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Bloomberg The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) hasn’t decided yet to extend or modify its agreement to cut oil output, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said, as the coronavirus batters the global economy and threatens demand for crude. Opec and its allies are to meet next week in Vienna to assess their global cuts policy. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin …

Bloomberg The worrying prospect that the coronavirus outbreak could become the first truly disruptive pandemic of the globalisation era is renewing doubts over the stability of the world economy. With the death toll approaching 3,000, over 80,000 cases officially recorded and an outbreak in Italy now shutting down the richest chunk of its economy, some economists are beginning to war …

Bloomberg Renewed fears that the coronavirus will harm global growth rocked commodity markets again on Monday, with oil and metals prices tumbling while gold soared towards $1,700 an ounce amid a flight to haven assets. As the deadly virus spreads more widely outside China, raising the threat of a global pandemic, finance chiefs and central bankers from the world’s largest …

ABU DHABI / WAM Water scarcity in the region is of a rising concern, particularly as governments are moving away from reliance on traditional water resources to meet population demands, report findings have revealed. According to the ‘Mena Desalination Market’ report by Ventures Onsite, the Mena region’s investment in the water desalination market has increased “substantially”. It noted that 48 …

Bloomberg The US will sign military deals worth more than $3 billion with India on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said at the start of a two-day state visit to the South Asian nation. “We make the greatest weapons ever made. Airplanes. Missiles. Rockets. Ships. We make the best and we’re dealing now with India. But this includes advanced air-defense systems …

Emirates Business UAE business leaders are confident in their company’s growth prospects for the first half of 2020, with 69% expressing they are ‘very confident’, according to independent research commissioned by leading international recruitment consul- -tancy, Robert Half UAE. Business leaders in UAE revealed that operational expansion is primary influence for their 2020 hiring strategy. When questioned on the rationale …

DUBAI / WAM The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strengthen their economic partnership to enhance the trade, diversify and create opportunities for the businesses and people in both the countries. Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company has partnered with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), for financing and providing credit insurance to …

Bloomberg The coronavirus outbreak presents another reason for nations with fiscal surpluses to boost their spending and support the global economy, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. “It’s a call to arms,” Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Saudi Arabia. “Look at what’s going on. …

Bloomberg The guardians of the world economy are convening amid mounting fears that the coronavirus outbreak poses a greater threat to global growth than first envisaged. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations began meetings on Saturday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for the first time since the virus forced much of China to be …

Bloomberg Oil fell as the coronavirus outbreak accelerated beyond China, intensifying concerns about the infection’s economic fallout. Futures fell 0.9% in New York. China revised how it calculates infection totals for the third time this month, raising questions about data reliability and confirming the virus’s growing reach. Meanwhile, a key IHS Markit gauge of factories and service providers in the …