Opinion Economy Tunisia’s president must strike balance between unions and IMF Distrust in the Tunisian government and its commitment to reform has hampered negotiations with the IMF over the size of the requested loan November 8, 2022
Real Estate Nakheel secures $4.6bn from Dubai banks to build more islands Dubai developer Nakheel has secured 17 billion dirhams ($4.63 billion) from local banks for projects including its latest collection of manmade islands, the company said on Tuesday. The state-owned developer best known for Palm Jebel Ali said the financing came from a syndicate of three Dubai lenders: Emirates NBD, Mashreq Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank. […] November 8, 2022
Cop28 Finance challenges burden Egypt’s clean energy goals A week before Cop27 began, the governor of South Sinai, Khaled Fouda, declared Sharm el-Sheikh “the first environmentally friendly tourist city in the Middle East.” His announcement marked the conclusion of the five-month “Green Sharm El-Sheikh” project, which introduced hundreds of electric cars, hybrid and hydrogen buses, and numerous vehicle charging points to the city […] November 8, 2022
Banking and Finance Saudi PIF to consider bidding for Ooredoo’s tower unit Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is weighing submitting the final bid for Qatari telecommunications firm Ooredoo’s network towers, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. American Tower Corporation, IHS Holding Limited and Helios Towers Plc are contemplating offers for all or part of the portfolio. Ooredoo’s tower assets, located in the Gulf and other markets, including Iraq […] November 8, 2022
Economy Oman posts $2.9bn budget surplus on higher oil prices Oman recorded a state budget surplus of OR1.123 billion ($2.92 billion) in the nine months to the end of September, the finance ministry said on Monday, as high oil prices bolster the public finances of the region’s exporters. The Gulf state reported a 43.4 percent year-on-year increase in public revenue by the end of September […] November 8, 2022
Banking and Finance Abu Dhabi’s Chimera Capital launches $2bn private credit fund Abu Dhabi investment firm Chimera Capital said on Monday it was launching a $2 billion private credit fund with US alternative asset manager Alpha Wave Global. Chimera Capital and Alpha Wave Global will jointly manage the Alpha Wave Private Credit, which will look to provide private, senior secured, floating rate loans for companies, Chimera said. […] November 8, 2022
Banking and Finance Apicorp signs $75m carbon offset financing deal with UK firm The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a Saudi-headquartered, energy-focused development financial institution, has signed a $75 million Islamic financing agreement with a British firm to fund high-quality carbon offsets, supporting the Gulf’s net zero emission targets. The agreement, known as a Murabaha, is an Islamic financing facility where a financier will purchase an asset and […] November 7, 2022
Analysis Construction Private sector urged to step up to build homes, schools and clinics The GCC’s private sector should carve itself a bigger role in infrastructure delivery, according to Cyril Lincoln, executive vice president and global head of real estate, finance and advisory at Dubai-based Mashreq Bank. There is plenty of work to go around: the region has more than $121 billion of so-called social infrastructure projects planned or […] November 7, 2022
Economy Inflation and debt crisis pose biggest threats for G20 countries Runaway inflation, an unfolding debt crisis and cost-of-living problems pose the biggest threats to doing business for G20 countries in the next two years, data from the World Economic Forum showed on Monday. Inflation has surged to levels not seen in several decades, prompting a third of G20 countries to identify rising prices as their […] November 7, 2022
Markets Saudi regulator gives nod to over $26.6bn capital increase requests Saudi Arabia’s market regulatory Capital Market Authority (CMA) has approved capital increase requests worth SAR 100 billion ($26.6 billion) from January 2018 until the end of the first half of 2022, Arab News reported. Some 116 firms applied to increase capital over the period, the CMA undersecretary for listed companies and investment products Abdullah bin […] November 6, 2022
Banking and Finance Binance helped Iranian firms trade $8bn despite sanctions Crypto giant Binance has processed Iranian transactions with a value of $8 billion since 2018 despite US sanctions intended to cut Iran off from the global financial system, blockchain data show. Almost all the funds, some $7.8 billion, flowed between Binance and Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, according to a review of data from leading […] November 6, 2022
