Category: Economy

U.S. regulators are mobilizing to shore up confidence in America’s generic-drug supply as alarm grows over the quality of products made in India, and the head of the largest U.S.-based maker of the medicines predicted more trouble lies ahead.“It’ll get worse before it gets better,” said Mylan (MYL) Inc. Chief Executive Officer Heather Bresch, whose company has half of its more than 20,000 employees in India. As regulators boost inspections there, consumers will see “more market disruption, more companies being

A diplomatic split between Qatar and its wealthy Gulf neighbors may disrupt billions of dollars of investment in the region and slow efforts to make economies more efficient through trade and transport reforms.Qatar's vast natural gas wealth means the tiny country, with a population of about 2.1 million, could probably continue operating indefinitely despite the displeasure of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.But its growth may slow if its trade and investment ties with the big Gulf Arab

Dubai World, one of the emirate's big state-owned conglomerates, has prepaid $284.5 million to creditors under its $25 billion debt restructuring plan, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.The conglomerate obtained money for the prepayment from asset sales, said the sources, who declined to be named because the matter isn't public.Under the terms of the restructuring deal, cash raised from asset sales above a threshold of $300 million is to be distributed as early repayments to creditors, which include

Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala Development Co  plans to focus more on U.S. and European markets this year as those economies slowly recover, its deputy CEO said on Tuesday.Mubadala, which has stakes in General Electric  and private equity firm Carlyle, shifted some of its focus to emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, China and Indonesia after the global financial crisis hit the United States and Europe."We are seeing 2014 as a time of significant growth for Mubadala's international portfolio as

Saudi tourists played a vital role in boosting the Dubai tourism sector last year. The Kingdom, which has consistently been Dubai’s primary source market, experienced a big boost with guest numbers up by 19.9 percent to 1.35 million. In 2012, Dubai received 1.13 million visitors from Saudi Arabia.In total, Dubai’s hotels welcomed more than 11 million guests in 2013, an increase of just over one million on the 2012 numbers. According to statistics released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce

United Arab Emirates telecommunications firm du has borrowed $1.17 billion in three separate deals to refinance existing debt and fund equipment purchases, the company said on Tuesday.The deals include a $720 million package reported by Reuters last month and agreements with Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Singapore to refinance and top up existing loans."The move lowers the company's funding costs, saving approximately $9 million over the term of the loan due to the favourable margins agreed with the banks involved,"

Singapore leapt five spots to top a global ranking of the most expensive cities as a stronger currency and price increases made it costlier to live in the island nation, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.The republic beat Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney, while Tokyo moved down to sixth position from first previously after the yen slid, the EIU’s latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey released today showed. The biannual report compares the price of products and services such as

BGC Partners, a global brokerage company servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets, and the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre announced a partnership to promote a Sharia-compliant Commodity Murabaha mechanism.This marks the first agreement between DMCC and an interdealer broker to jointly market Commodity Murabaha on the DMCC Tradeflow Platform, DMCC said in a statement.  Launching shortly, this partnership offers the trading community a faster, more efficient method of trading this niche financial product and promotes Dubai as the global

Stocks slid while oil prices shot up on Monday, after Russia bloodlessly seized a part of Ukraine, escalating tensions between Russia and the West to a level not seen since the end of the Cold War.U.S. stock futures fell 0.7 percent from a record high hit on Friday while Japan's Nikkei average tumbled 1.3 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6 percent.European shares were likely to start weaker, with the spread-betters expecting Germany's DAX  to fall

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) and partners will pay $1.6 billion in cash and assumed debt to buy two hydroelectric power plants in India from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd. (JPVL) in a deal expected to close this year.The state-controlled utility known as Taqa will manage and operate the facilities, it said in an e-mailed statement today. The assets have an enterprise value of $1.6 billion, including a $616 million cash payment and assumed project finance debt, a company spokesman

The new Savills World Cities Live-Work Index reveals that it now costs an average of just under $72,000-a-year per employee to rent residential and office space in Dubai, a thumping 41 per cent increase on a year ago, making the city the world’s seventh most expensive.However, the survey noted that this surge in rents came from ‘a relatively low base’ and that ‘the high costs in part reflect a particularly generous office space allocation per worker, a product of the

