|By Matein Khalid| The epic political dramas of last week (Aunty Theresa’s Brexit plan was rejected by the House of Commons but she managed to survive a no-confidence vote by a narrow margin) strengthened the British pound, exactly as I had expected. Yet sterling has not managed to rise above 1.30 to the US dollar in the past two months and now trades at its lowest levels […]
It is now far too dangerous to short the British pound, another fabulously profitable short since its fateful 1.50 high against the US dollar the night of the June 2016 referendum. The UK Foreign Secretary shocked me when he publicly warned that voting down Mrs. May’s deal to exit the EU would scrap Brexit. Sterling rose to 1.2850 on reports that the Tory Cabinet in Downing Street […]
By James M. Dorsey Traditionally focussed on ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam, Saudi funding in the era of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has been streamlined and finetuned to ensure that it serves his geopolitical ambitions, primarily stymying the expansion of Iranian influence in the Middle East and North Africa and enhancing the kingdom’s global impact. The effort, however, has so far produced a mixed bag. Spending is […]
By James M. Dorsey This month’s inauguration of a fibreoptic cable linking Pakistan with China could prove to be a double-edged sword. Constructed by Chinese conglomerate Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, the cable is likely to enhance both Pakistan’s information communication technology infrastructure as well as the influence of Chinese authoritarianism at a moment that basic freedoms in Pakistan are on the defensive. The $44 million, 820-kilometre underground Pak-China Fibre […]
By James M. Dorsey Nothing in a swath of land stretching from the Atlantic coast of Africa to China is undisputed. Food is often emblematic of disputes over identity, history and political claims that underlie an arc of crisis wracked by ethnic and religious conflict; clamour for political, economic, social, national and minority rights; efforts by states and ethnic groups to garner soft power or assert hegemony, […]
By Matein Khalid A dismal legacy of civil war, sanctions, insurgency, foreign invasion and terrorism has had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the assembled global elite at Davos 2018 that Iraq needed $100 billion in postwar construction. Yet money alone will not solve Iraq’s problems of systemic corruption, a society divided by sectarian cleavages, poverty, the displacement of 2 million […]
By James M. Dorsey Stepped up Saudi efforts to forge close diplomatic, economic and cultural ties to Shia-majority Iraq in a bid to counter significant Iranian influence in the country appear to be paying off. The Saudi initiative demonstrates the kingdom’s ability to engage rather than exclusively pursue a muscular, assertive and confrontational policy towards the Islamic republic and its perceived allies. It raises the question whether […]
Carillion, the British company building a number of high profile construction projects across the Gulf region, including building part of the infrastructure for Qatar 2022 World Cup, has collapsed. The implications of the development on the Qatar World Cup are yet unknown. British media reported that Carillion collapse is one of the UK’s biggest corporate failures, leaving the future of some of its Middle Eastern projects unclear. The […]
By Saifur Rahman Indian investors top the list of foreign nationals with Dh15.6 billion investment in Dubai’s real estate in 2017, according to Dubai Land Department. Although this is higher compared to Dh12 billion invested by Indian nationals in Dubai’s real estate in 2016, this is still lower compared to the peak figure of Dh20 billion invested by Indian nationals in 2015, Dubai Land Department statistics show. Indians […]
|By Matein Khalid|The rise in Brent crude to $60 a barrel and the trade volume ballast generated by the world’s first post Lehman synchronized economic recovery is hugely positive for UAE economic growth in 2018. After all, the UAE is unique because Abu Dhabi’s 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves is complemented by Dubai’s role as the Gulf’s financial, logistics, aviation, shopping and services hub. The […]
|By Matein Khalid|I am often asked by investors to articulate my “philosophy” of real estate investing. Tough question. My ideal deal is one where it is possible to buy brick and mortar assets at 60 – 70% of replacement cost. This usually occurs in the aftermath of a banking crisis or economic shock. This was the case in Florida homes in 2009 or Spanish office space in […]
|By Matein Khalid| US and global equities surged on news of the US House of Representatives pass the tax reform bill, Cisco and Walmart posted blowout earnings and a potential bidding war emerged for Fox’s media assets. The rally on Thursday followed a week of carnage in the US high yield debt markets, flattening of the US Treasury yield curve and losses in the major stock market indices worldwide. […]
