Rising food prices sees UK inflation hit new 40-year high Soaring food prices pushed British consumer price inflation to a new 40-year high last month of 9.1 percent, the highest rate out of the Group of Seven countries and underlining the severity of the cost-of-living crunch. The reading, up from 9.0 percent in April, matched the consensus of a Reuters poll of economists. Historical records […] June 22, 2022
Egypt approves 2022-23 budget, expenditure to rise 15% Egypt’s parliament on Tuesday approved the state budget for the financial year that begins on July 1, with expenditure rising by 15 percent and the deficit by 14.5 percent. The budget reflects the government’s desire to continue Egypt’s development and improve the lives of its citizens despite recent economic shocks, Minister of Finance Mohamed al-Maait […] June 22, 2022
Jordan hopes for $3bn in deals from Saudi crown prince visit Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday amid a thaw in relations after years of tension due to divergent views on regional conflicts and unfulfilled pledges of aid. The first visit to Jordan in years by the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia comes at a time, officials say, […] June 22, 2022
Saudi crown prince to meet Erdogan to help repair relations Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Turkey for the first time in years on Wednesday for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan aimed at fully normalising ties that were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In April, Erdogan went to Saudi Arabia after a months-long drive to mend relations between the regional […] June 22, 2022
Britain launches free trade talks with Gulf countries Britain on Wednesday will launch talks over a new free trade deal with six Gulf states, the trade ministry said, in the latest set of negotiations aimed at increasing non-EU ties after Brexit. Trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will visit Riyadh to begin discussions with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is made up of Bahrain, […] June 22, 2022
Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund eyes McLaren IPO within 3 years Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, which has a 60 percent stake in McLaren, expects the British racing team and supercar maker to go public in two to three years, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. “The racing team has benefited from the growth and viewership so that side of the business has been doing […] June 22, 2022
Opinion New savings scheme could halt spend now, worry later culture Mindsets need to change if retirees are to enjoy their later years June 22, 2022
Kuwait’s $700bn fund says global markets will ‘go down further’ Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is waiting for a further expected decline in global markets before deploying investments and believes that will be before the end of the year, Managing Director Ghanem Al-Ghenaiman said on Tuesday. Ghenaiman, speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum organised by Bloomberg, said he believes markets will “go down further from here”. […] June 21, 2022
Retail Qatari fund sells half its stake in Spanish retailer El Corte Ingles Privately owned Spanish department store chain El Corte Ingles said on Tuesday it bought back half of the stake Qatari fund Primefin held in the company. Primefin, an investment vehicle of Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani, the former Prime Minister of Qatar, will keep a 5.53 percent stake in Corte Ingles, while […] June 21, 2022
Egypt, Saudi Arabia sign 14 deals worth $7.7bn Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed 14 agreements valued at $7.7 billion during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones said in a statement on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia has provided billions of dollars in financial support since Egypt’s President […] June 21, 2022
Tourism Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh reels from Ukrainian, Russian exodus On Sharm el-Sheikh’s sandy beaches many of the sun loungers lie empty. At a central promenade packed with shops, cafes and nightclubs, crowds are thinner than usual. The resort on the southern tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is reeling from the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has seen Ukrainians and Russians – previously […] June 21, 2022
Turkey proposes $57bn extra budget to tackle rising costs Turkey’s government has submitted a proposal to parliament for a supplementary budget of some 1 trillion lira ($57.74 billion) to cover rising costs of tackling a currency slide, soaring energy prices and rampant inflation, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Monday. Sources had told Reuters this month that Ankara was mulling pushing a supplemetary […] June 21, 2022
Manufacturing Israel unveils plans for ‘Middle East Air Defence Alliance’ Israel is building a US-sponsored regional air defence alliance, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, adding that the apparatus has already foiled attempted Iranian attacks and could be boosted by President Joe Biden’s visit next month. Drawing closer in recent years to US-aligned Arab states which share its Iran concerns, Israel has offered them […] June 21, 2022
Tourism Airlines upbeat on recovery but labour shortages may hurt growth Global airlines battered by COVID-19 seem confident of narrowing their losses but still face challenges such as labour shortages at airports which could restrict post-crisis growth, industry executives at a summit in Doha said. Recent flight delays and cancellations have been widely blamed on a lack of staff as an increasing number of people desert […] June 21, 2022
UAE to build port in Sudan as part of $6bn investment package The United Arab Emirates will build a new Red Sea port in Sudan, as part of a $6 billion investment package, said DAL group chairman Osama Daoud Abdellatif, a partner in the deal which marks the first major foreign investment since the military took power in an October coup. Abdellatif said the package includes a […] June 21, 2022
Retail Danone trims product range as shoppers balk at high prices French food giant Danone is cutting the variety of products it sells to retailers to cut costs, a top executive told Reuters, meaning yoghurt fans may in future miss out on the exact flavour or pot-size they’re used to. Supermarkets and the makers of packaged food are struggling to combat rising costs, with products ranging […] June 20, 2022
Lifestyle Emmanuel Macron learns the art of compromise the hard way Jupiter has lost his thunder. Emmanuel Macron, whose first presidential mandate was marked by a top-down government style he compared to that of the almighty Roman god, will have to learn the art of consensus-building in the second. Deprived of an absolute majority by voters on Sunday, the French president can no longer count on […] June 20, 2022
Markets Saudi stock market sees biggest fall since November 2021 Stock markets in the Gulf registered steep losses on Sunday, as investors worried that tighter monetary policy by inflation-fighting central banks could damage economic growth. On Wednesday, the US central bank approved its biggest interest rate hike since 1994, lifting the target federal funds rate by 75 basis points to a range of between 1.5 […] June 20, 2022
Tunisian party will not accept terms of $4bn IMF loan One of Tunisia’s main political parties, the Constitutional Free Party, said on Sunday it would not recognise any agreement that Tunis makes with international lenders in exchange for unpopular reforms, the latest threat to a possible deal with the International Monetary Fund. The director of the Middle East at the IMF, Jihad Azour, will visit […] June 20, 2022
Top US Treasury official to visit Turkey for talks US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo will visit Turkey next week and hold talks with top central bank and finance ministry officials, two sources said on Friday. One person, requesting anonymity because plans are still private, told Reuters that Adeyemo will meet both Finance Minister Nuredden Nebati and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu. A central […] June 17, 2022
Energy Italy may declare state of alert on gas next week Italy may declare the state of alert on gas next week if Russia continues to curb its gas supplies to Rome, two government sources said on Friday. Italy’s existing gas emergency protocol envisages three stages going from a state of pre-alert, imposed at the end of February after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, before moving […] June 17, 2022
Ukraine receives first funds through IMF account Ukraine has received a loan of one billion Canadian dollars ($770 million) on concessional terms, its first funds through an “administered account” set up by the International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Friday. “Grateful to…(Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland) for support & comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the fight against the […] June 17, 2022
