Category: Economy

A small number of well-established insurers are reaping the benefits of the fast-growing insurance markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in a review.Meanwhile, inflated valuations and a reluctance to relinquish control are preventing smaller insurers from consolidating. In trying to avoid reporting losses, we believe revenue-starved insurers could distort market pricing for all.Insurance in the GCC region continues to benefit from generally robust economic growth because the considerable hydrocarbon wealth of the GCC

By Shuchita Kapur The average score of some schools in the UAE have beaten the UK’s average of the A-level results.Following the British curriculum, the average score of Dubai British School (DBS), a Taleem school, outshines the average result of students in the UK this year. “We have exceeded this year’s UK average on all levels,” a spokesperson for the school told Emirates 24|7.Now, these proud and happy students are busy preparing their onward journey to universities across the world, with prestigious

By Parag Deulgaonkar Emirates 24/7A post on a social networking site by an ‘unknown’ developer launching a new project in Downtown Dubai has led to over 40 real estate brokerage firms scrambling to get details.And that’s not just it. A few brokers claim in their response to the post that they even have investors ready to buy the project off plan.Though the developer name is kept secret, the post reads: “We are a developer and we are launching our new development in

Dubai is all set to achieve 665,000 aircraft movements' target by 2020 and expects nearly nine per cent growth in 2013 over 2012, according to a top government official.The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) is projecting 375,000 aircraft movement for the Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central (DWC) in 2013, compared to 344,656 in 2012. In the first half of 2013, the aircraft movement increased by 7.4 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.The growth rate of

The Sultanate's construction sector is expected to grow by 8.4 per cent to OMR1.7 billion, according to a research report released by Business Monitor International.The BMI in its report estimated a real growth of 11.9 per cent year-on-year for 2012, with industry value reaching OMR1.5 billion.The Omani construction and infrastructure sectors have defied global recession trends thanks to backing from oil-fuelled state coffers.The Central Bank of Oman report shows that over the first half of 2012, construction industry value was

NEW DELHI—Iran said Friday Tehran and New Delhi are trying to resolve a dispute over an Indian oil tanker that Iranian naval authorities detained this week alleging that the vessel was polluting Iranian waters.India had denied Iran's allegation, with the country's Shipping Ministry Chief Surveyor Amitava Banerjee saying that Iran had detained the vessel without "provocation." State-run Shipping Corp. of India Ltd., the tanker's owner, said Thursday the tanker, carrying crude oil from Iraq to India, wasn't in the vicinity

AMMAN -- Representatives of IT companies in Jordan said they will be forced to move their headquarters out of the Kingdom if a proposed income tax law is endorsed.They said the increase in electricity prices this week and the government's intention to increase IT companies' income tax from 14 per cent to 25 per cent will be "disastrous", making Jordan no longer an ICT hub."The situation is worrying and intolerable," Fadi Qutaishat, vice president for sales and marketing at Globitel,

Saudi Arabia is currently working to develop its trade and investment laws with the intent of wooing more foreign direct investments and settling disputes between foreign investors and their local partners. Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the country's investment facilitator, spearheads the move by adding some points of explanation in the current law in addition to putting a set of new conditions. The Kingdom encourages successful investment projects as they can create more jobs for Saudis, said one SAGIA

The commodities sector looks set for a relatively benign near-term future according to Saxo Bank, the multi-asset trading and investment specialist.Gold and silver should see a mild recovery over the next quarter and oil looks set to remain at current levels, struggling to push past previous highs. Any expectation that WTI crude will re-establish its historical premium over Brent looks improbable.Saxo Bank believes that changing supply and demand fundamentals are creating strong headwinds for commodities. Due to optimal growth conditions

By Jeanette Rodrigues & Ye Xie - Aug 14Bloomberg: India increased efforts to stem the rupee’s plunge and stop capital outflows that are pushing the economy towards its biggest crisis in more than two decades.The Reserve Bank of India, whose Governor Duvvuri Subbarao steps down next month, cut the amount local companies can invest overseas without seeking approval to 100 percent of their net worth, from 400 percent, according to a statement late yesterday. Residents can remit $75,000 a year

The total value of ongoing projects in the GCC region currently stands at $2.62 trillion, with the Kingdom accounting for $875 billion. The Kingdom’s strong construction market is being driven by government spending and high oil prices, according to a recent Global Investment House report. For 2013, the Kingdom budgeted $219 billion for spending, up by 18.8 percent, year-on-year, from 2012. Out of this, almost $76 billion has been set aside for capital expenditure on investment projects, the report added. “The Kingdom remains

NEW DELHI – India, the world's biggest buyer of gold, raised duties Tuesday on bullion imports for the third time this year as it battles to narrow a record trade gap and stabilize the rupee.The government increased the customs duty on gold to a record 10 percent from eight percent as it strives to break the country's love affair with the precious metal.The announcement boosted the Indian currency half a rupee from near lifetime lows to end the day at

