Main headlines
December 26, 2012
Travelers to and from Egypt will not be allowed to have more than $10.000 or its equivalent on them. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi modified the central bank law in order to tighten foreign currency transfers from and to Egypt.
Jordan's labour ministry estimates that there are over one million illegal guest workers in Jordan, Minister of Labour Nidal Katamine said on Monday.
December 25, 2012
Let’s hope Father Christmas has an email account because the country’s children – as young as 6 years old – have gone digital. IPods, iPads and iPhones topped this year’s holiday wish lists.
Egypt's Finance Minister, Momtaz El-Said, claims that the tax changes will not affect the poor, and are also not part of the austerity program imposed by the IMF
December 24, 2012
Ratings agency Standard and Poors’ has downgraded Egypt’s long-term credit rating.
The European Union (EU) has contributed approximately €7.4 million to the payment of the November salaries and pensions for public sector workers in the West Bank and Gaza, according to an EU press release.
Iranian authorities have claimed that the country has successfully circumvented sanctions on the sale of its oil.
The Lebanese Cabinet will discuss a proposed public sector salary scale that has caused widespread industrial action across the country.
Prices of fuel oil will be gradually increased during the coming period in consultation with the concerned ministers, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Sunday.
Yemen's government approved the state's general budget for 2013.
Egypt’s budget deficit increased to LE80.7 billion ($13 billion) during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2012/13, which starts in July, the Ministry of Finance reported on Sunday in a bulletin.
Hotel occupancy at Lebanon’s five-star hotels fell to 56 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 with rates particularly low since August, Ernst & Young’s monthly survey showed.
Iran is engaged in a "smart economic war" with Western powers whose sanctions against its nuclear programme are hurting some Iranians, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
Bahrain is gearing up to host a meeting of top Gulf government ministers on Monday, which is set to focus on the Syrian crisis and regional military cooperation and economic unity.
The governor of the Egyptian Central Bank, Farouq El-Oqda, denied on Sunday reports of his resignation, describing them as falsified, state-run Arabic-language news website Al-Ahram reported.
