Category: Economy

Abu Dhabi gave Etisalat a $500 million grant towards its 4.14 billion euro ($5.64 billion) purchase of 53 percent of Maroc Telecom, the company's prospectus for a planned bond issue shows.The grant provides further evidence of the emirate's support for its companies' foreign expansion and could attract complaints from rival operators.Fellow Abu Dhabi-based company Etihad Airways benefited from a $3 billion interest-free loan from the emirate's ruling family, the Australian Financial Review newspaper said last week, leading to complaints from

Even before his inauguration, India's Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi made waves on the global stage, where once he was treated by many with suspicion - and by some as a pariah - for a rash of Hindu-Muslim violence that erupted 12 years ago in Gujarat, the state he ruled.Modi, 63, has spoken with the presidents of the United States and Russia, and he has become one of only three people that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe follows on Twitter.

Indian-born economist Arvind Panagariya, who is widely expected to take a top advisory role in prime minister-elect Narendra Modi's government, wants its first budget to boost capital spending even at the risk of a higher fiscal deficit.Panagariya, 61, whose market-friendly, pro-growth economics has helped shape Modi's outlook, told Reuters in an interview that higher spending is critical to India's economic revival.Modi swept to power on May 16 on a promise of reviving an economy that is undergoing the worst slowdown

Investors built up the largest bullish bets on rupee in more than two years in recent weeks, while sentiment on the Thai baht turned the most sour in three months, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, as the countries' political fortunes turned in markedly different directions.Long positions in the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit rose to their highest levels in more than one year as their central banks took a hawkish stance and signalled policy rate increases may be

Etisalat, which this month bought a 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom, has scrapped an offer to buy the remaining shares in the Moroccan firm, the United Arab Emirates operator said on Friday.In a filing to Abu Dhabi's bourse, Etisalat said it had been exempted from making an offer to minority shareholders, which is usually required under Morocco's takeover rules.An Etisalat spokesman separately confirmed this meant the company had now abandoned a provisional offer submitted earlier this week to the

Emaar Properties, owner of the world’s biggest mall, hired HSBC Holdings and Emirates NBD  as bookrunners for the initial public offering of its retail arm, with Rothschild as financial adviser, five people familiar with the matter said.National Bank of Abu Dhabi and EFG Hermes Holding Co. will also be bookrunners on the sale of between 25 percent to 30 percent of the malls unit on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the people said, asking not to be identified as the

Islamic finance has been one of the fastest-growing sectors in global finance but the industry has yet to shake off perceptions about high costs and complexity that are holding back some issuers.Sukuk, or Islamic bonds that follow religious principles such as a ban on interest and speculation, are now a major funding tool for companies in the Middle East and southeast Asia, and are becoming increasingly attractive to sovereign issuers.Britain, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and South Africa all are keen to

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, who played a key role in Glencore International Plc’s takeover of Xstrata Plc, is returning to dealmaking a year after his ouster as prime minister and head of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.Sheikh Hamad is injecting 1.75 billion euros ($2.4 billion) into Deutsche Bank AG through his Paramount Holdings Services Ltd. investment vehicle, the Frankfurt-based bank said May 18. That follows an offer by his Al Mirqab Capital SPC vehicle for Jersey-based Heritage

King Abdullah has approved a five-year plan worth more than 80 billion riyals ($21.33 billion) to develop Saudi Arabia's education sector, state news agency SPA reported on Monday.The plan includes building 1,500 nurseries, providing training for about 25,000 teachers and establishing educational centers and other related projects, Education Minister Prince Khaled al-Faisal was cited by SPA as saying.The 80 billion riyals are in addition to what is being allocated annually to the education ministry, SPA said.The state education system's traditional

Bahrain's central bank is finalising rules for the supervision of sharia-compliant advisory firms, part of a wider overhaul of standards as the Gulf state steps up its efforts in Islamic finance.Having been a pioneer of the sector, Bahrain is now competing with other centres such as Dubai, London and Kuala Lumpur for Islamic finance business.The rules would help small Islamic finance institutions and fund managers to outsource the process of reviewing whether their activities are compliant with Islamic principles, said

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) will purchase a 25 percent stake in Indonesian Islamic lender Bank Panin Syariah, it said on Monday, as the United Arab Emirates-based bank looks to expand into the world's most populous Muslim nation.Under the agreement, DIB - the largest Islamic bank in the UAE - will "jointly manage and operate" Bank Panin Syariah along with parent Bank Pan Indonesia, which will remain a controlling shareholder, it said in a Dubai bourse filing.DIB Chief Executive Adnan Chilwan

Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN has "no current plans" for a stock market flotation, its chief executive said on Sunday, following comments from its parent company that an initial share sale was expected to happen this year.OSN has operations across the Middle East and North Africa and annual revenue currently around $700 million. Last year, brokerage Arqaam Capital valued the company at $4.3 billion.Kuwait Projects Co (KIPCO) owns 60.5 percent of OSN and in March KIPCO deputy chairman of Kuwait

Qatar Investment Authority is acquiring joint control of a group of luxury hotels in five European cities including the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes and Amsterdam’s Amstel InterContinental.The Qatari sovereign wealth fund’s Katara Hospitality unit is also taking joint control of InterContinental hotels in Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome, according to a notice on the website of the European Commission’s competition authority. The hotels are managed by and will continue to be jointly controlled by the U.K.’s InterContinental Hotels Group Plc. (IHG)Qatar

Saudi Arabian Mining Co will seek shareholder approval for a 5.6 billion riyal ($1.49 billion) rights issue to help to fund its expansion plans, the company said on Thursday.The company, better known as Ma'aden, intends to use the money to expand its phosphate and gold operations, as well as increase funding for its aluminium business, it said in a bourse filing, adding that a date for the shareholder vote would be announced later.Ma'aden is in the middle of an extensive

General Motors Co said on Thursday it has issued five more recalls, covering almost 3 million vehicles globally, and is expected to take a charge of up to $200 million.Still dealing with fallout from the recall of defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths, the No. 1 U.S. automaker said the largest of the latest recalls covers more than 2.7 million cars for tail lamp malfunctions, including the Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura cars.The other four

Middle East borrowers are increasingly weighing Australian-dollar bonds as they seek to tap one of the world’s biggest sources of pension funds, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.Three regional lenders including National Bank of Abu Dhabi sold A$1.05 billion ($984 million) of debt this year, known as Kangaroo bonds, compared with two sales in 2013 for A$475 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.“We expect to see further transactions from Middle Eastern issuers,” Mustafa Aziz Ata, HSBC’s head of debt capital

Emirates' ground services unit Dnata is "very interested" in acquiring the world's largest in-flight catering business from Lufthansa, if it is put up for sale again, Dnata's president said on Tuesday.Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline by revenue, had put LSG Sky Chefs up for sale in 2012 but then abandoned the plans."They have said they are not ready to sell," Gary Chapman,told reporter on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai."But there's a change in the leadership at Lufthansa and maybe

|By TAP Staff| Analysts have estimated that at least $1.5 billion in net new money would flow into the stock markets of UAE and Qatar after the upgrade of the two exchanges by MSCI by the end of this month.Turnover in both countries’ stock markets has doubled this year and at least some of the meteoric performance has to owe to anticipation of the change.On 24 April, MSCI indicated that it may apply an adjustment factor to the weights of a

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said domestic banks will be allowed to offer structured derivatives through their overseas branches even if these products are currently not allowed in India.The change marks a revision from rules passed in 2008 that mandated domestic lenders had to consult with the central bank before offering complex derivative products not allowed at home to overseas customers.Offshore branches of Indian banks will need to offer these products in "established financial centres" the RBI said,

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) will introduce a pre-closing period to its trading sessions from May 14 that will make closing prices more predictable and eliminate large last-minute swings, the bourse said on Sunday.DFM said the move was timed to come ahead of the inclusion of the United Arab Emirates in the list of emerging markets by index compiler MSCI at the end of this month, which is expected to bring more foreign investors to the market.Under the new rule, orders

The Dubai business community has been significantly more optimistic during the first quarter of 2014, compared to the same period of the previous year. Optimism is especially high among manufacturing and services firms, according to the quarterly business survey conducted by the Department of Economic Development.The composite Business Confidence Index for Dubai stood at 135.5 points in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 22.4 points from the first quarter of 2013. New projects expected as a result of

|By TAP Staff|Traditionally renowned for its love of fragrances, the Middle East region continues to be one of the key focus areas for international fragrance brands.With research from leading analysts Euromonitor International indicating that per capita consumption of premium fragrances in key markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE overshadows that of markets such as the US and the UK, it’s not surprising that the countries of the GCC are on international perfumers’ high-priority lists.Consumers in Saudi Arabia spent

SolarReserve, a closely held U.S. power plant developer,  is studying whether to bid for a 100 megawatt facility in Dubai and looking at projects in Jordan, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith said in an interview in Dubai.The company expects to hear by the end of the year whether it, GDF Suez (GSZ) unit International Power Ltd. and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar have won the right to build a 100-megawatt solar-tower plant in Morocco.Business in the Persian Gulf available for developers is

