NEWS IN REAL TIME
RIYADH | SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia posted a deficit of 109.2 billion riyals ($29.12 billion) in the second quarter this year as low oil prices hurt revenues, a finance ministry report published on Tuesday showed. The coronavirus crisis has hurt the non-oil sectors of the world’s largest oil exporter this year, adding to the … Continue reading ECONOMY | Saudi Arabia Posts $29 Billion Deficit In Second Quarter As Oil Revenues Slump
GENEVA – Global trade has been hit by new and accumulated important restrictions just as economies need to rebuild in the COVID-19 crisis, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in a mid-year report issued on Friday. But some export constrains imposed on surgical masks, medicines and medical equipment early in the pandemic are being rolled … Continue reading BUSINESS NEWS | Global Trade Hit By Restrictions During COVID-19 Crisis: WTO
DUBAI – Qatar Airways is seeking at least $5 billion in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain for blocking it from their airspace, the state-owned carrier said on Wednesday. The airline has been banned from the airspace of the four countries since June 2017 when they cut ties with Qatar … Continue reading BUSINESS | Qatar Airways Seeks $5 Billion Compensation From Arab Bloc Over Airspace Ban
DUBAI – Economic activity in the Gulf will contract sharply this year before recovering in 2021, hit by the double shock of the coronavirus pandemic and an oil price crash, a quarterly Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. Analysts in the July 7-20 poll see a deep economic contraction in the hydrocarbon – producing region this … Continue reading ECONOMY | Gulf Economies Seen Shrinking Sharply In 2020, To Pick Up In 2021: Reuters Poll
RIYADH | SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co (SRC), the Saudi equivalent of U.S. mortgage finance business Fannie Mae, said on Sunday it has agreed to buy a mortgage portfolio worth over 3 billion riyals ($799.8 million) from the Saudi Public Pension Agency (PPA). ‘The deal provides liquidity to the real estate financing … Continue reading BUSINESS |Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co Sign 3 Billion Riyals Deal With Pension Agency
RIHADH | SAUDI ARABIA – The Oman Investment Authority has restructured the boards of 15 companies overseen by it as part of a comprehensive review of state-owned companies, the state news agency said on Sunday. The chairman of five companies were replaced. Oman established the Oman Investment Authority last month to own and manage most … Continue reading BUSINESS NEWS | Oman Investment Authority Restructures Board Of 15 Companies
KUWAIT – Kuwait plans to issue between 4 billion and 5 billion dinars ($ 13 billion to $16 billion) in public debt by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2021 if parliament approves a long – debated debt law, a government document seen by Reuters showed. Facing one of the worst economic crunches … Continue reading BUSINESS NEWS | Kuwait Scrambles To Boost Coffers With Up To $16 Billion Debt Plan
RIYADH | SAUDI ARABIA – Unemployment among citizens in the first quarter fell below 12% for the first time in four years, official figures released on Tuesday showed, but they did not capture the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Unemployment fell to 11.8% from 12% the previous quarter, the General Authority for Statistics said. ‘Data … Continue reading BUSINESS NEWS | Saudi Unemployment Falls In First Quarter, But Before Coronavirus Impact
RIYADH | SAUDI ARABIA – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will see their economies shrink by 7.6% this year, an International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday, revising downwards April forecast nearly 3%. The six GCC nations are, with varying degree, facing steep economic declines as the slowdown in business activity due to the coronavirus … Continue reading BUSINESS NEWS | Gulf Economies To Shrink By 7.6% This Year, IMF Says
NEW YORK | U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday described as not acceptable a warning given by top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci this week about the dangers of reopening the economy and schools too quickly. ‘To me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools’, Trump told reporters at the … Continue reading BUSINESS | Trump Calls Fauci Remarks On Risks To Reopening Schools, Economy Unacceptable
