Finance Egypt’s Abdel El Sisi wins third term as president Abdel Fattah El Sisi swept to a third term as Egypt’s president in an election where he faced no serious challengers. Monday’s election, in which he took 89.6 percent of the vote according to the National Election Authority, was held as Egypt struggles with a slow-burning economic crisis and tries to manage the risk of spillover from the […] December 19, 2023
Finance Sanjay Shah lands in Denmark after UAE extradition A British hedge fund trader arrived in Denmark on Wednesday following extradition from the UAE to stand trial over allegations he submitted fraudulent applications for $1.8 billion in dividend tax refunds. Sanjay Shah was arrested by Dubai police last year following a request by Danish authorities to extradite him over his alleged involvement in so-called […] December 7, 2023
Energy Total CEO backs renewables to phase out fossil fuels TotalEnergies’s CEO gave his backing to an international pledge to triple renewable energy generation at the Cop28 climate summit, calling it necessary to phase out fossil fuels and decarbonise. “It’s the right way to frame the object, tripling renewables, because if we don’t do that, there’s no way to phase out fossil energy,” Patrick Pouyanne […] December 7, 2023
Finance Sovereign funds struggle to channel trillions into climate finance Sovereign wealth funds that control nearly $12 trillion in assets are unlikely to quickly dismantle the hurdles in the way of urgently needed increases to their climate investments, even as Cop28 talks seek to close the funding gap. Funds such as those of Norway and the UAE Cop28 host, face obstacles including mandates that require […] December 7, 2023
Finance Erdogan visits Greece in bid to restart bilateral relations Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrives in Athens on Thursday with a delegation of ministers for meetings with Greek counterparts that both countries hope can turn a new page in relations after years of tensions. Greece and Turkey, neighbours and Nato allies, have been at odds for decades over issues including where their continental shelves start […] December 7, 2023
Finance Turkey’s total reserves reach record high of $140bn The Turkish central bank’s total reserves have jumped to a record level exceeding $140 billion, five bankers’ calculations showed on Tuesday, sustaining an uptrend after it adopted more orthodox policies following May elections. The rising reserves, alongside 3,150 basis points in interest rate hikes since June, have marked a departure from years of unorthodox and […] December 6, 2023
Finance Qatar to sell $644m worth of shares in Barclays Qatar Holding is looking to sell around £510 million ($643.72 million) of shares in Barclays, one of the banks acting on the deal said on Monday, cutting back on its crisis-era investment in the British bank. The deal is set to price at 141 pence per share, or a discount of about 1.4 percent to […] December 5, 2023
Finance Currency and inflation in focus ahead of Egypt polls In the run-up to Egypt’s December 10-12 presidential election, financially strapped people queue at state-managed cooperatives trying to buy scarce rations of subsidised sugar. It is the latest sign of economic pressures that have risen sharply since early last year, leaving Egyptians grappling with soaring prices and an unresolved foreign currency crunch, and overshadowing pledges […] December 5, 2023
Energy Vladimir Putin to visit UAE and Saudi Arabia this week Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia this week, Russian news outlet Shot reported on Monday, citing Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov. The reported visit comes after the Opec+ group of oil producers, which includes all three countries, agreed last Thursday to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels a day […] December 5, 2023
Energy Lula says Brazil will never be a full member of Opec+ Brazil will never join the Opec+ group of oil-producing nations as a full member and instead only seeks to participate as an observer, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday. Lula’s remarks to reporters at the UN Cop28 climate summit in Dubai clarified his statements a day earlier that Brazil would “participate” […] December 4, 2023
Oil & Gas Saudi plans first Asia Arab Light price cut in seven months Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may trim the price for its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia for the first time in seven months, despite an extension of its voluntary supply cut, as the market deals with ample supply and tepid demand. State oil giant Saudi Aramco may cut the January official selling price (OSP) […] December 3, 2023
Energy Exxon Mobil hits back at IEA carbon capture criticism Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods on Saturday rejected the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recent claim that using wide-scale carbon capture to fight climate change was an implausible “illusion,” saying the same could be said about electric vehicles and solar energy. “There is no solution set out there today that is at the scale to solve […] December 3, 2023
Finance Saudi Arabia studies battery materials trading platform Saudi Arabia is exploring the potential launch of a new commodity trading platform for battery materials, including graphite and rare earths, its vice minister of industry and mineral resources said. Riyadh’s efforts to build an economy that is not dependent on oil include a shift towards mining the country’s untapped mineral resources – worth about […] December 1, 2023
Transport Emirates urges Rolls-Royce to go ‘back to basics’ The head of Dubai’s Emirates has urged Rolls-Royce to go “back to basics” and focus on the performance of its engines, a day after the British firm laid out plans to quadruple profits. Shares in the engine maker rose after CEO Tufan Erginbilgic unveiled a strategy on Tuesday to revive its fortunes including a sharp […] November 30, 2023
Sustainability US and China to collaborate for the success of Cop28 The United States will work with China to make the United Nations climate negotiations that begin in the UAE this week a success, Washington’s climate envoy said on Wednesday. Cooperation between the US and China, the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, is seen as crucial to securing consensus at the November 30-December 12 […] November 30, 2023
Finance Turkey says interest rate hikes ‘cooled’ inflation Turkey’s interest rate hikes have helped lower inflation expectations and improved visibility on prices, attracting Western fund inflows that have boosted depleted FX reserves, central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan said on Wednesday. Interest in Turkish lira deposit accounts and assets has increased since June, Erkan told the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, after years of […] November 30, 2023
Finance Turkey’s total reserves hit record high $137bn The Turkish central bank’s total reserves rose $2 billion last week to a record of $136.5 billion, five bankers’ calculations showed on Tuesday, sustaining an uptrend after it adopted more orthodox monetary policy since June. The central bank has raised interest rates by 3,150 basis points since June, when President Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall […] November 29, 2023
Finance European fund Amundi dips toe back into Turkey’s lira Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager and among the top 10 in the world, has started dipping its toe back into the Turkish lira having been impressed by the country’s turnaround efforts since its mid-year elections. The Paris-based firm, which has $2 trillion worth of assets under management, is yet to go all in given the […] November 29, 2023
Oil & Gas Libya’s state oil firm needs $17bn to increase output Libya’s state oil firm, the National Oil Corporation (NOC), needs a budget of $17 billion to increase national oil output to 2 million barrels per day in three to five years, its chairman, Farhat Bengdara said in an interview. Bengdara told Alwasat TV on Sunday that there were no obstacles to increase the output but […] November 28, 2023
Business of Sport Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi GP Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen wrapped up Formula One’s most dominant season with a record-extending 19th win in 22 races at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. The pole-to-flag victory, for the fourth year in a row under the Yas Marina floodlights, left the 26-year-old alone in third place in Formula […] November 27, 2023
Transport Turkish Airlines low-cost carrier to launch flights in 2024 Turkish Airlines said on Friday its budget carrier AnadoluJet will begin operating next year under the name of AJet and compete in the global low-cost aviation industry. AnadoluJet will conduct its operations under the name “AJet Air Transportation Inc” as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, starting at the end of March 2024, it said […] November 27, 2023
Transport Over 100 nations agree to 5% lower emissions by 2030 A meeting of more than 100 countries on Friday agreed to an interim goal for emissions reductions from global aviation by 2030 by using less-polluting fuels, but China, Russia and some others aired concerns about the impact on their economies. The goal, which came after five days of UN-led talks in Dubai, called for five […] November 26, 2023
