Regional News

  Emirates Business In 2015, Egypt was one of the fastest-growing economies in the Middle East and North Africa region – second only to Morocco – with GDP growth of 4.5 per cent. It is a clear sign that the project-led recovery plan and economic reforms initiated by Cairo are paying dividends. There has been a sharp step-up in project …

  WASHINGTON / AP The United States will provide Israel’s military with $38 billion during the next 10 years, officials said, the largest batch of military assistance the U.S. has ever pledged to another country. Following months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the State Department said the two countries had reached a 10-year agreement, with a signing ceremony planned for Wednesday. The …

  MOSCOW / Reuters Russia threatened to ban Egyptian citrus imports on Tuesday, a move that could escalate a trade dispute over exports of Russian wheat to the world’s largest importer of the grain. Moscow said this week it hopes to hold talks with Egypt, its top buyer, over Cairo’s failure to approve Russian wheat shipments since tightening its regulations …

  TEHRAN / AP Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday unveiled a new high-speed vessel the force says is capable of carrying a helicopter and up to 100 people, Iranian state TV reported. The report follows a series of close encounters between American warships and Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. The TV showed a catamaran-type ship described as 55 …

Reuters Algeria’s government plans to slash spending by 14 percent in 2017, after a 9 percent cut this year, seeking to adjust to lower energy revenues, according to a government official. It is also considering increasing subsidised gasoline and diesel prices for a second straight year to rein in rising domestic consumption and lower the import bill, the official said. …

  Bloomberg Egypt’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 15.5% in August, driven to its highest level in at least seven years by the weakening of the currency and an increase in electricity prices. Consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in the month, according to data published by the state-run CAPMAS statistics agency. Food and beverage prices, which account for the largest …

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is weighing plans to cancel more than $20 billion of projects and slash ministry budgets by a quarter to repair finances squeezed by low oil prices, people familiar with the matter said — efforts that analysts expect to slow economic growth. The government is reviewing thousands of projects valued at about 260 billion riyals ($69 billion) …

  Emirates Business Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications “MOTC” has signed an agreement with Emirates Classification Society, TASNEEF, authorizing it to inspect the small ships that are not abiding by the international conventions in GCC countries. The agreement will help ensure that all ships and vessels are compliant with the safety requirements of the GCC “GCC CODE”. The Emirates …

  Emirates Business The Qatar Ministry of Culture and Sports has awarded the operation of two world-class arenas to ELAN Live Nation, a joint venture (JV) between ELAN Group, a diversified and fully integrated media and entertainment group in the Middle East, and Live Nation, the global leader in live entertainment. The JV will operate Lusail Multipurpose Arena in Lusail, …

  Bloomberg A group of liquefied natural gas industry executives is launching a digital platform that will allow LNG traders to buy and sell spot cargoes via online auctions. The Global LNG Exchange, or GLX, will begin testing its platform in October and plans to handle live deals starting in the first quarter, Chief Executive Officer Damien Criddle said in …