The rupee is trading lower at 61.88/89 versus Friday's close of 61.75/76. It fell to 61.95 in early trades. Global risk aversion on geopolitical tensions in Ukraine weighing on most Asian currencies. China manufacturing PMI hits a seven-month low, further hurting risk currency sentiment.India's December GDP came in at a below expected 4.7 percent, data released after market hours on Friday showed.The Japanese yen rose across the board on Monday while investors gave risk currencies such as the Australian dollar

In a rude jolt to growing virtual currency frenzy in India, bitcoins worth hundreds of millions of rupees held by some Indians have vanished with collapse of Japan-based Mt Gox, which was the world's largest bitcoin exchange so far.Having filed for bankruptcy, Mt Gox has admitted to have lost 7.5 million bitcoins of its customers and 100,000 of its own, which together are estimated to be worth about $0.5 billion (over Rs 30 billion).The exchange was predominantly used by foreigners,

Siemens has been awarded a contract valued at QAR 920 million ($253 million) by the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) for the further expansion of Qatar’s power supply system. The contract includes the construction of nine turnkey substations for Phase 11 of KAHRAMAA’s Qatar Power Transmission System Expansion project.The utility provider’s expansion project aims to ensure stable power supply to all sectors including households, business centers, shopping malls, hospitals and schools throughout the capital city Doha and its

Qatar Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the airline’s expansion into India will depend on whether the government will further open the nation’s skies after elections due by May.In January, India’s aviation ministry lifted a ban on Airbus Group NV (AIR)’s A380 from entering the country and allowed airlines to fly the double-decker planes to four airports, including New Delhi and Mumbai. Authorities also approved a deal for Etihad Airways PJSC to purchase a 24 percent stake

China’s credit-market gauges are triggering alarm bells, as banks grow cautious in lending to each other while investors prefer the safest government bonds.The spread between the two-year sovereign yield and the similar-maturity interest-rate swap, a gauge of financial stress, reached 121 basis points on Feb. 19, the widest in Bloomberg data going back to 2007. Two days later, the cost to lock in the three-month Shanghai interbank offered rate for one year reached an eight-month high of 94 basis points

Among the hundreds of soft drinks and beverages that were displayed at the Gulfood 2014, a unique cola brand attracted visitors.Dubai Cola is a carbonated soft drink mixed with pure Arabian dates and honey. “It is a revolution in the world of soft drinks,” claims the producer, who is expanding into other markets.It is now available in the UAE at various Emarat petrol stations and will be soon available in other convenient stores and Enoc/Eppco stations.Dubai Cola, from Dubai Cola

Increase in number of seats in flights between India and Dubai will allow for multiple choice of travel and cheap connections for Indian passengers, sectoral experts said."Enhancement of seat quotas with Dubai is a good thing for both countries. It will help enhance supply of seats, increase competition and help bring down fares," said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defense at global consultancy KPMG."The winter of 2014 may see the arrival of Emirates’ A380s which will

Manhattan Attorney Preet Bharara has sent subpoenas to Mt. Gox, other bitcoin exchanges, and businesses that deal in bitcoin to seek information on how they handled recent cyber attacks, a source familiar with the probe said on Wednesday.In the attacks - known as distributed denial of service attacks - hackers overwhelmed bitcoin exchanges by sending thousands of phantom transactions. At least three exchanges were forced to halt withdrawals of bitcoins on February 7, including Mt. Gox, which was the largest

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is set to welcome 11 international congresses in 2014, spanning a variety of industry sectors. When combined, these congresses will contribute an estimated US$32millon (AED117 million) to the city’s economy.The congresses will attract more than 12,000 international delegates, including global thought leaders in their respective fields, which include healthcare, transportation, legal and technology sectors.“Dubai’s position as a premier international business tourism destination has grown steadily over recent years, buoyed by our core focus on developing

Passenger traffic through Dubai International airport rose 15.1 percent from a year earlier to a record 6.40 million people in January, airport authorities said on Wednesday.The traffic was boosted by a seasonal rush of holiday makers into Dubai, as the emirate held the annual Dubai Shopping Festival.Cargo volumes in January totalled 197,021 tonnes, an increase of 4.5 percent.

