IMF Middle East director Masood Ahmed says risks associated with Dubai’s property market have decreased, in part due to steps taken by local authorities to stamp out speculation. Reuters A recent surge in Dubai real estate prices has become less of a worry for the International Monetary Fund, its Middle East director said Monday, reversing his earlier calls for additional reforms to prevent another market bubble. An […]
Markets in UAE, Qatar edge up DUBAI, 1 days ago Bourses in the UAE and Qatar rose in early trade on Sunday on the back of a supportive global background and positive domestic news flow. US stocks were up on Friday after strong results from Microsoft and Procter & Gamble. Brent oil prices slipped but were little changed on the week. Dubai’s index rose 1.8 per cent […]
NEW DELHI: After clarity on natural gas prices and an ordinance on coal, the government is set to decide on pooling of imported and domestic fuel prices to help stressed power stations with a combined capacity of 91,000 mw generate electricity that’s badly needed as India tries to revive its economy. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is likely to decide on pooling gas and coal prices […]
FRANKFURT: Twenty-five banks including Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA failed a stress test led by the European Central Bank, which said almost half of them must act to raise more capital. The central bank in Frankfurt identified a 25 billion-euro shortfall ($32 billion) for the region’s lenders, and said 12 of them have now raised enough funds. Eleven banks need more capital, including Monte […]
NEW DELHI: With a decade’s existence of the Electricity Act of 2003 doing precious little in infusing efficiency and competition into the sector, the government has proposed some key changes in the Act to remedy the situation and prevent the loss-ridden sector, which is struggling to meet the reformist conditions of a financial restructuring package (FRP), from plumbing fresh depths. The Union power ministry’s draft amendments […]
Kuwait’s privately owned Jazeera Airways is preparing to bid for a big stake in state-run flag carrier Kuwait Airways, Jazeera’s chairman told Reuters. If the deal goes through, it will be a sign that the business scene is changing in the Gulf. For several decades, Gulf Arab economies have been dominated by the heavy hand of the state. Governments’ huge oil revenues have eclipsed private sector activity. […]
Dubai is racing ahead to dominate the Middle East’s plastic surgery market with plans to attract half a million medical tourists in six years. Where cosmopolitan Beirut was once the region’s best known city for going under the knife, turmoil in Syria and violence often spilling into Lebanon is driving away wealthy Arab tourists. After splashing out on medical infrastructure over the past years, Dubai already ranks […]
China reduced oil imports from Saudi Arabia even as the world’s largest crude exporter cuts prices to lure Asian customers amid intensifying competition from Colombia to Oman. Oil deliveries from Saudi Arabia fell 2.7 percent to 4.74 million metric tons last month from a year earlier, according to data released today by the General Administration of Customs in Beijing. Shipments from Colombia surged 389.6 percent, while Russian […]
U.S. stocks were lower in afternoon trading on Wednesday, with major indexes erasing earlier gains as a shooting at the Canadian parliament unnerved investors and Boeing and Biogen sold off following results. Indexes had traded in positive territory for much of the session, putting the S&P 500 on track for a fifth straight day of gains. Earnings initially drove the move higher, with technology and material shares […]
NEW DELHI: In order to make India a better place to do business, the government is working to cut down the time for registering a business from 27 days to a single day. Towards this end, it has readied a raft of measures, such as, single registration for all labour laws, overhaul of tax systems, reduction in the number of permits required, easing up property registration, quick […]
MUMBAI: Foreign funds are buying more Indian corporate bonds as there is no sign that the $25-billion limit on government securities — close to being exhausted — is going to be raised. Overseas portfolio investors have used up nearly half the overall investment limit in corporate bonds compared with 37 per cent four months ago. But foreign portfolio investors, or FPIs, can invest another Rs 1,23,580 crore […]
NEW DELHI — The Indian Defence Ministry — faced with a shortage of ammunition for its Russian-made T-90 tanks, coupled with an inability to produce ammunition at home — has no choice but to give in to Russian terms and purchase marked-up ammo from Moscow, an MoD source said. The MoD reluctantly agreed to the deal last month, despite the fact that Russia hiked the price […]
