Qatar lends Tunisia $500 million
Friday, 20 April 2012
Tunisia’s Central Bank said Thursday it had finalized a loan of half a billion dollars from Qatar, one of the main foreign backers of the revolution that brought the Islamists to power. The central bank said in a statement that the loan ̶ at an interest rate of 2.5 percent ̶ was to be repaid all at once in ... Read More
Lagarde says IMF loan for Egypt won’t be enough, political support needed
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Egypt’s request for a $3.2 billion IMF loan will not be enough to meet the country’s financial needs and will require additional resources from donor countries, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. “It will not be sufficient, and everybody knows that, so it will require other donors, other ... Read More
Automakers unveil new models at Beijing show
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Automakers are bringing SUVs and luxury sedans designed for Chinese buyers to China’s biggest auto show this year as they scramble to keep sales growing amid a slump in this giant market’s once-explosive demand. Sales growth in the world’s biggest auto market plunged from an eye-popping 35 percent in 2010 to ... Read More
Exxon dropped from Iraq rights bidders: oil ministry
Thursday, 19 April 2012
U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil has been excluded from the finalized list of 47 pre-qualified bidders for the next round of Iraq energy exploration rights, a statement posted on the oil ministry website showed on Thursday. Exxon, which still figured on the list in early February, has since been removed while Indonesia’s ... Read More
Iran oil sales to European countries not halted: minister
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghassemi said on Thursday that oil sales to Germany, Greece and Spain had not been halted as reported by state media last week. “We are still selling oil to all of Europe except Britain and France,” Ghassemi told a press conference. Two Iranian state-owned ... Read More
Japan posts record fiscal-year trade deficit
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Japan on Thursday posted a record trade deficit for the 2011 fiscal year with car and electronics exports tumbling, while energy imports soared in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The 2011 fiscal-year deficit hit 4.410 trillion yen ($54.2 billion), according to the finance ministry, the worst figure on record amid ... Read More
IMF welcomes $34 billion in new pledges
Thursday, 19 April 2012
IMF director Christine Lagarde has welcomed pledges from Switzerland, Poland and other countries to provide some $34 billion in additional funding for the world lender. Lagarde, in separate statements late Wednesday, singled out Switzerland and Poland for increasing their contributions, hailing their “enduring ... Read More
IMF says secures $320 billion in drive for new funds
Thursday, 19 April 2012
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it had raised $320 billion so far in a bid to boost its firepower to deal with the euro zone debt crisis, with Poland and Switzerland joining the effort. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she had received commitments of $34 billion on Wednesday, including $8 ... Read More
Bolivia poised to de-flag 15 Iranian ships
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Bolivia is poised to strike fifteen vessels linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines off its shipping register just weeks after IRISL found Bolivian replacements for their Maltese and Cypriot flags. IRISL, its many subsidiaries and their dozens of ships have been sanctioned by the United States, United Nations ... Read More
South Sudan joins IMF, World Bank
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, joined the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, becoming the sister institutions 188th member. IMF chief Christine Lagarde welcomed South Sudan to the fund, saying “the IMF will do its best to assist the country in setting up the foundations for ... Read More
Gulf assets forecast to top $1.9 trillion in 2012: IIF
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Net foreign assets held by energy-rich Gulf states are forecast to soar to $1.9 trillion in 2012 as a result of high oil prices, the Institute of International Finance said Wednesday. The figure represents a 19-percent rise from estimates of $1.6 trillion at the end of last year for the value of assets held by ... Read More
Stung by gas prices, Obama seeks new oil market crackdown
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
U.S. President Barack Obama proposed higher penalties for companies accused of oil market manipulation and sought more money for government oversight on Tuesday, trying to blunt the impact of high energy prices on his re-election chances. Republicans, who blame Obama’s energy policies for high gas prices, immediately ... Read More
Reaction to Obama’s plan to curb oil speculation
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
The White House unveiled a proposal on Tuesday to crack down on speculation in oil markets which has been blamed by some politicians for the rising price of crude and fuel. The plan calls for a tenfold increase in the maximum civil and criminal penalties that can be applied for the manipulation of oil futures markets, the ... Read More
IMF says global economy in ‘uneasy calm’
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
The global economy was in an “uneasy calm,” the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, predicting low growth, especially in debt-troubled Read More
Syria sanctions halve foreign currency reserves
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Western sanctions on Syria have almost halved its foreign currency reserves and reduced oil production by 30 percent, costing Bashar al-Assad’s government 400 million euros ($520 million) a month in revenue, French diplomatic sources said. Officials from almost sixty countries, including the European Union and the Arab ... Read More
Abu Dhabi to America in one hour? Virgin Galactic to build UAE spaceport
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Virgin Galactic will build a spaceport in Abu Dhabi that plans to eventually reduce flight times from the Emirati capital to the United States to only one hour, Arabian Business reported on Tuesday. A senior executive has been appointed to set up a port in the UAE capital which will become a second base to Spaceport ... Read More
IFC, IDB to invest $100 million in MENA infrastructure
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
The International Finance Corp (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) jointly plan to invest up to $100 million on major infrastructure projects across the Middle East and North Africa, IFC said on Monday. Both the institutions are pooling in $50 million each to the Arab ... Read More
Iran says Saudi unable to fill oil gap in long run: TV
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Saudi Arabia will not be able to replace Iranian oil supplies in the long run, in case of shortfalls due to sanctions against Iran, state television quoted Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi as saying. On Friday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was determined to bring down high oil ... Read More
Morocco picks EDF green arm for wind farm project
Monday, 16 April 2012
Morocco has picked a consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles, the renewable arm of France’s EDF, to build a wind farm, the French utility said on Monday, in one of the kingdom’s first projects in an ambitious plan for green energy. The Taza wind project, with a capacity of 150 megawatts (MW), is to be located in northern ... Read More
Dubai’s Nakheel posts 33 percent rise in 2011 profit
Monday, 16 April 2012
Indebted Dubai state-owned developer Nakheel Properties reported a 33-percent rise in 2011 profit on Monday and said that it anticipated an improvement in the struggling real estate sector. Nakheel reported a net profit of 1.3 billion dirhams ($353.93 million) last year, up from 1 billion dirhams in 2010. Revenues rose to ... Read More