Regional News

  BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq, pressured by lower-than-expected oil prices, will cut non-oil spending in its 2016 budget by 15 percent and take on several billion dollars in international debt, it said in a memo which the International Monetary Fund released on Thursday. OPEC’s second-largest producer, which relies on oil exports for nearly all its revenue, has sought donor support ...

  Riyadh / TNS Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Education and the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Talent and Creativity (Mawhiba), is due to participate in three international competitions in mathematics, physics and chemistry from the fourth to the 27th of Shawwal 1437 AH in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Georgia. Saudi Arabia is competing in the International Olympiad of ...

  WAM The total revenues of Saudi Customs in the last fiscal year 1436 AH (2015 AD) amounted to SR 29.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent compared to 2014, including SR3.06 billion incurred by the state as part of the support for some imported goods. According to the Saudi Press Agency, SPA, the recently issued annual report of the ...

  Reuters Kuwait is considering privatising its oil services sector, a senior finance ministry official said, although any plans would not include its production capability. The finance ministry and state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation are studying which sectors and services may be privatised, Undersecretary Khalifa Hamada told a news conference. Gulf governments are being forced to consider measures such as privatisations, ...

  Bloomberg Crude oil will rise to a range of $50 to $60 a barrel until at least 2018 as demand increases and markets absorb an oversupply that’s led to lower prices over the last two years, according to the acting oil minister of OPEC member Kuwait. OPEC should stick with its policy of pumping at near record levels as ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s government of national unity is working to reopen four of the OPEC country’s biggest oil ports after securing a deal to unify the fractured nation’s state energy company. Four ports accounting for about 860,000 barrels a day in crude-exporting capacity have been shut due to political turmoil and fighting. A July 2 deal to unify rival administrations ...

  Bloomberg Kuwait is taking steps to sell minority stakes in as many as four units of the state oil producer as the Middle Eastern government plans to tap global capital markets for funds and improve efficiency in its most important industry. The government has a four-year plan to organize and execute sales of shares in the international units and ...

  Riyadh / AFP Their heads bowed, young Saudi men concentrate on exam papers in a workshop filled with industrial machines that will help them earn a living. The students at the Higher Institute for Plastics Fabrication (HIPF) learn to manufacture plastic bags, pipes, bottles and other products, skills they immediately put to work in what the government says is a ...

  Agencies Oil prices recovered on Tuesday but stayed near two-month lows as increased US drilling, a strong dollar and hints of higher production by Iran and Libya brought worries about a global glut back into focus. The commodity has retreated since last month, when prices rose above $52 a barrel, as supply disruptions in Nigeria and Canada eased and ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The banking sector in the Middle East has grown tremendously over the past few years. With a great deal of emphasis laid on technology adoption in the banking sector, the ever-changing banking landscape has seen a consistent growth in demand for innovative technology and services. According to multiple reports, mobile payments and digital banking strategy ...