News

  Jakarta / WAM Bank Indonesia reported the country’s current account deficit narrowed to US$4.7 billion or 2.1 percent of its gross domestic products (GDP) in the first quarter of this year from US$5.1 billion or 2.4 percent of the GDP in the previous three months period. The central bank attributed the improvement in current account performance to growing surplus ...

  Washington / AFP The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it is considering new financial support for the Afghanistan government as the country’s economy continues to stumble. The IMF lauded the country’s gains under a just-concluded IMF-monitored program to close vulnerabilities with reforms in the government budget process and in the financial sector. “Despite difficult circumstances, the authorities implemented ...

  KUALA LUMPUR / WAM The 4.2 per cent annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded for the first quarter (1Q16) as announced by Bank Negara Malaysia exceeded the forecast of economists. It came in higher than the consensus estimate of 4.0 per cent, said Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohammed Afzanizam Abdul Rashid. He commented that the ...

  Kolkata / Bloomberg UCO Bank, an Indian state-owned lender with 629 deliberate defaulters, reported the highest bad loan ratio among banks in the South Asian nation. Shares fell the most in three months. Provisions for soured debt at the Kolkata-based company more than doubled to about 23 billion rupees ($344 million) in the three months through March from a ...

  Ritika Sharma / Emirates Business Technological interventions have changed everything from the way to shop to how we play. It has not left the education industry untouched either. Pencils, notebooks and hand-written assignments have given way to tablets and emails, completely changing the way we looked at education just a decade ago. Countries like UAE are leading the bandwagon ...

  Sharjah / Emirates Business The Sharjah International Commercial Arbitration Centre, or TAHKEEM, recently organised a symposium on ‘Arbitration and the Real Estate Sector’ at the Sheraton Hotel Sharjah, in collaboration with Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Real Estate Registration Department and Sharjah Media Centre. Participants included senior officials and directors from government institutions and private companies operating ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Landmark Group, the Middle East-based retail and hospitality conglomerate, has launched Facebook at Work to connect 10,000 employees across 11 countries. The move aims to encourage collaboration and greater cohesiveness at the work place through helping employees communicate in real-time via the rich social media platform. Facebook at Work allows Landmark employees to connect ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), a regional leader in banking and finance education and training, has reported a record training year in 2015. The institute delivered a total of 828 vocational training and education programmes and activities in 2015 — the highest recorded to date. Exceeding its 2015 target to train 19,000 ...

  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business With an approximate annual growth of upto 5 to 10 percent, the Middle East has emerged as one of the record blossoming markets for yachts and boats globally. There has been a significant surge in buying of yachts, which has given a strong impetus to the manufacturing industry of yachts and boats in this ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business A high-level delegation composed of representatives from the Ministry of Economy and the Council of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Projects (SMEs Council), key businessmen and entrepreneurs, and other government officials, with a number of more than 50 persons, is set to visit Malaysia with the chief aim of exploring potential business and investment ...