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DUBAI / WAM Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Meraas will join forces with Dubai Holding in an effort to sustain and advance growth through a unified and integrated vision that builds on gains, spurs efforts and boosts Dubai’s global competitiveness. Meraas ...

DUBAI / WAM The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), announced on Tuesday that it will no longer purchase paper supplies, adding that it would refrain from using some 8.5 million sheets of paper for 2020. The move comes as part of the Dubai Paperless Strategy, which aims to use advanced technology to build an integrated paperless government framework. Commenting ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Al Hilal Bank — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) — has completed the sale of Al Hilal Takaful, its Islamic insurance subsidiary, to Siraj Holding LLC. In a statement by the bank on Tuesday, the divestment was driven by Al Hilal Bank’s strategic decision to focus on delivering high-quality retail banking services, ...

Dubai / WAM Emirates airline has received approvals to carry passengers on flights to Kabul in Afghanistan, starting from June 25, taking to 30 the total number of destinations currently offered to travellers. In addition to Kabul, flights to the following cities can be booked on emirates website or via travel agents: Bahrain, London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, ...

Bloomberg French economic output will take two years to recover from the virus-related slump that that will inflict even longer lasting damage on the labour market, the country’s central bank said. The Bank of France report shows that even with robust growth in the next two years, unemployment will continue rising to reach a record high close to 12% in ...

Bloomberg Demand for government bonds is showing no signs of letup, with Ireland securing record investor demand despite a host of countries, including the UK, selling debt. Ireland racked up more than 50 billion euros for its sale of 10-year debt, trumping the 33 billion euros secured in April. The UK meanwhile is selling 30-year bonds via banks against a ...

Bloomberg German exports plunged at a record pace in April when economies around the world shut down to contain the coronavirus. Sales abroad were down 31.1% from a year earlier, an unprecedented slump in the series that reaches back to 1950. Imports fell the most since the financial crisis a decade ago. German manufacturers were already suffering from weak demand ...

Bloomberg The fallout from Covid-19 is hurting the financial wellbeing of Greek and Romanian consumers the most in Europe, while those in Scandinavia are least affected. Swedish debt collector Intrum AB surveyed European consumers on their financial security and nearly half of the respondents said their wellbeing has declined today compared with six months ago. “The survey clearly shows that ...

Bloomberg The UK government’s pandemic programs are now supporting 11.5 million jobs at a cost of 27 billion pounds ($34 billion), according to figures released on Tuesday. Meanwhile, separate data from the Department of Work and Pensions showed the number of individuals making declarations for Universal Credit benefit claims fell to 96,510 in the week of May 25, the first ...

Bloomberg The euro has carved out a dominant position in the fast-growing market for green-bond financing, accounting for almost half of all new issuances last year, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The development dovetails with European Union ambitions to make the continent the first climate-neutral region by 2050. ECB President Christine Lagarde has promised to reflect on how ...