Economy Falling oil prices deepen Iraq’s fiscal imbalances, says IMF Iraq’s fiscal imbalances have worsened due to significant fiscal expansion and lower oil prices, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The ongoing fiscal expansion is expected to boost growth in 2024 at the expense of a further deterioration of fiscal and external accounts and Iraq’s vulnerability to oil price fluctuations,” the Washington-based fund said in […] May 17, 2024
Finance Aluminium producer Talco announces Saudi IPO Aluminium producer Al Taiseer Group Talco Industrial Company (Talco) is the latest entity to reveal initial public offering (IPO) plans in Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh-based company, which was set up in 2009, is offering 12 million shares, a 30 percent stake, on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) at a nominal value of SAR10 ($2.67) per share. […] May 17, 2024
Analysis Real Estate Marbella beckons for Abu Dhabi real estate developers A joint venture with a high-end Spanish residential developer has been launched by two Abu Dhabi real estate companies to build ten hectares of luxury homes in the Golden Mile, a premier area in Marbella. The deal with Mabel Real Estate to co-build Mabel Marbella Residences is the first luxury project in Europe for Bloom […] May 16, 2024
Cybersecurity Crypto exchange Rain suffers $15m hack Rain, a cryptocurrency exchange regulated in both the UAE and Bahrain, has confirmed a serious hack resulting in losses reportedly nearing $15 million. The exchange said in a statement on its website on Tuesday that customer funds remain secure despite the incident. The security breach occurred on April 29 and was first detected by blockchain […] May 16, 2024
Analysis Real Estate Investor interest wanes as Saudi real estate trusts underperform Saudi Arabia’s publicly listed real estate investment trusts lag the kingdom’s main stock index as investor enthusiasm for the REIT asset class wanes. This is despite steady returns and an upbeat outlook in the property sector. REITs are often listed on bourses and invest in various property types such as offices, residential, education facilities and […] May 16, 2024
Aviation UAE wealth fund in $4bn bid to privatise Malaysian airport A consortium that includes the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has announced a voluntary offer to acquire all the shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) for nearly $4 billion. The other consortium partners are Malaysian government-backed Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and New York-headquartered Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Upon completion of the offer, Khazanah ownership stake in MAHB […] May 16, 2024
Analysis Finance Gulf asset managers remain wary of resurgent bitcoin Gulf asset managers and institutional investors remain reluctant to invest in bitcoin, despite the cryptocurrency’s resurgence over the past year. The Middle East and North Africa accounted for 7 percent – or $390 million – of global crypto volumes in the 12 months to June 30, 2023, according to Chainalysis. Turkey made up nearly half, […] May 16, 2024
Finance Dubai tops ‘greenfield’ FDI ranking for third year Dubai is the world’s top location for “greenfield” foreign direct investment for the third consecutive year, according to fDi Markets. A total of 1,070 greenfield FDI projects, where a company sets up in a foreign country, building its facilities from the ground up, were reported in Dubai in 2023. This was more than double the […] May 15, 2024
ANALYSIS Tourism Travel startups seen as ‘high risk’ by VC investors The co-founder and CEO of Dharma, an Abu Dhabi business travel management platform, has claimed the tourism sector isn’t seen as attractive enough for investors. Dharma, which was one of the first startups accepted into Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 incubation programme, closed a $4.7 million Series A funding round last year. “I think for venture capital […] May 15, 2024
Markets Bahrain Bourse needs more liquidity despite 43% surge The Bahrain Bourse has surged by almost 43 percent in the past five years, but experts have warned that the Gulf state must prioritise further listings to bring more liquidity into the market. The bulk of the growth on the kingdom’s main exchange has come from a select number of liquid stocks, topped by Aluminium […] May 15, 2024
Economy EBRD lowers Turkey’s 2024 growth rate The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lowered Turkey’s economic growth forecast to 2.7 percent from 3 percent for 2024, due to rising inflation. However, a recovery is anticipated next year, with growth projected at 3 percent, driven by potential monetary and fiscal policy tightening aimed at curbing high inflation. Turkish economic policy has tightened, […] May 15, 2024
