Banking and Finance Iraq currency fall linked to black market dealings Iraq’s currency has fallen against the US dollar because some traders are sourcing hard currency in the black market instead of using the central bank’s official exchange platform, central bank governor Ali Al Allaq told Iraqi state media on Wednesday. Al Allaq said that some merchants were not using the platform because they were engaged […] July 27, 2023
Banking and Finance Mashreq’s Q2 2023 net profit rises 140% to $520m Mashreq reported a net profit of AED1.91 billion ($520.03 million) in the second quarter of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 140 percent, as operating income rose by 60 percent across all business units. Total operating income reached AED2.61 billion in the first six months of 2023 from AED1.695 billion a year earlier. Net profit for […] July 27, 2023
Banking and Finance Gulf central banks follow US Fed by lifting key rates Most GCC central banks have increased their interest rates in line with the US Federal Reserve decision to hike rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The Fed raised its rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, the highest US central bank policy rate in 16 years due to elevated inflation. The central […] July 27, 2023
Banking and Finance Gulf investor may buy stake in Egyptian fertiliser firm Egypt is planning to sell a stake in state-owned El-Nasr Fertilizers and Chemical Industries Company (Semadco) to a strategic investor from the GCC and foreign funds, a local media reported. The Holding Company for Chemical Industries, which owns Semadco, is currently determining the fair value of the share, which is expected to be completed within […] July 26, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkey raises credit card interest to tame inflation The Turkish central bank on Tuesday detailed moves it was taking to support monetary tightening, including raising the monthly maximum interest rate on credit card cash usage and overdraft accounts to 2.89 percent. It said the increase in the rate, from a previous 1.91 percent, was designed to control inflation and balance domestic demand. The […] July 26, 2023
Banking and Finance Egypt offers dollar deposits to ease currency crunch Egypt’s two biggest state banks on Tuesday issued US dollar-denominated certificates of deposit with high returns, in what appears to be the country’s latest attempt to lure dollars away from the black market and back into the financial system. The North African nation is grappling with a shortage of hard currency, with the Egyptian pound […] July 26, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi National Bank’s Q2 2023 profit up 9% to $1.3bn The net profit of Saudi National Bank (SNB) grew 9.3 percent year on year to SAR5 billion ($1.33 billion) in the second quarter of 2023 on rising operating income and a decline in bad loan provisions. Provisions for credit losses dropped 87 percent year on year in the second quarter to SAR76 million, as total […] July 26, 2023
Banking and Finance Moody’s opts to keep Iraq on lowly sovereign rating An influential ratings agency has decided to keep Iraq on one of its lowest sovereign ratings, despite the country’s strong oil exports and recovering foreign exchange reserves. Moody’s Investor Services said in an annual review released last week that corruption and weak institutions prompted it to maintain Iraq on a Caa1 rating, which is on […] July 25, 2023
Banking and Finance Value of claims at DIFC Courts surges 692% in H1 2023 The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts said the value of cases across all divisions recorded a 692 percent year on year rise to AED15 billion ($4.08 billion) across 455 cases filed in the first half of 2023. A total of 52 cases valued at AED14.9 billion were filed in the main Court of First […] July 25, 2023
Banking and Finance China state banks sell US dollars to prop up yuan China’s major state-owned banks were seen selling US dollars to buy yuan in both onshore and offshore spot markets in early Asian trade on Tuesday. Insiders with direct knowledge of the matter said the sell-off was aimed at supporting the Chinese currency. China’s state banks usually trade on behalf of the central bank in the […] July 25, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi’s Rawabi Energy to use $1.9bn funding for expansion Saudi Arabia’s Rawabi Energy has secured SAR7.175 billion ($1.9 billion) worth of syndicated financing in Saudi riyals and US dollars to support its expansion. The deal, which was 1.33 times oversubscribed, will accelerate its growth plans, underpinned by a full capital structure take-out and refinancing of existing debt, the company said in a statement. HSBC […] July 25, 2023
Banking and Finance ADQ-led group’s bid for Israel’s Phoenix falls apart A deal for two shareholders in Israeli financial firm Phoenix Group to sell control of the group to a consortium led by Abu Dhabi state-owned ADQ has fallen through, a regulatory filing showed on Sunday. US private investment firms Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital, which hold about 33 percent of Phoenix, said last year […] July 24, 2023
Banking and Finance Israeli bank CEOs warn of fallout from judicial changes The chief executives of Israel’s two largest banks on Friday called on the government to halt its highly disputed legislative push to overhaul the judiciary, and warned of economic fallout should they continue. The drive by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to change the justice system has sparked unprecedented protests and warnings, including from […] July 23, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi Arabia to give Tunisia $500m as soft loan and grant Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Tunisia with a $500 million package of financial assistance as the country faces a mounting financial crisis. The Gulf state will give the North African country $400 million as a soft loan and $100 million as a grant, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday. The agreement was signed […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi regulator issues $319m in fines for share fraud Saudi Arabia’s financial regulator has convicted 17 people of manipulation and fraud for trading shares in the kingdom’s largest property developer. The group has been hit with fines amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, when the value of gains they have been ordered to return are included. The Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA) on […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance UAE banks’ Q2 profits surge on rising interest income Two major Abu Dhabi-listed banks – Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank – reported robust bottom lines for Q2 2023, as interest and non-interest incomes surged. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) reported a 23 percent year-on-year rise in the second quarter of 2023 profit due to healthy loan growth and rising benchmark […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Lebanon proposes floating forex rate by September The vice governors of Lebanon’s central bank have proposed lifting the longtime peg on the country’s local currency and moving to a managed float by the end of September. The details were outlined in a copy of their proposal seen by Reuters on Thursday. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 98 percent of its […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Middle East wealth funds wary of greenwashing Almost three-quarters of sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East are investing in renewable energy, although most have concerns about potential greenwashing. The latest Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study found that 71 percent of Middle East sovereign wealth funds were investing in renewables. Many funds are doing so as part of a commitment to […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkey raises rate to 17.5% as inflation likely to soar Turkey’s central bank hiked its policy rate by 250 basis points to 17.5 percent on Thursday, continuing to reverse President Tayyip Erdogan’s low-rates policy. However, the tightening fell short of expectations with inflation expected to rise sharply. It was the second meeting under new governor Hafize Gaye Erkan. He is leading a change of course […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance UAE fund agrees $100m grain loan facility with Egypt Egypt is to sign a $100 million renewable loan facility with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) to fund its grains purchases, supply minister Ali Moselhy said. Abu Dhabi-based agribusiness firm Al Dahra will be one of the first suppliers of the grain through the deal, but Moselhy said that the funding could be […] July 21, 2023
Analysis Banking and Finance Gulf loses out as world’s richest invest closer to home Wealthy family offices are focusing more on their home markets rather than the Middle East this year. Investments in the region are therefore set to decrease sharply in the short-term, a senior executive at Swiss global wealth manager UBS told AGBI. Maximilian Kunkel, chief investment officer for the global family and institutional wealth team at […] July 21, 2023
Banking and Finance UK helps UAE address financial grey list challenges The UK is helping the UAE deal with shortcomings highlighted by the Financial Action Task Force when it grey listed the Gulf state, a British government minister has told AGBI. “Our officials have very strong links in terms of assisting the UAE in how to improve systems and internal compliance and what sort of transparency […] July 20, 2023
