TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader, in an unexpected move, replaced the general in charge of the Iranian armed forces on Tuesday with the general’s deputy, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The replaced general, Hassan Firouzabadi, had held the position of chief of staff since 1989 and is known to have been a confidant of both the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A fall in the value of UK pound will adversely affect the demand of Dubai property emanating from UK nationals. Additionally, the weaker currency is expected to adversely impact tourism as well, given that British and European national are one of the top tourists in Dubai, Global Ivestment House said In a report on the GCC impact of the Brexit decision. When the […]
Rare Quran manuscripts, paintings and number plates auctioned to raise funds for Reading Nation campaign A priceless collection of historic manuscripts and artifacts is being auctioned at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai to raise funds for the ongoing Reading Nation Ramadan campaign. Here’s our coverage of the event as it happened. (Inputs from Mary Achkhanian, Staff reporter) Campaign collects Dh40 million The charity auction held for Reading Nation campaign launched by […]
BAGHDAD — Long before Falluja was known the world over for deadly jihadists, it was known all over Iraq for its kebab — fatty lamb, ground and mixed with onion, grilled on a skewer over an open fire and served with a pinch of sumac — at a joint called Haji Hussein. Everyone, it seemed, ate at Haji Hussein: locals, soldiers, tourists and businessmen traveling the Baghdad-to-Amman […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Malaysia’s state-owned oil corporation and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. are asking banks for proposals to finance about $7 billion for a planned refinery and a petrochemical complex in the Southeast Asian nation, Bloomberg reported. The lenders would provide financing for the two projects worth a total of $12 billion to be constructed by Petroliam Nasional Bhd. and Saudi Aramco under a memorandum of understanding that […]
}By Arabian Post Staff| Iran plans to set up its own financial center as it seeks to attract global financial institutions, Bloomberg reported. Chinese and Russian banks are seeking to set up representative offices in the area, Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, senior adviser to the Qeshm Investment and Development Co., was quoted as sayig in an interview. One of Japan’s largest banks is also negotiating with officials on establishing a […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|The Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency has written to banks instructing them not to under-report Saudi Interbank Offered Rate they’re actually lending at, Bloomberg reported. The decision came after some banks were seen conducting business at higher rates than were quoted, indicating some submissions were below the real market, according to two of the people. SAMA is exerting greater control over Saudi Arabia’s banking sector as […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) witnessed a strong upswing across various segments, which has been attributed to the uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union and also a possible interest rate hike by the Fed in June. The Exchange witnessed the upswing across precious metals, hydrocarbon and equities segments, trading an aggregate of 1.5Mn contracts in May, growing 55% from […]
1. What is Ramadan? Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic (Hijri) calendar. It is the most holy month in the calendar for Muslims as it is believed the Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed during Ramadan. During this month, Muslims do not consume any food or liquid between fajr and maghrib prayers (at dawn and sunset), not even water. You can check the exact prayer […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| DP World’s new $1.2 billion 7-year sukuk received strong investor interest and was two times oversubscribed receiving more than $2 billion in bids, the company announced. The new sukuk was priced at a fixed coupon rate of 3.91% maturing in 2023, replacing over $1.1bn of the 2017 6.25% coupon sukuk. The new sukuk issue followed DP World’s successful refinancing of over $1.1 billion […]
|Arabian Post Staff| Banks in Saudi Arabia are coming under fresh pressure over products that allow speculators to bet against the kingdom’s currency peg, Bloomberg reports quoting people with knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg said the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency has asked lenders to explain why they are offering dollar-riyal forward structured products to customers less than four months after the regulator banned options contracts that let […]
