Category: Economy

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest bank, raised its estimates for economic growth in the United Arab Emirates this year to 4.4 percent, aided by an increase in oil output.The forecast was raised from 3.8 percent, putting the second-biggest Arab economy on track for a higher growth rate than Saudi Arabia for the first time in at least four years, according to the bank’s quarterly economic report released yesterday. Emirates NBD lowered its forecast for Saudi economic growth to 3.9 percent from

Dana Gas PJSC (DANA), a United Arab Emirates fuel producer, began arbitration proceedings in London on rights and money owed from an oil development contract it signed with the Kurdistan regional government of Iraq in 2007.The proceedings at the London Court of International Arbitration relate to outstanding receivables owed by the Kurdish government, Dana Gas said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse today. The company, along with majority shareholder Crescent Petroleum Co. and subsidiary Pearl Petroleum Co., also

Hong Kong restaurant owner Hudson Chang says he can’t lower the bar much further for hiring staff.He warns his employees repeatedly about sending messages on their iPhones during work hours. He pleads with them to be more pleasant to customers. Still, he can’t afford to fire anyone: He can’t be sure of finding a replacement. “We don’t really have much choice,” said Chang, 39, owner of a venue called Indonesian Restaurant 1968 on the outskirts of the central business district. “I’m

Dubai's Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) is hosting global investor calls  as it revives plans to issue a US dollar-denominated hybrid bond it originally marketed in May.The company operates Carrefour stores across the Middle East.The potential bond, which could become the Gulf's first international hybrid to be issued by a corporate borrower, will be callable after the first five years.The coupon on the bond will step up by 25bp in year 10 and by an additional 75bp in year 25, according

Oman's Galfar Engineering and Contracting GECS.OM said on Sunday that its managing director had resumed work after being questioned by authorities.On October 10, Galfar had said its managing director was called for questioning by "concerned authorities"; it did not provide the name of the executive or any additional details, such as why the executive was questioned.Its brief statement on Sunday did not give any further information.Galfar is a major construction company in Oman and has worked on several key projects

Hosting World Expo 2020, which requires $7 billion in capital spending, will put relatively little financial pressure on Dubai’s government, EFG-Hermes said.Wael Ziada, head of research at EFG-Hermes, said Dubai’s budgeted $7 billion in capital spending for the Expo bid includes $1.4 billion for a metro extension, most of which is likely to be spent towards the end of the decade.In a research report, Ziada argued that Expo 2020 is a good fit with Dubai’s existing strengths.He said the emirate’s economy

Dahabshiil Holdings Ltd., a Somali company that provides access for overseas citizens to send money there, asked a U.K. court to stop Barclays Plc (BARC) from closing its bank account.The bank gave a “dearth of detail” on its decision, Alan Maclean, a lawyer for Dahabshiil, said at a hearing in London today. The bank’s dominant position in the market for remittances means it will breach competition law if it closes the account, he argued.Barclays said in May it would end its business with Dubai-based

Dubai held first place worldwide as the most attractive destination, getting 13 out of 15 points, according to a recent survey on global tourist destinations.London also got the same ranking.The survey, which was conducted by Britain’s Dealchecker Blog and saw the participation of 1.2 million respondents, was based on a range of basic standards for determining the points and rank of each city.These include the city’s power to attract celebrities, the number of clients for 5-star hotels, charming landscapes and

Dubai International Financial Centre  is relying on economic growth prospects in Africa and South Asia as it adds buildings with a value of 15 billion dirhams ($4.1 billion) over a decade.DIFC, whose clients include global banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), is seeing a surge in demand from Asian companies and from clients who are using Dubai as a platform to expand into Africa, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Singer said. Dubai is home to one of the world’s

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), owner of the world’s biggest refinery complex, reported the slowest profit growth in four quarters after refining margins declined.Net income rose 1.5 percent to 54.9 billion rupees ($894 million), or 17 rupees a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 54.1 billion rupees, or 16.70 rupees, a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing yesterday. That beat the 54.2 billion-rupee median of 25 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales increased 15 percent to

International Finance Corp., the World Bank’s investment arm, plans to sell a record $1 billion of rupee bonds offshore to fund its investments as India struggles to lure capital amid the slowest growth in a decade.The bond sale aims to “attract greater foreign investment in a time of renewed economic uncertainty across the world,” the Washington-based IFC said in a statement yesterday. The so-called synthetic debt is settled in foreign currencies and allows investors to profit from rupee interest rates.

