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 […]
Investors are becoming more discerning about where they put their money, shying away from countries such as Brazil, India (SENSEX), Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa. Behind the discrimination is a new-found focus on current-account deficits and structural weaknesses exposed by the likelihood of less stimulus from the Federal Reserve and cooling demand in China, according to economists from HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and International […]
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 […]
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 […]
President Barack Obama on Wednesday scaled down a long-planned trip to Asia, as a U.S. government shutdown entered a second day with no end in sight to the funding row in Congress that triggered it. Obama is expected to leave on Saturday for summit meetings in Indonesia and Brunei. Malaysian media quoted Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying he would now skip a subsequent visit to Kuala […]
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of India has thrown out a criminal complaint filed by HSBC against Avitel Post Studioz Ltd, which has sister companies in Dubai and Mauritius. After detailed investigation that lasted over three months, the EOW concluded that the allegations raised by HSBC against the company were false. The case was closed after the investigation team found no evidence to substantiate any allegation of […]
The United Arab Emirates, the second-biggest Arab economy, is considering a tax on remittances, according to three bankers with knowledge of the plan. The federal Ministry of Finance has sent a circular to banks proposing the tax and invited suggestions from them on the levy, the bankers said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The ministry plans to hold talks with financial institutions […]
Fitch Ratings says that the Dubai prime property sector is set up for a strong 2014 following a vibrant 2013. Notwithstanding the positive trend, uncertainty remains a concern for the real estate sector in general as several factors and events evolve, notably Middle East instability, Dubai’s bid for the World Expo 2020 and major new real estate projects that are in the pipeline. As per Fitch’s expectation, […]
Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, the chief executive of Dubai-based construction company Arabtec, has increased his personal stake in the company to more than 8 percent, records on the Dubai bourse website show. Arabtec has been on an aggressive expansion drive since Ismaik took charge in February after a management shake-up ousted founder Riad Kamal. It recently announced a plan to launch a joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung […]
Saudi Arabian retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair plans to open nearly 250 stores at home and abroad this financial year, a top executive said, as the kingdom’s booming retail sector provides a platform to expand into new markets. Alhokair has benefited in recent years from a buoyant consumer goods sector, boosted by rising incomes on the back of government efforts to improve the plight of Saudi nationals after […]
Dubai International Airport is working to increase capacity to help accommodate more of the Airbus SAS A380 super-jumbo for Emirates, the largest operator of the double-decker jet, the airline’s chairman said. The expansion may help the Middle Eastern hub become the word’s busiest airport by next year, Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told reporters today at the airport. “We are going according to plan […]
Dubai Duty Free is planning to borrow $750 million from a syndicate of international banks in the coming weeks to help further finance the expansion of Dubai’s international airport, the company’s executive vice chairman Colm McLoughlin said. DDF, which operates all of the retail outlets at Dubai’s airports, raised its first international financing last year, a $1.75 billion, six-year syndicated loan with tranches in dollars and U.A.E. […]
MANILA: The Philippine economy posted robust expansion in the second quarter, matching the pace of China as the two fastest growing in Asia, as strong fundamentals and domestic spending buttressed the country from the region’s fund outflows. The solid growth pace lifted the peso from nearly 3-year lows and would help the Philippines keep its favoured status among investors amid more market volatility. The Philippines has overtaken […]
Emirates is breaking out of Dubai. In what will be a curious experiment for one of the world’s fastest-growing and most respected airlines, Emirates will begin flying daily from New York’s JFK International Airport to Milan starting Oct. 1. It will be one of the very few routes in the company’s vast network that doesn’t touch its Dubai hub. The JFK-Milan route is currently served with nonstop […]
The growth of the insurance markets within the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will continue, albeit at a reduced pace, as economic growth remains relatively modest in 2013, according to a new report from A.M. Best Co. The report, titled “GCC Insurance Markets Brace for Competitive and Profitability Pressures”, states that all of the GCC countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab […]
Emirates NBD, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank by assets, expects to raise more than $12 billion for clients in the remainder of the year, boosting investment banking income as the lender seeks expansion. The Dubai government-controlled lender has mandates for about 20 bond and loan deals after helping raise $14.6 billion for clients in 23 such transactions so far this year, Giel-Jan Van Der Tol, the […]
Saudi bank deposits posted a new record of SR1.36 trillion by the end of first quarter of 2013. The expansion in credit portfolios was facilitated by this enormous depositary base. Demand deposits remain the main beneficiary given the globally suppressed interest rate environment, according to a report by the National Commercial Bank (NCB). NCB’s customer deposits, the largest in the market, reached SR276.7 billion in March 2013 […]
Gold traders are the most bullish in five months on signs that demand for coins and jewelry increased during a plunge in prices that prompted billionaire investor John Paulson to cut his holding for the first time since 2011. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, four were bearish and five neutral, the highest proportion of bulls since March 8. Consumer buying of […]
The domestic banking system in Saudi Arabia relative to many of the global peers, developed or developing, had maintained its inherent strengths that emanate from greater reliance on core banking activities, lower non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio, little recourse to wholesale funding and ample liquidity. During the last two years, Saudi banks have returned to a higher growth trajectory after a lackluster performance in 2009 that saw total […]
Aug 13 (Reuters) – Barclays Plc is conducting a strategic review of its retail banking operations in the United Arab Emirates which could lead to a sale of the business, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Britain’s fourth-largest bank by market value confirmed on Tuesday it was holding the review of the UAE retail business but did not provide any further comment. The sources spoke […]
(Reuters) – The Dubai arm of Australian contractor Leighton Holdings is seeking more than 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) from a prominent member of Qatar’s royal family in compensation for late payments on a hotel project in the Qatari capital. Dubai-based Al Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) said it had launched a series of suits against Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim al-Thani’s Al Faisal Holding in relation to the […]
Bloomberg By George Smith Alexander & Anto Antony – Aug 13 India’s economy is growing at the slowest pace in a decade, companies are burdened by record debt and governance is so bad that even local cement billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is reluctant to invest in the country. Yet some foreign entities, from Diageo Plc to Qatar’s government, are undaunted, finding buying opportunities as Indian firms look […]
The UAE’s commercial property sector is back into the reckoning with growing interest from global occupier and investment segments, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). In its new report, ‘Global Commercial Property Survey’, Rics said: “Further improvements in sentiment in both the occupier and investment segments of UAE real estate market show that the tone in the property industry is continuing to gain ground, […]
(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. 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 […]
