Analysis Markets Gulf CEOs urged to conquer fear of earnings call Earnings calls for analysts, reporters or investors are a staple for listed companies in Western markets. The same is not true in the Gulf, however, and experts say that can make it harder to assess a company’s performance and justify its stock valuation. It can also deter institutional investors, limit liquidity and slow market growth. […] February 25, 2025
Finance UAE commits $40bn to support Italy’s economy The UAE has committed to invest $40 billion in core sectors of the Italian economy, as the countries advance towards a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement (Cepa), the two nations said in a joint statement. More than 40 new agreements were signed across priority areas such as defence, energy, sustainable energy, and energy transition and space […] February 25, 2025
Banking and Finance QIA weighs new VC companies to join $1bn fund Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is evaluating eight venture capital (VC) firms to add to its “fund of funds” venture capital programme. The programme has already invested nearly $500 million in six firms, the head of funds at the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) told Reuters on Monday. The $1 billion programme will be almost fully invested […] February 25, 2025
Economy Confidence builds in Turkish real economy Turkish businesses are looking forward to better times but are still struggling with present day issues such as low levels of orders and a sluggish general economic environment. The Turkish Central Bank’s latest business tendency statistics and real sector confidence index, issued on February 24, recorded a steady increase in positive sentiment among the country’s […] February 25, 2025
Banking and Finance Emirates NBD buys outstanding shares to delist EIB Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, will delist Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) from the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) after acquiring 100 percent of the sharia-complaint lender, according to a statement. Emirates NBD has made a mandatory cash offer to buy the remaining 0.11 percent stake (free float) in EIB for AED11.95 ($3.25) per share […] February 25, 2025
Economy Fitch lowers Bahrain outlook on rising debt levels Fitch, one of three influential ratings agencies, has placed Bahrain on a negative outlook amid growing concerns over increasing debt, low levels of foreign currency and high budget deficits. Debt is projected to rise from 130 percent in 2024 to 136 percent of GDP in 2026 “with a continued upward trajectory over the medium term”, […] February 24, 2025
Banking and Finance Dubai crypto regulator Vara monitoring Bybit hack Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara) has said it is “actively monitoring” the fallout from a $1.4 billion hack at Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange that has fallen victim to what it calls crypto’s largest heist. Dubai-based Bybit said hackers exploited a smart contract – a self-executing program that automates blockchain transactions – during a routine […] February 24, 2025
Employment Iraq sets ambitious unemployment target The Iraqi government, which faces re-election later this year, has set ambitious targets to slash double-digit unemployment despite previous attempts foundering due to persistent instability. Mudhar Saleh, an adviser to prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani, told the official Iraqi news agency last week that the government wants to gradually cut the jobless figure “from a double-digit […] February 24, 2025
Banking and Finance UAE’s Mashreq to operate digital retail bank in Pakistan The Pakistani subsidiary of the UAE’s Mashreq, which trades on the Dubai Financial Market, has been granted a licence for a digital retail bank. This is the first restricted licence for pilot operations, which will allow Mashreq Bank Pakistan to use artificial intelligence and cloud computing to offer personalised banking services, the State Bank of Pakistan […] February 23, 2025
Video length: 05:03 VIDEO EXCLUSIVE Tech Errol Musk: Tower will be a ‘truly international institute’ Errol Musk told AGBI in an exclusive video interview during his visit to Dubai that the Musk Tower that is to be built in the UAE will serve as an innovation centre. It will also foster developments in science “that are ignored”, including “space-time travel and gravity”, he said. Discussions are ongoing with Abu Dhabi-based […] February 21, 2025
Finance Saudi firms look to improve ESG to attract investment Improvements in Saudi Arabian companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance are likely to attract more investment to the kingdom from international institutional investors, experts say, as new financial products with a focus on sustainability come to market. This week the kingdom’s first ESG exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) by […] February 21, 2025
