Oil & Gas Opec stands by predictions for oil demand growth Opec predicts robust fuel use this summer and has stuck to last month’s forecast of relatively strong growth in oil demand in 2024 and 2025. The oil producers’ organisation predicted in its monthly report that global demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 and by 1.85 million bpd in 2025. […] April 12, 2024
Employment Employment among Saudi citizens rises above 50% mark The participation rate of Saudi citizens in the labour market increased to 52.5 percent in Q3 from 49.8 percent in the same period last year, figures from the General Authority for Statistics showed. The overall unemployment rate – which includes citizens and non-Saudi residents – remained unchanged at 5.8 percent, the data released on Thursday showed. Unemployment […] December 29, 2022
Abu Dhabi Borouge’s $2 billion IPO set to be ADX’s biggest Abu Dhabi-based petrochemicals company Borouge raised more than $2 billion on Tuesday after demand for its initial public offering topped $83.4 billion. The shares are due to start trading on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Friday under the symbol BOROUGE, the largest listing to date on the exchange which has seen a string […] May 31, 2022
Israel and UAE ink bumper trade deal Israel and the United Arab Emirates will sign a free trade agreement in Dubai on Tuesday in a move aimed at boosting trade between the two countries, Israel's Economy Ministry said on Monday May 30, 2022
Banking & Finance Oman’s wealth fund considers IPO for water company Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), is considering a public share sale for water company Majis Industrial Services. The OIA has invited banks to pitch for roles in Majis’s initial public offering, said two sources, declining to be named. The OIA and Majis did not respond to Reuters’s requests for comment. The […] May 23, 2022
Tourism growth stokes hopes of economic recovery The number of foreigners arriving in Turkey last month more than tripled from a year earlier, reinforcing expectations that a rebound in the sector will help repair an economy battered by a weak currency and high inflation. Sector representatives expect tourist numbers this year to return to around 2019 levels, leaving the 2020-21 coronavirus slump […] May 23, 2022
Banking & Finance Ruler dissolves Dubai World financial disputes tribunal Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said today he had issued a decree dissolving a tribunal hearing disputes related to Dubai World,the state conglomerate that was at the centre of Dubai’s debt crisis more than a decade ago. Dubai World, which restructured $23.5 billion in debt after the global financial crisis, said in […] May 20, 2022
Tech Timeline: Elon Musk hits pause on Twitter deal Elon Musk on Friday put his $44-billion Twitter offer on temporary hold, sending the shares of the social media company into a tailspin. And on Saturday, Musk tweeted that the Twitter legal team told him he violated a nondisclosure agreement by revealing that the sample size for the social media platform’s checks on automated users […] May 16, 2022
Aviation First commercial flight takes off from Yemen Yemen’s national airline operated its first commercial flight in years from the capital Sanaa today, raising hopes for renewal of a United Nations-brokered truce in the seven-year-old conflict that has pitted a Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-aligned Houthis and put Middle East security in peril. Water canons sprayed Sanaa airport’s runway as an airplane of […] May 16, 2022
People & Lifestyle Biden sends all-star team to UAE to repair frayed ties President Joe Biden is sending an all-star US delegation to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to offer condolences after the death of its ruler, in an apparent bid to step up efforts to repair frayed ties with Gulf Arab allies. Washington’s desire to improve ties with Gulf monarchies has gained renewed urgency following Russia’s […] May 16, 2022
A modernising leader who moved UAE closer to US Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who died today, was a pro-Western moderniser whose low-key approach helped steer the United Arab Emirates through a tense era in regional politics by aligning the Gulf oil producer with Washington and its allies, including Israel. Khalifa, who was born in 1948, had been ruler of the richest emirate, Abu […] May 13, 2022
Aviation Air travellers ‘still risk Covid infection,’ study warns Passengers are still at risk of coronavirus infection while travelling on aeroplanes and in airports, researchers have warned. A study in the Journal of Travel Medicine reported that two Covid-positive passengers infected 15 other people during a 10-hour flight from Dubai to Australia in July 2020 – despite mandatory face masks for passengers, the use […] May 10, 2022
Qatar’s emir to visit Iran and Europe to aid Iran nuclear pact Qatar’s emir will visit Iran, Germany, Britain and other European states starting this week on a trip expected to discuss efforts to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal and energy security in Europe, a source briefed on the visit said on Sunday. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, ruler of one of the world’s top natural […] May 9, 2022
Retail Mashreq puts $10m into Cashew, buy now, pay later start-up United Arab Emirates buy now, pay later platform Cashew announced on Monday it had secured up to $10 million in debt and equity financing from local lender Mashreqbank PSC which would now help it expand faster. The deal is the latest investment in the Gulf’s growing buy now, pay later sector that has drawn interest […] May 9, 2022
Growth in Saudi non-oil private sector still robust in April Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued to see robust growth in April, albeit at a slower pace than in March as fears over inflation began to weigh on demand, a survey showed on Monday. The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the whole economy fell to 55.7 in April […] May 9, 2022