Banking and Finance S&P upgrades Qatar’s credit rating on shrinking debt burden Ratings agency S&P on Friday raised Qatar’s long-term sovereign credit rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘, citing improvements in the government’s fiscal position. “Qatar’s debt interest costs as a share of government revenue have fallen, and we expect them to remain low because the government is repaying maturing debt,” the agency said in a statement. High […] November 6, 2022
Banking and Finance IMF recommends Turkey to implement early policy rate hikes Turkey should tighten monetary policy and give its central bank more independence, a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday. “To address (Turkey’s) challenges, the mission recommended early policy rate hikes accompanied by moves to strengthen the central bank’s independence,” said the IMF in a press release. “Such moves would help reduce […] November 6, 2022
Analysis Health Region urged to support vaping to deter smoking black market High taxes and outright bans imposed in some Middle East countries on e-cigarettes and vaping products have been blamed for pushing smokers to the black market and slowing the transition away from nicotine products in the region. Black market numbers in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE are “alarming” and can only be resolved by […] November 4, 2022
Exclusive Banking and Finance Jobs at risk as private equity slows hiring in the Gulf The looming global recession is pushing private equity firms to freeze hiring in the Gulf, with layoffs likely to be on the way, an executive at a UAE-based global investment company has said. Major Wall Street firms are already beginning to rein in expenses amid a slump in deals volume on the back of repeated […] November 4, 2022
Economy China-GCC free trade agreement in ‘final and critical’ stage The China-GCC free trade agreement negotiations have entered the “final and critical stage”. The two sides have agreed on most issues and are putting the final touches on the agreement, according to WAM, the UAE state-owned news agency, citing a top Chinese diplomat. 200 billion reasons why the Gulf is China’s hottest trading partner UAE […] November 4, 2022
Turkey’s inflation hits 24-year high of 85.5% after rate cuts Turkish annual inflation climbed to a new 24-year high of 85.51 percent in October, official data showed on Thursday, slightly below forecast, after the central bank cut its policy rate despite surging prices. Inflation has surged since last year, when the lira slumped after the central bank began cutting its policy rate in an easing […] November 4, 2022
Economy Lebanon steps back from plan to slash official exchange rate Lebanon has stepped back from plans to slash its 25-year-old official exchange rate with one closer to the market rate, ministerial and political sources said Thursday, amid fears of a backlash from the public. Caretaker finance minister Youssef Khalil told Reuters on September 28 the state would re-peg the dollar from 1,507 to 15,000 pounds […] November 4, 2022
Economy Moody’s upgrades Qatar outlook on higher energy prices Ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded Qatar’s credit outlook to positive from stable, citing higher energy prices expected to bring significant budget surpluses that will help the Gulf state to manage its medium-term debt profile. Qatar, which hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup this month, is one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas and […] November 4, 2022
Analysis Economy Gulf rate hike: Good for gold and bonds, bad for credit Gulf companies have been able to absorb rising interest rates but as regional central banks follow the US Federal Reserve’s latest hike, borrowing appetite is likely to be subdued. It may, however, be good for gold, bank deposits and fixed income. Four of the Gulf states announced on Wednesday that they would increase their key […] November 3, 2022
Cop28 Egypt to sign 9 projects with $15bn investments at Cop27 Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation plans to sign contracts for nine projects with investments worth $15 billion at the Cop27 climate summit. The projects fall in the water, food and energy programme, which is a regional and international approach to move from the pledges stage to the implementation stage, reported Egypt Today, citing a ministry […] November 3, 2022
Economy UK exports to Arab countries up 20% to $38bn in 2022 The UK’s exports to Arab countries have posted a 20 percent year-on-year increase, standing at £33.6 billion ($38.26 billion), and are expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. “While exports have remained broadly flat between 2020 and 2021, we have seen a 20 percent recovery so far this year and we anticipate that our total trade […] November 3, 2022