Real Estate Kuwait’s Beyout Investment Group to list on local bourse Kuwait’s Beyout Investment Group (BIG) has announced plans to offer a 30 percent stake on the local bourse, the first in nearly two years. The final offering price will be determined through a bookbuilding process, which will be held from May 19 to 23, the company said in a statement. The shares are slated to […] May 15, 2024
Economy Qatar calls for greater GCC cooperation as it diversifies economy Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will continue a policy of diversification, investing in Central Asia and Africa, but Gulf countries need to do more to unify their economic growth plans to face rising geopolitical risks, Qatar’s prime minister said on Tuesday. “Our focus in terms of the sovereign wealth fund and investment continues following the strategy […] May 14, 2024
Analysis Banking and Finance GCC debt market on way to trillion-dollar milestone The total debt capital market in the GCC is likely to cross $1 trillion this year, after reaching $940 billion in the first quarter of 2024. New research from Fitch Ratings shows that more than a third of GCC debt issued last year was in the form of sukuk, also known as an Islamic bond. […] May 14, 2024
Economy Egypt receives second tranche of UAE’s $35bn investment Egyptian authorities have received the second tranche of a $35 billion investment from the UAE, local media reported on Tuesday. The payment secures the right of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ to develop the land of Ras El Hekma on Egypt’s north coast. The $20 billion tranche consists of $14 billion fresh money and […] May 14, 2024
Markets Healthcare group Fakeeh attracts orders of $91bn for Saudi IPO The listing of healthcare conglomerate Fakeeh Care Group was 119 times oversubscribed by institutional investors, the Saudi stock exchange said on Tuesday. The initial public offering was set to raise $763 million but attracted orders of $91 billion, reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s dominance of the region’s IPO market this year. Fakeeh, which was founded in Jeddah […] May 14, 2024
Banking and Finance Abu Dhabi-backed Egyptian bank doubles profits Commercial International Bank, the Egyptian lender backed by Abu Dhabi, has doubled its consolidated net profits for the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2023. In an earnings release published on Sunday, CIB posted a net income of EGP11.9 billion ($253 million) at the start of this year, up from […] May 14, 2024
Video length: 08:25 exclusive Banking and Finance Rate of debt skipping falls 90% at Dubai’s biggest bank There has been a dramatic decline in the number of people leaving the country to avoid debt obligations to UAE banks. The fall in so-called “skips” is a result of the Gulf state’s introduction of legal reforms such as the decriminalisation of bounced cheques, and new insolvency and bankruptcy laws, experts said. In the past […] May 14, 2024
Analysis Trade GCC-EU trade drops by $8bn as talks pause Trade between the GCC and the European Union fell by 4 percent last year to $180 billion, as the two trading blocs struggled to agree terms for a free trade agreement. Figures shared exclusively with AGBI by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics authority, show Saudi Arabia was the bloc’s biggest trade partner from the GCC, with […] May 14, 2024
Banking and Finance Demand is high for Alrajhi bank’s first green sukuk Saudi Arabia’s Alrajhi Bank has completed its $1 billion sukuk – having raised $3.5 billion in subscriptions from local and international investors – as the kingdom’s lenders push to raise funds for the government’s expensive giga-projects. Sukuk are sharia-compliant bonds that were developed as an alternative to conventional bonds, which are not considered permissible by […] May 13, 2024
Opinion Trade The Gulf must harness the potential of new economic blocs Middle Eastern states must leverage their resources and geography as new partnerships develop May 13, 2024
Finance Dubai financial watchdog reports 25% rise in licences The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the emirate’s financial regulator, reported a 25 percent year-on-year increase in the number of licensed companies in 2023, amounting to nearly 800 in total. The number of applications across all business models within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the emirate’s main financial hub, rose 50 percent annually, the […] May 13, 2024