The stock of GCC bonds (both conventional and sukuk) increased healthily during the first six months of the year, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) report said.Private sector issuance maintained a strong pace, dominating the GCC's fixed income activity, driven by the non-financial sector, which also experienced its best six months yet.The stock of outstanding GCC fixed income instruments rose to 239.8 billion at the end of 1H13. The balance of outstanding bonds was up 19.2 billion thus far in

A study conducted by an international agency on the Omani labour market has recommended Omanisation target of 45% in the retailing industry. Mohammed bin Abdul Hussain Al Lawati, Head of the Joint Omanisation Committee of the retail sector, said the Committee was seeking to provide 11,000 additional jobs in the retail sector by 2015.He said that monitoring the labour market was not an easy job because the private sector operates on a completely differently work culture as compared to the

BEIJING/MOSCOW (Reuters) - China's biggest energy firm PetroChina will join Exxon Mobil in developing Iraq's giant West Qurna oilfield and is in talks with Lukoil to buy into a second project at the field, industry sources said on Friday.China is already the top foreign player in Iraq's southern oilfields and a deal at West Qurna would boost its dominance and could make PetroChina the biggest single foreign investor.PetroChina partners BP at Rumaila, Iraq's biggest oilfield, and operates the Halfaya field.

Dubai’s business community are more upbeat on the emirate’s economy than they were a year ago, according to the latest business confidence survey released by Department of Economic Development (DED).The department’s latest quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) reached 120.7 points for the second quarter of 2013 – up 14.6 per cent points on the same period last year.The index has also risen by 6.7 points between the first and second quarters of this year.According to the results of the latest

Aug 9 (Reuters) - North America's shale boom is insulating the world from steep oil price spikes as several OPEC members struggle to maintain production due to unrest and infrastructure problems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.The agency, consulting developed nations on energy policies, said key among those disruptions were Libya and Iraq where violence has already steeply curtailed output. Upcoming work on key Iraqi terminals could further upset oil buyers in Europe, Asia and the United States."Officially,

By Peter SchiffI've been emphasizing for months that the current correction in the gold price is a result of speculative money fleeing the market and not any reflection of gold's long-term fundamentals.Unfortunately, there is so much money to be made (and lost) by day trading that my cautions have once again fallen on deaf ears.Well, it looks like the so-called "technicals" are starting to support my theory, and so this month I'm going to depart from my typical discussion of

(Reuters) - Lebanon needs to spend at least $20 billion to improve its basic infrastructure otherwise the high growth the country has been witnessing will "dwindle and vanish," the economy and trade minister said on Wednesday.[gallery]Lebanon is famous for its robust service-oriented sectors, but many investors are discouraged from setting up businesses in a country where power cuts are frequent, road networks beyond the capital are insufficient and communication lines are slow.The 8 percent average growth Lebanon has seen for

(Reuters) - India's economy will grow at its slowest pace in a decade this fiscal year, with tight monetary policy, political gridlock and a weakening global economy prompting analysts to slash their forecasts, a Reuters poll showed.Even as growth falters, the rupee has been hitting all-time lows against the dollar, the government is struggling with bloated fiscal and current account deficits and inflation has remained stubbornly high, giving policymakers less room to manoeuvre.Gross domestic product in India is now expected

MADRID (Reuters) - Hundreds of unemployed Spaniards who had walked hundreds of kilometers (miles) to Madrid joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government and its handling of an economic crisis.Demonstrations have swollen across Spain since the center-right government announced 65 billion euros ($79 billion) in new spending cuts two weeks ago to cut its deficit and avert a full-blown bailout, with firefighters and police joining a mass protest on Thursday. Several hundred people journeyed on foot from the

Treasury yields fell close to all- time lows as an almost insatiable desire for the safest assets amid signs global growth is stalling helped the U.S. draw record rates at 10- and 30-year debt auctions.U.S. government debt rallied for a third consecutive week as Europe’s economy slipped toward its second recession in three years amid a worsening debt crisis, lower-than-forecast growth in China and the Federal Reserve disappointing some traders looking for a hint of more stimulus. Fed Chairman Ben

PARIS—Investors abandoned Peugeot SA in droves Friday, driving its share price to its lowest level in over a quarter century, as a potential credit downgrade and a worsening outlook for the European car market overshadowed the company's plans to shed 8% of its French workforce.Moody's Investors Service Inc. warned Friday that it will study a possible lowering of Peugeot's debt rating because of the worsening cash position at the car maker despite its announcement Thursday that it will cut 8,000

Despite the recent run of disappointing economic data, a broad range of experts and forecasters expect the economy to improve slightly in coming months, thanks to lower oil prices and new signs of life from sectors like automobile sand housing.Call it a firming up, if not quite a comeback.Economists at many of the most-watched forecasting organizations, both public and private, expect growth to pick up through the summer and into the fall, although only to a pace broadly considered sluggish,