Sources tell Gulf News media reports have exaggerated the reasons behind the lay-offs Dubai: The Saudi-owned pan-Arab Al Arabiya has fired dozens of employees in a restructuring move. Saudi Akhbaar24 broke the story claiming fifty employees had been let go, among them some well-known and long-serving staffers. A trusted source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the news to Gulf News but […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The overall tourism spend by visitors to the UAE declined by 6% in the first quarter of 2016, according to a report on consumer card spends by Network International, the leading payment solutions provider in the MENA region. Due to a continuous appreciation in the US Dollar along with a bullish global economic outlook and a fall in the prices of crude oil, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emirates Islamic announced the successful closure of its US$ 750 million 5-year Sukuk from its US$ 2.5 billion Certificate Issuance Programme. The issue, which will be listed on NASDAQ Dubai and the Irish Stock Exchange, received overwhelming investor interest from across the globe and marked the Bank’s return to the international debt capital markets after a period of four years. In September 2015, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai’s government owned property developer Limitless will make an early payment of 2.07 billion dirhams ($564 million) to banks and trade creditors after reaching a second debt restructuring deal with them, Bloomberg reported. The company will pay 1.9 billion dirhams to banks this month, covering 43 percent of the outstanding loan amount, Limitless said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. It will pay 163 million […]
Despite the plethora of graphic design tools available to organizations, creating good visual content is often a labor-intensive process requiring many hours of work by highly trained professionals. A new suite of software by Adobe, however, is hoping to change that. The platform, called Adobe Spark, is designed to help non-professional designers create their own visual content. Besides being a fun tool for students and individuals, the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi Arabia ranks among the top dozen foreign holders of U.S. debt, the Treasury Department disclosed, breaking its silence on the issue for the past four decades. “The stockpile of the world’s biggest oil exporter stood at $116.8 billion as of March, down almost 6 percent from a record in January, according to data the Treasury disclosed Monday in response to a Freedom-of-Information […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emirates Islamic and French financial institution Natixis announced the completion of a US$50 million Collateralised Murabaha deal on the Nasdaq Dubai Murabaha Platform. It is the largest collateralised Murabaha transaction closed by Emirates Islamic this year, and the first of its kind executed on the Nasdaq Dubai Murabaha Platform. A joint initiative between Nasdaq Dubai and Emirates Islamic, Nasdaq Dubai’s Murabaha platform provides […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai ports operator DP World Ltd. has selected more than a dozen banks for its sale of Islamic bonds in a deal that may be announced as early as Monday, Bloomberg reported quoting two people familiar with the issue. A benchmark-sized issue usually raises at least $500 million. The agency said 15 lenders have been hired for the offering of dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized securities, said […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|The heads of governments of two tax havens, under spotlight for disclosures of corruption and black money, advised major world players including the US to set their own houses in order before bullying small territories like theirs. Addressing an anti-corruption summit in London on Thursday, Allan Bell, chief minister of the Isle of Man, and Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin called on the U.S. and […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Iran’s leading private bank, Bank Mellat, won a major legal battle against the UK Treasury in its claim of $4 billion damages for the sanctions imposed on it in 2009, when the English Court of Appeal, presided by Lord Chief Justice Thomas of Cwmgiedd, upheld the bank’s claim that damages should cover loss to future income as well. Bank Mellat brought this claim […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The UAE has earned the distinction of being the fastest growing market in the world for card transactions. The UAE is a clear front runner in a rapidly expanding regional payment environment as card transactions experienced an estimated 10 percent growth in 2015 compared to the previous year, amid a total 24 per cent growth in the MEA region, making it the fastest expansion rate in card transactions in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|In further signs of consolidation by pro-reform Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered the replacement of his central bank chief and Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, the most influential personality of the oil industry yet. The moves are understood to be influenced by the sweeping economic changes spearheaded by the Deputy Crown Prince as part of his visionary plan […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| As the local economy continues to adjust to softening global conditions, overall residential values and rents in Dubai are set for a further decline throughout 2016, according to leading real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons’ Dubai Spring 2016 Residential Property Market Outlook shows that after falling by an average of 3.1% during 2015, residential values fell by an additional 2.2% during the first quarter of […]
