Regional News

Reuters Importers in Iran have bought at least 250,000 tonnes of Brazilian raw sugar in the first purchases since international sanctions were lifted on Tehran in January, trade sources said. One source said the purchases were between 250,000 and 300,000 tonnes for May to June shipment, while another said the quantity was probably bigger than that. “Buyers in Iran have ...

  Manama / Tribune news service Old and outdated systems running the oil and gas sector in the Gulf are vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to a security expert. Hackers keep exploiting this weakness which is reflected in the sharp rise in the number of attempts reported by a global cyber security watchdog monitoring the situation. “The underlying technology that ...

  Reuters Saudi-based ACWA Power expects to win further business in South Africa this year as the power plant developer rides out concerns about the country’s currency to tap into its need for more electricity, the firm’s chief executive said. South Africa’s economy has been hit hard by a significant fall in the rand’s value against the dollar, while businesses ...

    Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is considering a plan to tax millions of foreign residents as the kingdom seeks to reduce its reliance on oil revenue after the plunge in crude prices. The proposal was included in the country’s National Transformation Plan, an ambitious multi-year program released this week. But the tax element is only “an initiative that will be ...

  Bloomberg Iran will seek international investors for a $3 billion refinery project in the country’s south as the Persian Gulf nation looks to boost sales of its oil and natural gas products in Asia. The refining complex on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast will seek to raise as much as 80 percent of the capital needed from international partners or ...

  Emirates Business Morocco’s Casa Transports has awarded Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi an €83m ($94m) contract for the construction of Line 2 of the Casablanca tram line. The line will feature 20 stations, with construction expected to take a two-and-a-half years, according to a rail industry publication. Line 2 will start where the western branch of Line 1 terminates, at Boulevard ...

Bloomberg   Saudi Arabia plans to cut the public-sector wage bill as well as subsidies by 2020, scaling back the state largess that helped ensure political loyalty in the largest Arab economy. The reductions are a pillar of the National Transformation Program the Saudi cabinet approved on Monday. A major component of the Vision 2030 plan unveiled by Deputy Crown ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is scaling back renewable power targets as the world’s biggest oil exporter plans to use more natural gas, backing away from goals set when crude prices were triple their current level, according to Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih. The kingdom aims to have power generation from renewable resources like the sun make up 10 percent of the ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is cracking down on banks that are lowballing interest rate submissions, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency has written to banks instructing them not to submit levels to the Saudi Interbank Offered Rate that are below what they’re actually willing to lend at, four people said, asking not to be ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, raised pricing on most oil grades for sale to Asia and the U.S. in July after the nation’s energy minister said demand was robust. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. increased its official selling price for Arab Light crude by 35 cents a barrel to 60 cents more than the regional benchmark ...