[caption id="attachment_5340" align="alignleft" width="300"] Jignesh Shah (left), Vice- Chairman, along with Joseph Massey, MD & CEO, at the MCX Stock Exchange at a press conference in Mumbai in 2012[/caption]Financial Technologies (India) Ltd.  slumped by its trading limit in Mumbai after Chairman Jignesh Shah was arrested by the police as part of an investigation into the biggest payment default in India’s commodity market.The shares fell 5 percent to 276.30 rupees, the lowest close since Feb. 13. Multi Commodity Exchange of India

One year into the delivery of Dubai’s ‘Tourism Vision for 2020,’ significant first steps have been taken to achieve the target of attracting 20 million annual visitors by 2020, leading the emirate’s tourism authority to state a new ambition: for Dubai to become the world’s most visited city. If a growth rate similar to that achieved in 2013 is maintained – a 10.6 percent year-on-year increase equating to 11 million hotel guests – Dubai will achieve its Tourism Vision targets.

Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange plans to sell shares in an initial public offering as the Arab world’s largest bourse seeks to gradually open up to foreigners and boost institutional investment.Tadawul, as the gauge is known, will hire advisers soon for the share sale, Chief Executive Officer Adel Al Ghamdi said at a conference in Riyadh today. That would make it the second market in the Gulf Cooperation Council to go public after Dubai’s.“The Saudi stock exchange is going through tremendous

|By TAP Staff|The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), owner of many of Dubai’s corporate jewels, such as the Emirates airline and the airport duty-free business, said its revenues grew 18 percent to $24.8 billion in the second half of 2013.The numbers were revealed in the prospectus released in connection with the plan to raise about $750m in its first Islamic bond issue.The latest full-year revenue figure for 2012 stood at $43.8 billion, the equivalent of around half of Dubai’s gross

HSBC Holdings, the biggest manager of bond sales in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, expects debt issues in the region to raise as much as $40 billion in 2014, almost matching last year’s total.Sales will start to catch up with 2013 volumes in the next two months, Mustafa Aziz Ata, head of Middle East and North Africa debt capital markets at the London-based bank, said in an interview in Dubai yesterday. Volume dropped 35 percent to $11.4 billion in 2014

Dubai will not have any issues in repaying all its debt maturing in 2015, and more state-linked firms are likely to repay obligations ahead of schedule, a top government official said on Tuesday."We will have no issues in repaying debt coming up next year," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, a close advisor and uncle to Dubai's ruler.Sheikh Ahmed, a key figure in the emirate's recovery from its 2009 debt crisis, was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a

Low cost airline 'flydubai' will start its flights from Dubai to three Indian cities, including Delhi, from next month, doubling the number of its destinations in India.flydubai will start flights to Thiruvanthapuram, Kochi and Delhi from Dubai, taking the number of its services to six Indian cities, airline Chief Executive Officer Gaithal Gaith said here today.From June 1, the airline will start a four times a week service linking Delhi and Dubai, while three times a week service linking

Having built a reputation on high-end luxury and opulence, Dubai is getting a makeover with some more affordable, one might even say cheaper, accommodation options.International hotel chains have wizened up to the need for mid-range hotels in a city that has built a reputation on excess. Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. on Monday brought its Hyatt Place brand to the Middle East, opening the hotel in older area of Dubai called Deira. Hilton Worldwide  also opened a Double-Tree Hotel in the

Emirates, the No. 1 international airline, won’t be asked to move to Dubai’s new super-hub until 2024, avoiding disruption to its growth as it takes delivery of the world’s biggest fleet of wide-body jets.The sheikdom’s Al Maktoum airport, which opened in October and is targeting a capacity of 228 million passengers at a cost of 156.8 billion dirhams ($43 billion), should instead become an interim base for local low-cost carrier FlyDubai, according to the preferred scenario of a government-sponsored strategy

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways on Sunday said its strategy of buying stakes in European airlines was bringing fresh competition to the region, despite close scrutiny by regulators over whether its investments comply with European ownership rules. State-owned Etihad is building up a network of minority stakes in airlines around the world as it seeks to drive traffic to its Abu Dhabi hub. "We are bringing competition in the market. Some legacy carriers are using the European Commission to challenge us rather than

Emaar Economic City plans to raise 1 billion riyals ($267 million) to help finance construction of the King Abdullah Economic City and will spend 13 billion riyals developing the Saudi Arabian project over the next four years.The company, a unit of Dubai-based Emaar Properties, expects to arrange the loans from two or three banks before the end of 2016, Fahd Al Rasheed, chief executive officer of Emaar Economic City, said in an interview in Dubai today.“Our business plan doesn’t call