Erdogan says Turkey to review minimum wage due to inflation President Tayyip Erdogan said he has asked the Labour Ministry to review the minimum wage in Turkey due to persistently high inflation, after hiking it by 50 percent at the end of last year. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the ministry would finalise work on the issue this week and he would make […] June 28, 2022
Banking and Finance Egypt can no longer depend on foreign money, says minister Egypt’s finance minister said on Monday the government could no longer depend on foreign purchases of treasuries to finance its budget, but must work to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) instead. “The lesson we have learned (is that) you cannot depend on this type of investment. It is coming just to get high yields, and […] June 28, 2022
Banking and Finance Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund grows 20.4% Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund’s (FGF) assets increased by 20.4 percent year on year to $626.9 million by December 2021, the finance ministry said on Monday. Bahrain lacks the ample oil and financial resources of its neighbours, and its state finances are among the weakest in the gulf region. June 28, 2022
Banking and Finance Qatar pledges $100m to recover distressed assets The Qatar Financial Center (QFC) said on Monday that it has pledged $100 million to fund a new platform aimed at recovering distressed assets. Atlas Merchant Capital, the private equity firm co-founded by former Barclays Plc chief Bob Diamond, will advise the new platform on strategy and the new vehicle will seek to coordinate with […] June 28, 2022
Banking and Finance Dubai lender Mashreqbank hires banks for dollar bonds Dubai lender Mashreqbank has hired banks to arrange the sale of US dollar-denominated Additional Tier 1 bonds, a document showed on Monday. It mandated BofA Securities, Citi, Emirates NBD, JPMorgan, Mashreq, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank to arrange a global investor call and a series of fixed income investor calls, the document said. June 28, 2022
Markets Drop in commodity prices puts Gulf markets in the black Most Gulf markets extended gains on Monday, tracking global shares as a drop in commodity prices allayed fears of accelerating inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes. Dubai’s main share index gained 0.5 percent, led by a 2.7 percent rise in top lender Emirates NBD. Dubai business park operator TECOM Group said on Monday it had […] June 28, 2022
Agriculture Scotland eyes big export boost from UK-Gulf trade talks Scottish businesses in key export sectors such as food, financial services and renewables have high hopes for a free trade deal with the GCC June 27, 2022
Banking and Finance Dubai’s TECOM raises $463m from IPO Dubai business park operator TECOM Group said today it had raised 1.7 billion dirhams ($463 million) from investors via its initial public offering. The company, which is owned by the investment vehicle of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced on June 8 that it would sell a 12.5 percent stake by offering […] June 27, 2022
EXCLUSIVE Banking and Finance Wio Bank has a big idea: let SMEs spend less time on banking The UAE's next digital bank is launching with a focus on SMEs and a pledge to reduce the time they have to spend on admin, reveals its CEO Jayesh Patel June 27, 2022
Opinion Gulf currencies would prosper if decoupled from the US dollar Countries pegged to the dollar have to follow the Federal Reserve's lead on interest rates, even if it doesn't suit them. For the GCC, it might be time to break free June 27, 2022
Abu Dhabi part of $10.2bn deal to take US software giant private Zendesk Inc on Friday agreed to be taken private by investment firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira in a $10.2 billion deal, a turn of events that comes just weeks after the company concluded it would remain public. The San Francisco-based software company said shareholders will receive $77.50 per share in cash, representing […] June 27, 2022
Iraqi PM in Iran to push for revival of Tehran-Riyadh talks Iran and Iraq have agreed to seek stability in the Middle East, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said in Tehran on Sunday, a day after he visited Saudi Arabia in a bid to revive talks between the regional rivals to ease years of hostility. Iran and Saudi Arabia, the leading Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim powers […] June 27, 2022
Markets Saudi bourse to launch single stock futures on July 4 The Saudi stock exchange Tadawul plans to launch single stock futures on July 4, which will enable local and international investors to hedge and manage portfolio risks more effectively. Tadawul said in a statement on Sunday that the underlying stocks for single stock futures have been selected from the largest and most liquid publicly listed […] June 27, 2022
Analysis Banking and Finance UK Islamic fintech wants to take on the world UK fintech has enjoyed meteoric growth in recent years, and Islamic fintech has been a key part of that success. AGBI speaks to industry experts to get the inside track on the sector’s development UK fintech investment hit $37.3 billion in 2021, up sevenfold from $5.2 billion in 2020, according to figures published by global […] June 24, 2022
Qatar’s Tamim to visit Egypt for first time since boycott Qatar’s ruler will visit Egypt on Friday, his first trip to the country since Egypt and Qatar agreed last year to end a long-running regional feud, diplomatic sources said. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who last visited Egypt in 2015, will hold a formal meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on […] June 24, 2022
Egypt says rising inflation will be ‘temporarily tolerated’ Egypt’s central bank kept its overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, saying that for the next six months it would tolerate elevated inflation, caused mainly by the Ukrainian conflict, as the economy grows more slowly than expected. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) held its lending rate steady at 12.25 percent and its deposit rate […] June 24, 2022
Lebanon’s Mikati named PM, urges action to secure IMF deal Lebanon’s Najib Mikati was named prime minister on Thursday, urging fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal which he said was the only chance to save the country from financial collapse. Facing a politically difficult path to agreeing on a new cabinet, the billionaire tycoon who led three previous governments said Lebanon […] June 24, 2022
Markets UAE to raise $3bn from dollar bonds as demand tops $13.5bn The United Arab Emirates was set to raise $3 billion with a two-tranche US dollar-denominated bond sale comprising a 10-year tranche and 30-year Formosa portion, a bank document showed on Thursday. The bonds, for which demand topped $13.5 billion, will offer investors 100 basis points over US Treasuries (UST) for the 10-year paper and 175 […] June 24, 2022
Exclusive UK-GCC talks must extend beyond tariffs, say top diplomats The newly-commenced free trade agreement talks between the UK and the GCC have been welcomed by senior diplomats. Lord Udny-Lister, co-chair of the UAE-UK Business Council and a former strategic advisor to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, hailed the FTA discussions as “great news”, but called for a wide and nuanced set of agreements that […] June 24, 2022
Analysis Aftershocks: Afghan economy crumbles as disaster strikes The Taliban spent two decades fighting and brokering with Western powers to secure their demands for US-backed troops to leave Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. But after storming back to power with a rapid military campaign in August 2021, the Islamist group has turned to the same governments with an urgent appeal for aid after […] June 23, 2022
Markets Qatar shares suffer biggest weekly drop in two years June 23 (Reuters) – Qatari shares led declines in the Gulf on Thursday to post their biggest weekly decline in more than two years, as investors worried that further rises in interest rates to quell decades-high inflation would tip economies into a recession. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the central bank […] June 23, 2022
Markets Dubai’s TECOM $455m IPO heavily oversubscribed TECOM Group’s initial public offering (IPO) is heavily oversubscribed at the top of its share price range, suggesting the Dubai business park operator could raise 1.67 billion dirhams ($455 million), a document seen by Reuters showed. TECOM Group, which is owned the investment vehicle of Dubai’s ruler, is selling 625 million shares or a 12.5 […] June 23, 2022