Editor's Insight Economy Kuwait’s economic potential: A wake-up call Project approvals in Opec’s fifth-largest producer are at their highest since 2017, according to the independent National Bank of Kuwait (NBK). That may be because the emirate is planning to expand oil production capacity by up to 40 percent to 4 million barrels per day, exploiting what was described as a significant discovery last year […] February 21, 2025
Banking and Finance Oliver Wyman joins EY in Iraq bank restructuring Iraq has hired two of the world’s most prominent financial consulting firms to help restructure its banking sector, which has been wrecked by long-term violence, according to an adviser to the prime minister. London-based EY and Oliver Wyman of the US will prepare a roadmap for a plan that could include merging the country’s two […] February 21, 2025
Markets JPMorgan to remove Qatar and Kuwait from EM bond index JPMorgan will remove Qatar and Kuwait’s government bonds from its influential Emerging Market bond index, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on course to follow next year, due to rising income levels in the Middle East. The US investment bank, whose EMBI indexes are the main global benchmark of EM debt, said it will […] February 21, 2025
Economy Egypt keeps interest rates steady as inflation looms Egypt’s central bank kept its key overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as expected, citing the impact on inflation of uncertainty around US protectionism and geopolitics. The bank’s monetary policy committee kept the lending rate at 28.25 percent and the deposit rate at 27.25 percent, it said. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts […] February 21, 2025
Banking and Finance Qatar’s $3bn bond issue oversubscribed four times Orders for Qatar’s $3 billion bonds attracted bids of more than $12 billion, with spreads tightening significantly amid high demand, a news report said. The three-year senior unsecured notes of $1 billion were priced at 30 basis points (bps) over US treasuries compared to the initial pricing of 60 bps, Bloomberg reported, quoting informed sources. […] February 21, 2025
Trade InvestSaudi to open second US office in Miami Saudi Arabia’s investment promotion authority, InvestSaudi, will establish its second office in the United States in Miami to target flows to and from North and South America. Khalid A. Al-Falih, the Saudi investment minister, made the announcement on Thursday at the Future Investment Initiative summit in the South Florida city. “By selecting Miami as our […] February 21, 2025
Banking and Finance Almost one year after floods, UAE insurance costs keep surging Property insurance rates in the UAE jumped by up to 15 percent in the final quarter of 2024 as insurers adjusted prices after last April’s flash floods. The rise, the largest quarterly increase on record, came as UAE insurers accelerated payouts for flood claims, according to the insurance broker Marsh. Omar Gemei, global head of […] February 20, 2025
Markets More dual listings expected as IPO trend continues Last year, eight companies launched initial public offerings (IPO) on the two main stock exchanges in the UAE, attracting more than $7 billion in investment. The same number could float this year and list in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, analysts say. UAE-based technology company Alpha Data has already announced plans to list 40 percent of its […] February 20, 2025
Economy Higher tax income cuts Tunisia’s 2024 budget deficit Higher than anticipated tax income helped Tunisia bring down its budget deficit last year. The ministry said last weekend that the deficit declined despite a 5 percent rise in actual spending and was funded through borrowing, Ultra Tunisia reported. Last year’s budget deficit stood at 10 billion Tunisia dinars ($3 billion), down from 11 billion […] February 20, 2025
Markets Alpha Data aims to raise $163m in Abu Dhabi’s first IPO of 2025 UAE technology services company Alpha Data plans to raise up to $163.2 million, the company said on Thursday, in Abu Dhabi’s first initial public offering this year. Alpha Data plans to list 400 million shares in a price range of 1.45 dirhams to 1.50 dirhams, which implies a market value of up to $408 million. The […] February 20, 2025
Tax New tax relief package expected in Egypt next month Egypt will announce a tax relief package for taxpayers and businesses next month, to increase the transparency of the tax system and encourage more foreign direct investment, it has been reported. The finance minister is overseeing the package’s implementation to ensure it meets business needs, the Egypt Today newspaper reported, citing Rasha Abdel Aal, head […] February 20, 2025
