Banking and Finance Turkey’s central bank holds interest rate at 9% Turkey’s central bank held interest rates at nine percent for a second straight month on Thursday, and analysts said it could return to easing in the run-up to May elections given inflation is expected to drift lower from 64 percent last month. The central bank (CBRT) said the inflation level and trend have improved due […] January 20, 2023
Economy Egypt’s soaring prices drive home economic pain In better times, Om Mohamed’s family used to take holidays at resorts on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. Now there is no money for vacations. Om Mohamed, 61, and her husband, who live with two grown-up sons in an apartment near the Cairo ringroad, are cutting back on items like meat as they try to get […] January 20, 2023
Aviation Airbus implements A350 design change amid Qatar Airways feud Airbus has carried out design changes to A350 passenger jets amid a $2 billion dispute with Qatar Airways over surface damage, which spilled over to a debate on security on Thursday. The two companies have been fighting in court for months over the safety impact of flaking paint that exposed corrosion or gaps in a […] January 20, 2023
Business of Sport How Saudi Arabia can monetise the Ronaldo effect Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al Nassr could lead to a financial windfall for his new club and Saudi Arabia, football finance expert Neil Joyce told Reuters, as the Portugal international gears up for his first game in the country since the deal was announced. Ronaldo was named captain of Riyadh ST XI — a team […] January 19, 2023
Economy IMF says China recovery could be ‘very quick’ China could see a sharp recovery in economic growth from the second quarter onwards based on current infection trends after the dismantling of most Covid-19 restrictions, IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath said. “We expect growth in China to come back, to rebound,” Gopinath told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. […] January 19, 2023
Lifestyle Jacinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand leader New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country and would step down no later than early February and not seek re-election. Ardern, holding back tears, said that it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and […] January 19, 2023
Energy Saudi Arabia says energy security hinges on geopolitical stability Geopolitical stability is “absolutely key” to global energy security, Saudi’s foreign minister told the World Economic Forum’s 2023 annual meeting in Davos. During a high-level panel titled “Keeping the Lights amid Geopolitical Fracture”, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, minister of foreign affairs, emphasised the need for near-term stability, especially in the world’s energy markets. […] January 19, 2023
Economy Israel public debt burden slides to 60.9% of GDP in 2022 Israel’s public debt fell in 2022 to 60.9 percent of gross domestic product from 68 percent in 2021, the finance ministry said, citing strong economic growth and a budget surplus. The ministry said economic growth of 6.3 percent and a decline of a billion shekels in government debt led to the large drop in the […] January 19, 2023
Banking and Finance First Abu Dhabi Bank raises $600m via unsecured bonds First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest lender in the UAE, sold $600 million in senior unsecured bonds maturing in 5-1/4 years, a bank document showed on Wednesday. FAB sold the bonds at a spread of 105 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries from initial guidance of around 130 bps over the same benchmark after […] January 19, 2023
Economy Saudi Arabia changing no-strings aid policy, says minister Saudi Arabia’s finance minister has said the kingdom is changing the way it provides assistance to allies, shifting from previously giving direct grants and deposits unconditionally. The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter and an Arab powerhouse, was encouraging countries in the region to enact economic reforms, Mohammed Al-Jadaan said at the World Economic Forum […] January 19, 2023
Economy Egypt sees high demand from investors after currency drop Egypt is seeing good investor appetite for stakes in its state-owned enterprises, the country’s planning minister said, as the government pursues partial privatisations to drum up funds after a sharp fall in the value of its currency. Egypt, faced with a currency crunch exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, recently started a $3 billion International […] January 19, 2023
Sustainability BlackRock US inflows dwarf $4bn lost in ESG backlash BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, lost around $4 billion in assets under management as a result of a political backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in the United States, its chief executive said. Republican-run Florida, Louisiana and Missouri have all said they plan to pull investment mandates from the company, citing concerns […] January 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Scaramucci’s SkyBridge expects bitcoin at $35,000 this year SkyBridge Capital is betting on a sustained turnaround in cryptocurrency markets in 2023, the firm’s founder Anthony Scaramucci said, while admitting this view was “overly bullish”. “If bitcoin could trade back to $35,000, SkyBridge is going to have an amazing year,” Scaramucci told the Reuters Global Markets Forum in Davos, Switzerland. January’s crypto rally could be sustained as […] January 18, 2023
Real Estate Russians continue to splurge on real estate in Turkey Turkish home sales fell 8.2 percent year-on-year in December to 207,963 houses, with sales to foreigners dropping 18.6 percent, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed. Russians topped the list of foreigners with 2,403 houses purchased in December, reflecting how many have sought a financial haven in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and […] January 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Tesla and Musk face trial over 2018 tweets on ‘secured’ funding Elon Musk and Tesla Inc are set to go to trial in San Francisco in a case where the company’s shareholders claim they were defrauded by Musk’s 2018 statement that funding was “secured” to take the electric car maker private. The lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who bought or sold Tesla stock in the days […] January 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkish firm acquires Whirlpool’s Middle East and Africa business US home appliances maker Whirlpool is folding its European business into a new company controlled by Turkish rival Arcelik, reducing its exposure to a market where it had warned attractive profit margins could be some way off. Whirlpool also said it had agreed to sell its Middle Eastern and African businesses to Arcelik, which the […] January 18, 2023
Business of Sport Qatar and Abu Dhabi to host F1 races in October and November Formula One will have 23 races this season, still a record and one more than last year, with the sport facing a four-week gap in April after deciding not to replace the cancelled Chinese Grand Prix. The race in Shanghai, originally scheduled for April 16 as the fourth of 24 rounds, was axed last month […] January 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Israel worried looser fiscal policy could stop inflation from easing Bank of Israel policymakers expressed concern that the new government will boost spending too much and harm its ability to return inflation to its one to three percent annual target. Minutes from the January 2 rates decision showed that the monetary policy committee was mostly upbeat that price pressures were starting to ease, saying some […] January 17, 2023
Economy WEF says global recession and high inflation likely in 2023 Two-thirds of private and public sector chief economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) expect a global recession in 2023, the Davos-organiser said on Monday as business and government leaders gathered for its annual meeting. Some 18 percent considered a world recession “extremely likely” – more than twice as many as in the previous survey conducted in September […] January 17, 2023
Tech Renault and Geely look to bring Saudi Aramco into engine venture Renault SA and China’s Geely Automobile Holdings are working to finalise a deal to bring Saudi Arabian state oil producer Aramco in as an investor and partner to develop and supply gasoline engines and hybrid technologies, three people with knowledge of the talks said. The Saudi oil producer has been involved in advanced discussions to […] January 17, 2023
Logistics DP World predicts freight rates to fall up to 20% on slower demand DP World expects freight rates to drop by a further 15 to 20 percent in 2023, with the worst still to come as demand slows, the Dubai-based global logistics company’s deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan told Reuters. Narayan said the first signs of a significant drop in demand were visible and […] January 17, 2023
Banking and Finance Manchester United set up shop with luxury lounge in Swiss Alps Manchester United set out a dazzling Davos shop front this week, but insisted its lounge was to entertain clients and partners rather than to attract buyers for the English soccer club. United said in November it was looking at options to either get new investment or explore a potential sale, 17 years after the Glazer […] January 17, 2023