Regional News

  CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s efforts to relieve a crippling dollar shortage are pushing it towards a sickly combination of rising prices and lower growth, undermining hopes for economic revival after years of political upheaval. Prices have soared since Egypt devalued its currency by 13 percent in mid-March to end speculation against the pound and ease a dollar shortage that ...

  Manama / TNS Bahrain has attracted $110 million in investments and created 1,200 jobs since the beginning of the year, a top official has revealed. However, the aim is to attract double that amount by the end of the year, said Economic Development Board chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi. “We think we’ll achieve that,” he said at a media ...

  CAIRO / Reuters Orange Egypt has said that Egypt’s telecommunications regulator had asked it to pay 3.54 billion Egyptian pounds ($399 million) for a licence to offer fourth-generation mobile phone services. The regulator had asked it to pay 100 million Egyptian pounds to acquire a fixed-line licence and 1.8 billion pounds to offer international calls, Orange Egypt said in ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s government expects to run a budget deficit for at least three years as low natural gas and oil prices weigh on its revenues, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics said. In a long-term report on the Qatari economy, the ministry forecast a fiscal deficit of 7.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, ...

  Emirates Business The GCC Ministers of Finance, in a vital meeting in Jeddah recently, approved in principle the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Tax treaties. Some administrative matters still need to be resolved, notably with regards to the tax collection mechanism related to intra-GCC trade. The GCC Committee has been tasked to provide its recommendation by the end ...

  Manama / Tribune News Service Setting up a new venture to collect millions of dinars to restart work on four developments in Bahrain that were never completed has been proposed by industry experts. They also called for the auctioning of two of the stalled projects as part of measures to resolve the crisis in the next six years. Thousands ...

  Manama / Tribune News Service Concerns have been raised that people would be attacked if ATM machines are installed in public parks across Bahrain. The proposal, presented by Southern Municipal Council chairman Ahmed Al Ansari to the Central Bank of Bahrain, aims to provide services across the board and generate municipal income from the leased space. Works, Municipalities and ...

  Winnipeg / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s agriculture company has taken control of the majority investor in grain handler G3 Canada Limited, according to a filing, reducing Bunge Ltd’s stake and strengthening the kingdom’s efforts to secure food supplies. G3 Global Holdings, the joint venture of U.S. agribusiness Bunge and Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Co (SALIC), bought 50.1 percent of ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Gidea Technology Company launched a new service to the payment sector market in Saudi Arabia, which facilitates the linking system of electronic for Saudi banks with UnionPay network “the global payment network that serves the world’s largest cardholder base” through the Saudi Payments Network System (MADA) in cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. It ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Nissan has signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Greater Amman Municipality in Jordan as part of a landmark initiative to provide the Kingdom with its first 100 Nissan LEAF and Nissan e-NV200 electric vehicles (EVs). The vehicles, to be supplied by Bustami & Saheb (BSTC), Nissan’s exclusive distributor in the Kingdom, will ...