egyptian president also […] April 29, 2022
Turkish central bank nearly doubles inflation forecast Turkey’s annual inflation will peak at around 70 percent by June before declining to near 43 percent by year-end, the central bank has forecast. The central bank slashed its policy rate by 500 basis points to 14 percent last year as part of President Tayyip Erdogan’s new economic plan. The cuts sparked a currency crisis […] April 29, 2022