The bear market in oil has analysts reassessing the U.S. shale boom after five years of historic growth. The U.S. benchmark price dropped to $79.78 a barrel on Oct. 16, the lowest since June 2012. At that level, one-third of U.S. shale oil production would be uneconomic, analysts for New York-based Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. led by Bob Brackett said in a report yesterday. Drillers would […]
Saudi Arabia’s closure of an offshore oilfield it shares with Kuwait has revived speculation of renewed tensions between the two, and put Chevron’s role in the shared Neutral Zone in focus. Crude output from their jointly-run offshore Khafji oilfield has been halted temporarily to comply with environmental rules. “Little things lead to big things, it’s an accumulation of the past. Each party says a different story,” said […]
The Saudi riyal fell sharply against the U.S. dollar in the forwards market on Tuesday because of a surge of demand for dollars in the spot foreign exchange market, where the riyal is pegged to the U.S. currency, traders said. One-year dollar/Saudi riyal forwards jumped to 90.0 points, their highest level since a peak of 91.50 points hit in March 2011, when the Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere […]
Mumbai: After years of regulatory dithering, foreign and domestic institutions might look forward to entry into the commodity derivatives market. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) are meeting next week to consider the proposal, suggested by a sub-committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council. Allowing domestic financial institutions such as banks and mutual funds was made by the commodities markets […]
NEW DELHI: Eighty-eight infrastructure and industrial projects, involving investment of nearly Rs 3 lakh crore – which is more than the Centre’s budgeted income tax collections for the current financial year – have become operational over the past few months. This will help in adding jobs and easing pressure on banks, which had lent to the projects that got stuck due to lack of government clearances. […]
Iran, which faces sanctions on crude exports, sees no need for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting, a sign that markets may need to wait a month before the world’s biggest producer group responds to falling prices. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has consulted with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about political and economic reasons for the collapse in prices, the ministry’s news website Shana reported today. No […]
By S. Sethuraman As the slow-grinding economy enters the second half of fiscal 2015, a tinge of optimism pervades policy-making circles in Modi Government that recovery would now begin to gather some steam to hit at least a minimum of 5.5 per cent GDP growth, in a distinctly improving macro-economic environment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now put in place a new economic team to […]
NEW DELHI: After announcing several labour reforms last week, the Narendra Modi government is considering allowing workers to participate in board decision of state-run firms such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Coal India, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and BHEL. The policy proposal, an initiative of the labour ministry, is expected to be initially confined to state-run enterprises, but its scope could be enlarged later to include […]
NEW DELHI: Private power producers have raised several concerns over bidding norms for ultra mega power plants (UMPPs), particularly the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) model where lenders’ exposure to the project is not fully secured. Under the model, developers are required to transfer the power plant to the government at the end of the contract period, a provision that makes potential lenders jittery. Last week, Adani Power, […]
Oil’s collapse into a bear market is excessive because there’s no oversupply to justify the selloff, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The bank is “near-term constructive about prices” after they fell too much, too soon, analysts including Jeffrey Currie, the head of commodities research in New York, wrote in a report e-mailed today. While expectations of a glut have driven down crude, the risk of a […]
The new Rera service charge index is focusing attention on the vast differences in the charges property owners in different areas of Dubai are being asked to pay for services. The index, which was launched by the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department last week, compiles a list of itemised annual service charges for 300 individual buildings located in 22 major developments. According to calculations by […]
NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government made a volte face of sorts on Friday when it cited the same reasons that the previous Congress-led regime had given to keep secret the names of people who have allegedly stashed black money in overseas accounts. In an application to the Supreme Court, which had directed the government to reveal those names, the government said such a step would […]
