Banking and Finance UAE bank deposits soar as higher rates attract savers Deposits at banks in the UAE have surged as account holders take advantage of higher interest rates to earn bigger returns on their savings, data from the country’s central bank shows. Resident deposits totalled AED2.4 trillion ($664 billion) as of March 31, up 16 percent versus 12 months earlier. Non-resident deposits – those held by […] June 14, 2024
Banking and Finance Tax on foreigners may be axed to boost Saudi bond market The tax on foreign investment in Saudi corporate bonds may be scrapped in an effort to boost the market. Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority has issued a report describing the 5 percent withholding tax on interest payments to corporate bondholders as “unattractive and discouraging for foreign institutional investors”. It called for “easing tax requirements for […] June 13, 2024
Analysis Markets Hopes high for Egypt’s shariah-compliant index The Egyptian stock exchange has announced the launch of a long-awaited shariah-compliant index, a move observers say is likely to attract new investors and boost the North African country’s latent Islamic banking sector. Gulf investors are said to be particularly interested. The chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Ahmed el Sheikh, announced that the new […] June 13, 2024
Banking and Finance Qatar’s mortgage market buoyed by law reforms Qatar’s mortgage market has been given a lift by a package of regulatory reforms, industry experts told AGBI after transactions rose sharply despite high interest rates. In the first quarter of 2024, the value of Qatari mortgage transactions was nearly 90 percent higher than in the previous three months, according to ValuStrat research. It was […] June 13, 2024
Finance Saudi Arabia’s PIF to invest $15bn to drive Brazil’s growth The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is planning to invest $15 billion in Brazil, according to a media report. The investments will be made in green hydrogen, infrastructure and renewable energy sectors, Reuters reported, quoting Brazil’s minister for energy, Alexandre Silveira. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox […] June 13, 2024
Markets Beyout becomes Kuwait’s first stock market listing in two years Beyout Investment Group rose 2.6 percent against its initial public offering price on its Boursa Kuwait debut on Wednesday as the family-owned business became the country’s first new stock market listing since 2022. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been home to a flurry of initial public offerings in the past few years as governments […] June 12, 2024
Opinion Banking and Finance Bahrain’s fiscal discipline bodes well for its capital markets Banking and finance now contributes 17 percent of the country's GDP June 12, 2024
Finance Global hedge funds expand presence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Thirteen of the world’s top 100 hedge funds have offices in the Dubai International Finance Centre, research shows, as more of the specialist asset managers set up operations in the UAE. It is a similar story in the newer-established Abu Dhabi Global Market, where Brevan Howard – the world’s 13th-largest hedge fund by assets under […] June 12, 2024
Finance Aramco raises $11.2bn from secondary share offering Saudi Aramco closed its secondary share offering on Tuesday, securing SAR42.1 billion ($11.2 billion) for the government exchequer. The proceeds from the offering will rise to SAR46.31 billion if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. The offering was the largest secondary offering in Europe, Middle East and Africa since 2000 and the largest equity […] June 12, 2024
Employment Unemployment rate falls in Turkey but warnings persist Turkish unemployment levels fell to their lowest rate in more than 11 years in April, helped by strong first-quarter growth. However, troubling longer-term prospects could mean job queues lengthen again. Turkey’s headline unemployment rate, covering those aged 15 and over, fell to 8.5 percent in April, the lowest since November 2012 and down from 10 […] June 11, 2024
Finance EU woos Emirati investors while keeping UAE on ‘grey list’ The European Union is intensifying efforts to attract investment from the UAE despite keeping the Emirates on its “grey list”, a marker of heightened scrutiny and potential obstacles for investors. An EU delegation visited Abu Dhabi last week to promote the bloc’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) plan. A single market for capital, harmonising exchange regulations […] June 11, 2024
Banking and Finance Private credit fund looks for $250m from Gulf investors Ruya Partners, which describes itself as the Gulf’s first partner-owned private credit provider, aims to raise $250 million from investors by mid to late 2024, senior executive Omar Al Yawer has revealed to AGBI. The Abu Dhabi business says regional sovereign wealth funds have become more amenable to investing in the private credit sector. Private […] June 11, 2024
Renewable Energy Acwa Power to raise $2bn in rights issue Saudi Arabia’s green energy developer, Acwa Power, plans to raise SAR7 billion ($1.9 billion) in new capital through a rights issue to help treble its assets under management by 2030. The company, which is owned by the government’s Public Investment Fund, said the new shares issued to current shareholders would allow Acwa to “anchor its […] June 11, 2024
Analysis Finance Egypt confronts sell-off of more state assets More sales of Egyptian state assets from petrol stations to wind farms are likely to be announced in the financial year to June 2025, according to people familiar with the negotiations. A deal with the UAE worth $35 billion to develop a resort at Ras El Hekma on the Mediterranean has eased the pressure on […] June 11, 2024
Economy Egypt inflation drops below 30% for first time in 15 months Egypt’s inflation rate dropped below 30 percent in May for the first time in 15 months, slowing at a faster rate than most had predicted. Urban consumer price inflation was 28.1 percent year on year for May, a drop from 32.5 percent in April, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics announced on Monday. […] June 11, 2024
Trade Suez Canal revenues and traffic fell in May Suez Canal revenues continued to decline in May because of instability in the Red Sea, according to Egyptian media. Revenues fell 64.3 percent year on year to $337.8 million. Last month 1,111 individual ships passed through the canal – down 54 percent on the May 2023 figure of 2,396. Finance minister Mohamed Maait said last […] June 10, 2024
Opinion Economy Russia’s resilient economy means war is the ‘new normal’ Putin’s recent hubris has caused some in the West to think again about the efficacy of its sanctions package June 10, 2024
Economy Saudi Arabia GDP contracts but non-oil growth rises Saudi Arabia’s economy contracted by 1.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2024 due to ongoing oil production cuts, but non-oil growth was up 3.4 percent in the same period, according to adjusted figures released this week. Last week Opec+ agreed to extend its existing crude output cuts into 2025 in a […] June 10, 2024
Finance Oman trade balance surplus up 37% on higher oil exports Oman’s trade balance surplus rose 37 percent year on year to OR2.6 billion ($6.8 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2024, as rising oil and gas revenues benefited the sultanate’s balance of payments, official data showed. The total value of merchandise exports jumped 16.7 percent year on year to OR6.5 billion, state-run […] June 10, 2024
Finance Opec+ output cuts weigh on Kuwait’s economic growth Kuwait’s real GDP is expected to shrink by 2.3 percent in 2024 as a result of Opec+ production cuts, S&P said in a report. Economic growth is predicted to be 2.4 percent per year from 2025 to 2027 as oil production restrictions ease slightly and the pace of huge government investment projects accelerates. NewsletterGet the […] June 10, 2024
Finance Turkey hikes customs duty on Chinese vehicles by 40% Turkey will start imposing an additional 40 percent customs duty on vehicles imported from China next month, in an attempt to lower its current account deficit and protect domestic car manufacturers. The extra tariff will be set at a minimum of $7,000 per vehicle or 40 percent of the import value, whichever is higher, according to […] June 10, 2024
Analysis Finance Agriculture startups failing to cultivate VC interest Agriculture technology founders in the Gulf are having to resort to alternative sources of funding, as interest from venture capital entities dries up. The region is following a global trend. Startups in so-called “agtech” cumulatively raised $1.2 billion across 161 deals in the first quarter of this year, down almost 26 percent and 20 percent […] June 10, 2024
