Regional News

  Reuters Qatar National Bank (QNB) has been given approval to open a branch in India offering banking services, the Gulf region’s largest lender said on Sunday. The bank, which in June completed the 2.7 billion euro purchase of Turkey’s Finansbank, has a presence in more than 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In a statement, ...

  Bloomberg Egypt will no longer accept imported wheat containing any traces of the ergot fungus, the Agriculture Ministry said, sowing fresh regulatory confusion that has hampered shipments to the world’s biggest buyer of the grain. The new ruling runs counter to a less restrictive policy by the Supply Ministry allowing for shipments containing as much as 0.05 percent ergot ...

  Reuters Iraq is willing to play an active role within OPEC to support oil prices but will not sacrifice its goal of expanding market share and will continue to ramp up output, its oil minister said. Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, on a visit to the southern oil city of Basra, renewed calls for local and international oil companies in Iraq ...

  Bloomberg The initial public offering of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. remains on track while the government considers how to meet all its objectives from the sale of a stake in the world’s biggest oil company, the kingdom’s Energy Minister said. Saudi Arabia hopes to list the company, also known as Saudi Aramco, in early 2018, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih ...

  Emirates Business Crystal Lagoons, the multinational innovation company and developer of the world’s top amenity patented technology that makes giant crystal-clear lagoons a reality, has announced two new project wins in Egypt, bringing its total portfolio of active and under development projects in the Middle East and India to 15. Showcasing a range of projects at this year’s Cityscape ...

  Reuters The International Monetary Fund has approved a $723 million loan facility to Jordan in a three-year programme to support economic and financial reforms aimed at lowering public debt and accelerating growth, it said on Wednesday. The IMF said in a statement the first $72.3 million tranche was to be paid immediately, and the remaining amount would be disbursed ...

  Reuters Sky Prime Aviation Services has become the latest aviation company in Saudi Arabia to be awarded a national air operator licence under an ongoing liberalisation of the kingdom’s aviation market. The company, which provides private jets, received the licence for chartered flights from Minister of Transport Sulaiman al-Hamdan during a ceremony in Riyadh, according to its Twitter feed. ...

  Reuters Iran and Ecuador discussed ways that the two countries can strengthen oil prices as Iran signals it may support joint efforts by exporters to prop up flagging crude. Iran has been boosting output since Western sanctions were eased in January. Tehran refused to join a previous attempt this year by OPEC plus non-members such as Russia to stabilize ...

  Reuters Iraq’s prime minister said the country has not yet reached its full oil market share, suggesting his government would not restrain crude output as part of any possible OPEC agreement to lift prices. “And the capping, we are not open to that because Iraq is still below what it should produce,” Haider al-Abadi told reporters, responding to a ...

  Reuters Iran is sending positive signals that it may support joint action to prop up the oil market, sources in OPEC and the oil industry said, potentially aiding efforts to revive a global deal on freezing production levels at talks next month. OPEC’s third-largest producer has been boosting output after the lifting of Western sanctions in January. Tehran refused ...