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April 10, 2013

HSBC revises Lebanon 2013 forecast
The world's local bank reviews Lebanon's economy
08:58 GMT
Lebanon’s GDP is expected to grow at 1.4 percent in 2013 in the face of mostly poor economic indicators, according to a report by global bank HSBC.
Total employment rate grew in the UAE by 4.2 per cent to 173,000 by end of 2012
UAE's GDP to grow by 15 per cent by 2022
08:39 GMT
The UAE's GDP will rise by more than 15 per cent by 2022 to amount to $75.4 billion on annual basis, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

April 9, 2013

Mena IPOs raise record $1.6bn in Q1
MENA IPOs booming
12:29 GMT
The regional capital markets in the Middle East and North Africa recorded a twenty-fold increase in capital raised during the first quarter through three IPOs.
The capital gains tax itself is part of a bundle of taxes presented in the government’s latest economic program
Changed tax plans show Egypt's economic disarray
12:17 GMT
As Egypt cancels its planned capital gains tax changes, the decision shows an economy in disarray.
Egypt eyes rising electricity prices as potential cure for summer power cuts
Egypt using price increase to cool energy use
09:20 GMT
Officials in Cairo hope increases in household electricity prices will take some pressure off national power grid this summer, amid mounting concerns over Egypt's ability to import enough fuel to meet energy needs.
The UAE is currently working on plans to have four nuclear power reactors operational in Barakah by 2020
UAE's nuclear programme on track
09:11 GMT
The UAE’s $20 billion civil nuclear programme is on schedule with the country’s first nuclear reactor slated to start operations in 2017.
Bocar A BA, CEO of Samena Telecommunications Council
MENA 2.0: Digitization to lead GDP growth
08:52 GMT
With enabling ICT policies and focus on digitization, the South Asia and the Mena region can realize a $1.3 trillion cumulative impact on its GDP by 2020, creating more than 7.2 million new businesses and 13 million new jobs, a report said.

April 8, 2013

Algeria struggles to assuage anger in south
Unemployment remains a blight on Alergia's south
12:44 GMT
Despite lucrative gas fields in Algeria's south, unemployment remains an issue that the government is struggling to resolve.
Sanctions don’t bring down regimes; the world knows that from Iraq
Sanctions hurting Syrians but Assad remains unfazed
12:04 GMT
As the Syrian civil war continues, Western sanctions on the regime are hurting the population while the regime appears unfazed.
The lifelong leftist stressed that Egypt's economic crisis was tied to the prevailing state of political polarisation
Egypt's left-wing slam IMF deal
12:04 GMT
At a Cairo conference, opposition figures and left-leaning economists are denouncing the current government's commitment to free trade, call for ending Egypt's 'neo-liberal' agenda.
Brazilian exporters eye KSA prospects
Could get Saudi get a Latin influence?
08:28 GMT
Brazil is looking to conquer the lucrative Saudi market, to give the Kingdom some of its famous lust for life.
Public health expenditure in the GCC countries ranges between 63 percent and 80 percent of total health expenditure
GCC healthcare spending looking healthy
08:23 GMT
Healthcare spending in the six nations that make the GCC is expected to reach $79 billion by 2015, new research suggests.
Lebanon depends on the summer season for around 40 percent of its gross domestic product
Tourism industry looks to Salam to lead revival
08:15 GMT
Lebanon’s ailing economy is expected to receive a badly needed “positive shock” if newly appointed Prime Minister-designate Tamam Salam brings about a balanced Cabinet that above all tackles security, business leaders said over the weekend.

April 7, 2013

Both Cyprus and Lebanon are just a few years from becoming producers of natural gas
Lebanon and Cyprus tie-up could be good news for the two struggling countries
11:57 GMT
Lebanon and Cyprus could be on the verge of dramatic change with the discovery of lucrative offshore gas fields, but the two small nations need to forget politics and move together.
National Bank of Development (NBD) Head Nevine Loutfy
First female banking chief reveals all
11:49 GMT
The first ever female head of an Islamic bank, Nevine Loutfy, ponders her passion for banking and what it takes for women to reach and stay at the top.