A stampede by competing apartment buyers in Dubai this week may have obscured signs that Dubai's latest real estate boom is more restrained than the last one, which pushed the government close to default.Dubai's property spree in the middle of the last decade was built precariously on bank loans, spelling disaster for indebted developers when prices eventually crashed. The crisis shook financial markets around the world.This time, both developers and investors have less access to loans from banks, which have

One of the key pieces left in Dubai’s real estate regulations — an investor protection law — will soon slot into place. Top officials from the Dubai Land Department late last month made it clear that the Law (also known as Tanweer) and its provisos was on the cusp of being issued and that all options to “safeguard investor rights” have been incorporated.With Dubai’s property values being where they are right now, the authorities are on much firmer ground when

Dubai developer Nakheel will restart work on one of the three palm-shaped islands that came to symbolise the excesses of the emirate's boom years, three industry sources told Reuters, in a sign the Gulf state is bouncing back from its financial crisis.The sources said Nakheel, which was taken over by the government as part of a $16 billion rescue plan completed in 2011, would soon announce it had restarted work on the Palm Deira project.The firm finished only one of

Kuwait's new finance minister has issued a stinging criticism of the country's bloated administration and bureaucratic red tape, saying the economy cannot continue growing robustly in the long term if they are not reformed.The comments by Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah, carried by state news agency KUNA on Monday, were his first extensive public policy statement since he took his job in August.Sheikh Salem left the central bank last year after 25 years as its governor, protesting against a rapid rise

Family-owned Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor Group said on Monday that it was launching a $3 billion real estate development in the emirate that would include 3,000 hotel and residential units as well as a water-themed theatre.The group, whose operations span the hospitality, construction, education and automotive sectors, said it expected about 20,000 people would visit Al Habtoor City every day.Chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor told reporters that the group would use its own resources to finance the project, which would be

Cityscape Global, the annual real-estate exhibition in Dubai, is seeing a large increase in exhibitors and floor space this year as the emirate’s market recovers.Developers are gearing up to announce a number of large projects around the show, he says. A lot of the new activity centers around Mohammed bin Rashid City, a huge swath of desert that Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, announced would be developed last November. A joint venture between Dubai’s Meydan Group and

Chemical warfare and car bombings are just a few of the hazards working in war-torn countries such as Iraq and Syria. For Supreme Group BV, it’s the cost of doing business.Dubai-based Supreme delivers fuel and food -- 100,000 meals a day -- to troops stationed in some of the most inhospitable parts of the world, including Liberia, Mali and Sudan. The perilous business, where contractors dodge bullets fired by the Taliban and explosives set by insurgents, has made the company’s

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's  retail plans with India partner Bharti Enterprises are "not tenable" and both sides are looking for the best way to move forward, an executive with the U.S. retailer told Reuters.Wal-Mart was expected to make a decision on its Indian retail plans later this month and Bharti will accordingly decide if those plans match its overall retail ambitions."We created a franchise in retail with Bharti in the hopes that there could be a potential freeing up (of foreign

The HSBC Holdings  unit once known as Household International Inc. lost its bid to undo a 2009 securities fraud trial verdict and is liable for about $1.5 billion in damages plus interest, a judge ruled.U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago today denied the lender’s motions for a new trial or a decision in its favor and ordered plaintiffs’ lawyers to submit a proposed final judgment within five days.“This court expressly determines that there is no just reason for delay

J. Safra Sarasin Group, a Swiss private bank, is shutting its Indian joint venture after it was unable to build significant scale in a competitive market hit by slowing economic growth, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.India remains a difficult market for global wealth managers, who were drawn by its longer-term prospects only to find revenues being squeezed by cut-throat competition, high staff costs and subdued markets.Opportunities for growth in India have also been limited by regulations that