|By Matein Khalid|Emaar Properties will sell 20% of its UAE development portfolio in an initial public offering in November. This is the first IPO in the UAE capital markets in the last three years and follows bellwether offerings such as Emaar Malls and Emaar Misr. Emaar’s Dubai development’s adjusted net value is 24.1 UAE dirhams and I would not be surprised if the post IPO revalues the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai-based Azizi Developments has announced the launch of a new mega community project in the heart of Dubai at an estimated cost of AED25 billion. The new mega project, whose name is yet to be announced, will have a distinctly British feel, with themes and elements influenced by contemporary British culture and way of living, thge company announced. The development will comprise residential, […]
|By Matein Khalid| Jamie Dimon, the unanointed king of Wall Street and chief executive of New York banking colossus J.P. Morgan did not mince his words. He called Bitcoin “a fraud”, a speculative bubble comparable to the Dutch tulip mania of the seventeenth century and declared he would fire any trader at his bank trading in the cryptocurrency “in a second” for “stupidity”. This has only reinforced the […]
|By F R Chowdhury| Myanmar (previously known as Burma) is a vast country of 676,550 sq. km. or 261,217 sq. miles on the north-east coast of Bay of Bengal. Basically it is between Bangladesh and Thailand though it has also long common border with India and China. Its population is only about 49 million. Majority are Buddhists. Next large population is ethnic Bengali Muslims and a small percentage […]
|By Matein Khalid| Trump’s post Charlottesville remarks, the Barcelona terrorist attacks and Cisco’s results unnerved the US stock market bulls last week. Friday was a surreal moment in the history of Wall Street. It was entirely rational for traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor to cheers and the Dow Jones Index rise 150 points when news broke that Trump had fired his alt-right, white nationalist chief strategist […]
|By Saifur Rahman| Remittance by foreign workers in the UAE rose 7.6 per cent to US$43.81 billion (Dh160.8 billion) in 2016, up from US$40.73 billion (Dh149.5 billion) in 2015, according to the UAE Central Bank. The outflows of the workers’ remittances that were settled through the exchange houses grew 9.4 per cent – by Dh10.1 billion to US$32.17 billion (Dh118.1 billion) despite a slowdown in the economy and […]
Lubna Qassim is no career diplomat, but in her varied legal and political career, she has had the privilege of walking the corridors of power in London and Dubai. These days, as well as being executive vice president and group general counsel for Emirates NBD, Qassim is a member of several corporate boards. Qassim, the eldest of four daughters, credits her business acumen to the fact that […]
When The Washington Post broke the story this week that President Trump shared highly classified intelligence from a U.S. ally with Russia, not everything the reporters knew made it into print. Halfway through the story, this paragraph referring to the ISIS plot revealed by Trump appeared: “The Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that […]
HALIFAX, England British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that the days of Britain making vast annual contributions to the European Union will end, but there may be some specific EU programmes in which Britain would want to participate after Brexit. In a list of policy pledges ahead of a June 8 election, May said it might be necessary for Britain to make a contribution for […]
Oil prices gained further Tuesday, boosting energy companies’ shares, after Russia and Saudi Arabia indicated they could extend an output cut into next year, while the euro struck a six-month dollar high. The world’s top two crude-producing nations raised the idea at the weekend, with a deal agreed between OPEC — of which Saudi Arabia is the key player — and Russia coming to an end in […]
By James Davey | BIRMINGHAM, England BIRMINGHAM, England Andy Street’s mayoral victory in Britain’s second largest metropolitan area may give the best indication yet of just how far Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives are poaching traditional Labour supporters ahead of the June 8 national vote. Street quit his $1-million-a-year job as managing director of department store chain John Lewis to stand for the top political job in […]
By William James | LONDON LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday the government has confidence in its relationship with the United States, and will continue to share intelligence with Britain’s most important defence and security ally. President Donald Trump has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with the Russians during a White House meeting last week, saying he had an “absolute right” to share […]
