Saudi Arabia released a more tightfisted budget for 2016, reflecting scaled-back revenue expectations and lower spending on subsidies because of sinking oil prices and its involvement in the war in neighboring Yemen. Here are some key points in the first spending plan under King Salman, released on Monday by the Ministry of Finance: DEFICIT The government forecasts the deficit will narrow to 326.2 billion riyals ($87 billion) […]
Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s subsidy scheme is poised for a change as the country announced that they would be reviewing government support for energy, water and electricity prices in the next five years. A 2016 budget document by the Ministry of Finance said that reviewing government support is aimed at achieving efficiency in energy use, conserving natural resources, stopping waste and irrational use, and minimising negative effects […]
Gulfnews.com Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s economy, hit hard by a sharp decline in oil prices, on Monday an announced 840 billion riyal (Dh822 billion) spending plan for 2016. The budget deficits for 2015 soared to 367 billion riyals this year. The government plans to cut the deficits to 326 billion riyals (13 per cent of GDP) in 2016 through a combination of spending cuts and augmenting of additional […]
|By Matein Khalid| In retrospect, the last six years were a unique period in global central banking, an epic monetary experiment that averted a Great Depression after Lehman’s failure and interbank/credit contagion plunged the world into recession in 2008-9. Yet the Fed (and later Bank of Japan, ECB and even PBOC) quantitative easing also led to asset bubbles, credit market excesses, currency wars and the mispricing of […]
Almost every Middle Eastern stock index declined after oil, the region’s main source of income, sank to the lowest in seven years, damping the outlook for government spending. Dubai’s DFM General Index ended its longest winning streak in almost three months, sliding 1.5 percent, the most in a week, to close at 3,026.05. Emirates NBD PJSC’s 4 percent retreat was the biggest contributor. The Tadawul All Share […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Central banks in the Gulf raised the interest rates within 24 hours of the US Fed announcing a quarter percent rate hike as their currencies are linked to the dollar. At least four central banks announced the hike. “We have an advantage over other emerging markets because the currencies are pegged,” so there are fewer foreign exchange risks, said Nabil Farhat, an […]
|By Matein Khalid| The plunge in crude oil after OPEC’s Vienna conclave, Dr. Draghi’s failure to resist Bundesbank pressure not to fire another ECB easy money bazooka, Wall Street’s junk bond debacle and an imminent rise in the Fed Funds rate for the first time since 2006 will all shape the next big trades in Planet Forex. The Euro has risen to 1.10 on Draghi’s failure to […]
At the heart of Korea’s Onsan Refinery lies a street called “A.I. Naimi Road,” an homage to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. The reason: state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. holds a 65 percent stake in the complex. Taking a controlling interest last year in South Korea’s third-largest refinery highlights the shifting dynamics of the oil business. With crude prices down by more than half in the past two […]
As oil crashes through $35 a barrel in New York, some producers are already living with the reality of much lower prices. A mix of Mexican crudes is already valued at less than $28, an 11-year low, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Iraq is offering its heaviest variety of oil to buyers in Asia for about $25. In western Canada, some producers are selling for less […]
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said his call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. sparked a useful discussion about radicalism within that community, and he’s not daunted by polls showing most Americans oppose the idea. “I didn’t do this for polls so I don’t even care what the polls say,” Trump said in an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union With Jake Tapper.” “My polls […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| AstroLabs, Google -backed technology hub, is helping regional entrepreneurs to grow their startups. AstroLabs opened in October, with 42 startups picked from among 250. The facility features a device lab designed by Google is equipped with iPhones, Android smartphones, tablets and computers, which can be used by startups to test their mobile applications and content. One of the aspiring entrepreneurs is Lamia Tabbaa-Bibi, creator of IReadArabic.com, […]
Oil declined to the lowest level since 2008 in London amid estimates that OPEC’s decision to scrap production limits will keep the market oversupplied. Brent futures capped the biggest weekly decline in more than a year. The global surplus will persist at least until late 2016 as demand growth slows and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries shows “renewed determination” to maximize production, the International Energy Agency said Friday. […]