Gold analysts are bullish for a third consecutive week on speculation that the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years and a standoff over raising the country’s debt limit will spur demand for the metal as a haven.Eighteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, eight are bearish and four neutral. That’s the longest positive run since July. Bullion capped a 7.6 percent gain last quarter, the first in a year, as the U.S. Federal Reserve unexpectedly

International funds selling investments in the UAE plan to lobby financial regulators to ease new product registration fees which they complain are much higher than the charges on local operators and could run into tens of thousands of dollars."You do not create an efficient and competitive landscape by charging different amounts for local and international firms," said one Dubai-based head of a global asset management firm who asked not to be identified."That too, at such huge disparities."The SCA has listened

President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock that has shut down wide swaths of the federal government, but there was no breakthrough.After more than an hour of talks, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama refused to negotiate, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of trying to hold the president hostage over Obamacare.Reid said Obama told Republicans "he will

Reserve Bank of India data showed the highest ratio of short-term external debt to currency reserves in more than a decade, raising alarm bells at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc.The $97 billion maturing in less than a year amounted to 34.3 percent of reserves as of June 30, the highest since at least March 2001, RBI figures released Sept. 30 show. The ratio was 146.5 percent during a balance-of-payments crisis in March 1991, according to the report’s

Dubai, which roiled markets with its request to delay $25 billion of debt payments in 2009, faces the prospect of rising borrowing costs if it succeeds in a bid to hold the Expo 2020 World Fair, Bank of America Corp. said.The emirate needs about 26 billion dirhams ($7.1 billion) of infrastructure spending to host the event, HSBC Holdings Plc analyst Patrick Gaffney said by phone. At the same time, Dubai has approximately $42 billion of debt coming due over the

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have hired banks to advise on a possible merger of their two main stock exchanges, a state-backed deal that could energise financial markets in the United Arab Emirates, sources familiar with the plan said.Any merger of the exchanges would be one of the biggest reforms in the country's financial industry in recent years; by making it easier for investors to operate across the markets, it could stimulate trade and attract more foreign investment.Talks on a tie-up

Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the country's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has bought NYSE Euronext's 12 percent stake in the Qatar Exchange, the Doha-based bourse said in a statement on Tuesday.The deal, for which a price was not revealed, makes Qatar Holding the sole owner of Qatar Exchange, which operates the country's securities market.QIA and NYSE Euronext signed a strategic partnership deal in June 2009 aiming to develop Qatar Exchange into a world-class market under which

Dubai International airport, which is being expanded to handle 90 million passengers a year, could be shut to boost traffic at a new super-hub under construction in the sheikdom with as much as twice that capacity.Dubai Airports won’t retain the existing base if owning two hubs hampers the take up of flights at its new Al Maktoum site, and could find “alternative purposes” for the prime real estate, Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths said in an interview.The airport authority is

Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door."I can't believe we have our own child at last," said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle."We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant and kept our little daughter healthy. She gave nine months of her life to give

The hospital sector is capable of yielding four times of the revenue generated by the hotel industry for the same amount of investment, a leading hospital management expert told the Hotel Show Dubai 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday.The cost of putting up a hospital bed is almost the same as the cost of creating a room in a five-star hotel, but there is a huge difference in the revenue potential of the two, he pointed out.The

Cash-rich Asian and Middle Eastern lenders are taking a larger share of the $100 billion global aircraft financing market as Western rivals step back due to the liquidity crunch and stricter regulations, a top executive at Airbus  said.European commercial banks, previously the primary funding source for airlines, have substantially cut their exposure to the aviation sector after the continent's debt crisis, leaving a funding gap for fast-growing airlines in emerging markets, said Francois Collet, vice president for structured finance at

Dubai government-owned property developer Nakheel said on Sunday it had sold town houses worth about 460 million dirhams ($125.24 million) in its Warsan Village project."As expected we witnessed a big response to the residential units

Fund managers in the Middle East are set to pump more money into Saudi Arabia over coming months but may withdraw some funds from Dubai because of concern its red-hot market has risen too fast, a Reuters survey showed.  The survey of 16 leading Middle East-based investment institutions, the first of its kind in the region, was conducted over the past 10 days by Trading Middle East, a Reuters forum for market professionals. The survey was launched in September and