Business / Middle East Business

Cyprus makes dramatic U-turn 24 Mar 2013 - 01:02 am

Thousands of bank employees protest outside the Finance Ministry in Nicosia yesterday. NICOSIA: Cyprus said yesterday it would tax big savers at its...

Small nations still believe in euro, despite Cyprus crisis 24 Mar 2013 - 01:02 am

SAARISELKAEAE, Finland: Despite the mounting debt crisis in bankruptcy-threatened Cyprus, small EU and applicant countries yesterday said they still believed in greater European...

ENI stops Nigeria activities due to oil theft 24 Mar 2013 - 01:01 am

ROME: Italian energy major ENI said yesterday it had suspended its activities in Bayelsa state in southern Nigeria due to frequent thefts from...

Zain Saudi appoints new chairman 24 Mar 2013 - 01:01 am

RIYADH: Zain Saudi, Saudi Arabia’s struggling third-largest telecoms provider, has appointed Fahd bin Ibrahim Al Dughaither as its new chairman, it said yesterday,...

Dubai plans to modernise management of Awqaf 21 Mar 2013 - 01:19 am

DUBAI: A fund management venture set up in Dubai this month is taking aim at one of the great backwaters of the Middle...

UAE mulls awarding Bab gas project to Shell 21 Mar 2013 - 01:18 am

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has recommended that Shell win the multi-billion dollar project to develop its Bab gas field,...

DMCC to launch Islamic commodity trade platform 21 Mar 2013 - 01:12 am

DUBAI: Dubai’s government-owned commodities centre is launching a Shariah-compliant commodity trading platform which Islamic banks in the Gulf could use to manage their...

Saudi labour reforms add 600,000 pvt sector jobs 20 Mar 2013 - 03:49 am

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s attempts to reform its expatriate-heavy labour market have put more than 600,000 locals into jobs at private companies, a senior...

Saudi to launch Fannie Mae-style firm 20 Mar 2013 - 03:45 am

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s central bank plans to launch a real estate refinancing company with SR5bn ($1.3bn) of capital to help develop the kingdom’s...

Qatar Exchange ends in green 19 Mar 2013 - 12:56 am

DUBAI: Downbeat global sentiment weighed on Middle East markets yesterday, with Egypt’s bourse further shaken by a court ruling freezing assets of 23...

Abu Dhabi gets world’s biggest solar power plant 18 Mar 2013 - 02:49 am

Journalists visit the Shams 1 solar power plant in Al Gharibiyah district on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi yesterday. MADINAT ZAYED, UAE: Oil-rich...

Banks lift UAE bourses; Qatar’s measure slips 18 Mar 2013 - 02:49 am

DUBAI: Banks helped lift the Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourses yesterday as investors bet on a fundamental improvement in the sector, while most...

UAE for speedy review of bank rules 17 Mar 2013 - 01:53 am

DUBAI: UAE’s central bank yesterday said it wanted to finalise a review of regulations on mortgages, banks’ loan exposure and liquidity to make...

Kuwait’s Gulf Bank gets new chairman 17 Mar 2013 - 01:47 am

Gulf Bank’s new Chairman Omar Qutayba Al Ghanim (right) sits next to outgoing Chairman Mahmoud Al Nouri ahead of the bank’s annual general...

Batelco in talks to buy stake in Reliance Communications unit 15 Mar 2013 - 06:09 am

DUBAI: Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) is in talks with Reliance Communications to buy a stake in the Indian operator’s enterprise business unit, the...

Asia’s Mideast oil market may pick up as demand recovers 14 Mar 2013 - 04:27 am

SINGAPORE: Asia’s Middle East crude market may strengthen when trading in May barrels begins this week, supported by refineries in Asia returning from...

Fuel crisis in Egypt 14 Mar 2013 - 04:26 am

Vehicles in a queue at a petrol station in Cairo. Egypt’s Oil Minister Osama Kamal has dismissed the head of state-owned Misr Petroleum...

Mixed trading across region’s bourses 14 Mar 2013 - 04:26 am

DUBAI: Dubai’s Arabtec rebounded yesterday after the builder changed some of the terms of a proposed capital hike that had sent its shares...