|By Dr Alaa Alghamdi| Dear Mr. Friedman, While I would like nothing better than to thank you for your concern for our youth and our country, as expressed in your Nov. 25 piece in the New York Times, I find I cannot in good conscience do so. You made certain observations during your stay in Riyadh, observations which no doubt may sound fresh and even enlightened to […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai-based Landmark Group said it was pulling Donald Trump products off its shelves in response to the Republican presidential front-runner’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Landmark and DT Home Marks International LLC have an exclusive deal to sell Trump Home products – including lighting, mirrors, and jewellery boxes – in their Lifestyle department stores in Kuwait, the UAE, […]
|Arabian Post Special| The relentless plunge in oil price, which analysts are likening to the crash of 1990s, and its serious implications on spending plans are putting the focus back on the Gulf currencies’ dollar peg, including that of the UAE dirham. Despite consistent backing for the dollar peg from all possible channels, including the monetary authorities, the debate is back with a bang. And the market […]
OPEC has seemingly dropped any attempt at trying to fulfill its founding mission and manage the global oil market. For Saudi Arabia’s Ali al-Naimi, the most powerful and longest-serving of the group’s oil ministers, it may have seemed like history was repeating itself. There are several striking parallels between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ current situation and the period from 1997 to 1999, when the group lost […]
|By Alaa Alghamdi| Tragedies in Mecca recently were shocking and devastating to witness, for everyone in the world, and most particularly for us in Saudi Arabia. This stronghold of our traditions and faith, during which we host the world in allowing access to our most sacred places, has a unique and central spot in the hearts of our people. Over the years it has been marred by […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Opec’s ability to control the oil market suffered its worst debacle when the organization failed to agree on a ceiling for production. This meant that Saudi Arabia prevailed over other members to continue the policy of excess production as to force non-OPEC players, such as the US and Russia, out of the market by making their output uneconomical. “Lots of people said that […]
Saudi Arabian banks are feeling the squeeze from falling oil prices. The rate at which banks in the biggest Arab economy lend overnight to each other jumped the most in seven years in November, the fifth straight month of increases, following a slump in deposits the previous month that forced lenders to seek more funds from each other. “The drop in deposits in October, in absolute amount, […]
Oil has been on a steady decline in the past several months due to a surplus of the precious black liquid. While some have predicted this could seriously dent Saudi Arabia’s oil-backed economy, others are skeptical due to the fact that the state was able to save a lot of money from the rally of oil that occurred back in 2000 until last year. According to public […]
|Arabian Post Special|If oil prices fall further from the current levels, it would lead to a quick buildup of pressure on the Saudi riyal’s 30-year peg to the dollar, forcing the Saudi authorities to de-peg and devalue the currency, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report. “And frankly, it is a lot easier politically at first to deliver a modest crude oil supply cut than to […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi nationals engaged in gold and jewellery business believe that the new foreign investment law, which allows expatriates to set up fully-owned businesses in the kingdom, would ultimately drive them away from their traditional business. According to Saudi media reports, they complain that some Arab expatriates have entered the market by obtaining Saudi citizenship, GCC passports and foreign investment license. A Abdul Ghani […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The AED 1.9 billion debt restructuring deal by Dubai government-owned entity Limitless has run into trouble following resistance by some of the creditors, Reuters reported quoting three banking sources. The company needs complete creditor approval in order to push through any deal. The delay in completing the deal is causing uncertainty, particularly in view of the weakness in the UAE property market, the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The latest appendix to the Ericsson Mobility Report for the Middle East and North East Africa reveals that mobile data traffic will experience 16 times growth by 2021. This massive growth will be driven by availability of affordable smartphones, coupled with availability of mobile broadband networks in highly populated countries, increased number of subscribers moving to faster networks and growth of the video […]
