News

Ritika Sharma / Emirates Business The Islamic insurance industry is facing an uphill climb against severe competitive pressures with an added headwind coming from macroeconomic challenges, according to the Finance Forward Takaful Outlook Report 2016. However, the forecast is brighter with Takaful growing faster than the broader insurance market. This report will be discussed during the upcoming annual World Takaful ...

Emirates Business New archaeological excavations on Marawah Island have uncovered the earliest known inhabitants of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi providing a unique insight into life during the Late Stone Age in Abu Dhabi’s western region. A programme of archaeological surveys carried out by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) since 2012 has identified more than 20 ...

Bloomberg International business executives looking at Iran invariably see plenty of dollar signs, but there is always a caveat or two whenever the discussion turns to how and when to enter the country. Some point out that while Iran has a large, young and well-educated population, the Revolutionary Guards Corp is deeply entrenched in the economy. Others note that there ...

Reuters Riyadh-based ACWA Power is keen to buy assets from Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) if the state-controlled utility be broken up as planned, a senior executive said. Saudi Arabia’s utility regulator said last month that SEC would be split into several firms by the end of 2016 to increase efficiency. Political pressure for the long-contemplated change has increased greatly since ...

Singapore / Bloomberg Singapore said it will adopt an expansionary fiscal budget to boost growth, reducing pressure on the central bank to provide more support for the economy weeks before its next policy decision. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, presenting his first budget to Parliament, pledged support for companies that are facing labour constraints and a faltering global outlook, promised ...

Taipei / Bloomberg Taiwan cut its benchmark rate for a third consecutive quarter as an export slump showed no signs of recovering and has begun weighing on the labor market. The central bank lowered the benchmark discount rate by another 12.5 basis points to 1.5 percent, it said in a statement Thursday in Taipei. Twenty-five of 26 economists surveyed by ...

TOKYO / Reuters Some Japanese firms, facing the possibility of negative interest rates on their deposits, would consider stuffing their cash in a safe rather than pay to keep it in the bank, a Reuters poll found, in what would be an unintended and unwelcome side-effect to the country’s new monetary policy. While the bulk of companies in the Reuters ...

Kathmandu / AFP Nepal has secured a deal for China to supply it with fuel, as the energy-starved Himalayan nation seeks to deepen ties with Beijing and reduce its reliance on India. The agreement was signed during a visit by Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to Beijing, following months of frosty relations with New Delhi, traditionally the sole supplier ...

Bandar Seri Begawan / DPA The Bruneian government will continue to ensure job security of locals in the oil and gas sector amid the gloomy global economic situation, said Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office Col. (Rtd) Mohammad Yasmin Umar. In his closing remarks at the 12th Legislative Council (LegCo) session yesterday (March 23), Mohammad Yasmin ...

Hanoi / AFP Vietnam’s inflation rate rose sharply in the first quarter of 2016 according to official figures released Thursday, a turnaround for the communist country which saw inflation dwindle to zero last year. Year-on-year consumer price inflation was 1.25 percent in the first quarter, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a statement posted on its website, a sharp ...