India has decided to block investigations by the United States into its trade policies and patent laws and prepare for a battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could escalate already-strained tension between the two countries.New Delhi is furious about a threat of trade sanctions made by the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office over its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), preference for domestic producers and non-trade barriers.Ahead of a general election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government

JPMorgan Chase & Co. says investors should buy record-low yielding sukuk from Dubai-based port operator DP World Ltd. (DPW) and Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority FZE before credit ratings improve.The yield on DP World’s $1.5 billion Islamic bonds due July 2017 slid 61 basis points this year to 2.6 percent at 2:22 p.m. in Dubai, the lowest level since they were sold in 2007. The yield on Jafza’s sukuk maturing two years later fell 32 basis points. Moody’s Investors Service

Indian central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan warned that inflation remained the biggest threat to growth, diverging from the nation’s finance chief, who highlighted diminishing price pressures.A developing economy like India that is seeking higher growth rates can tolerate higher inflation than advanced nations, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in an interview in Sydney, where he was attending the Group of 20 meetings with Rajan. Chidambaram, who declined to say what level of consumer price gains would be appropriate, lauded a

Dubai's Union Properties said its board of directors had recommended increasing the cap on how much foreign investors can own in the developer to 25 percent.The firm did not say from what level it was raising the limit in its statement to the Dubai stock exchange. Foreigners currently own 4.35 percent of the company, according to bourse data.It is the latest move by companies in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to raise their limits on foreign ownership ahead of

 Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold.The transaction involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock and $3 billion in restricted stock that vests over several years. The WhatsApp deal is worth more than Facebook raised in its own IPO and underscores the social network's

DUBAI is poised to roll over a vital $10 billion debt facility with the central bank of the United Arab Emirates at a lower rate of interest, UK's Telegraph newspaper revealed.Rolling over the debt, which is due at the end of this week, will soothe lingering concerns over the emirate’s ability to service its immediate debts as it prepares to embark on another burst of infrastructure development ahead of hosting the World Expo 2020, it said.“The terms of the new

A subsidiary of Dubai-based builder Arabtec Holding has won a 1 billion dirham ($272 million) contract in Kazakhstan, Arabtec said on Wednesday.The subsidiary, EFECO, will carry out mechanical, electrical and plumbing work at the Abu Dhabi Plaza development in the Kazakh capital Astana.The development is under construction by a joint venture of Arabtec and Consolidated Contractors Co, under a 4 billion dirham contract with Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways, asking whether the Abu Dhabi-based carrier violated takeover rules in acquiring a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.SEBI issued the notice to Etihad on Wednesday and asked for a response on why it should not make a tender offer to Jet public shareholders as part of takeover rules, said the source.Etihad has been asked to

UAE telecom firm du has agreed terms on a $720 million loan which will be used to replace two existing debt facilities and lower the company's funding costs, two banking sources said on Sunday.The five-year loan will be provided by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia's Samba Financial Group, the sources who both have knowledge of the matter said. They spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.Du declined to comment

Emirates and Jetstar have announced an agreement which is set to open up new destinations for Emirates passengers across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia as the Dubai-based airline continues to connect people, places and passions.Emirates’ code will now be placed on a number of routes operated by Jetstar Airways in Australia and New Zealand and Jetstar Asia, giving passengers access to 27 new routes and six new destinations such as Bali in Indonesia, Byron Bay in Australia, Dunedin

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), the largest aircraft leasing firm in the Middle East, has ordered 20 turboprop commercial aircraft with an option for another 20 planes from French-Italian manufacturer ATR, the company said on Wednesday.DAE put the value of the purchase at $988 million."We aim to diversify our portfolio and expand into regional aircraft, to meet an increasing demand from airlines that are developing regional air connectivity," DAE managing director Khalifa AlDaboos said at the Singapore Airshow.The order by DAE

Dubai's Emirates flagship airline plans to ground 19 or 20 planes from May because of runway construction work at Dubai International Airport, the airline's president Tim Clark said on Monday.That number of planes represents roughly 10 percent of the airline's fleet of about 200 planes. The work is expected to be finished by July 20, Clark told reporters."It'll have an impact on the revenue. We will have to learn how to manage this," he said without elaborating.Passenger flows through the

The U.S. trade representative on Monday will announce a trade enforcement action tied to India, his office said, a move that could further rile relations after an incident last year involving the arrest and strip-search of an Indian consul.U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will discuss the action at a news conference at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), his office said on Sunday night. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it could offer no additional details.On Friday, the U.S. Chamber