Reuters Japan’s economy is expected to have narrowly avoided another recession at the start of 2016 but economists in a poll also predicted that growth and inflation will remain tepid this year, held back in part by the recent sharp rise in the yen. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) surprised in a split January decision to implement a tiny ...

  Reuters Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, posted a 1.1 percent increase in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, according to a bourse statement, on the back of rising income from loans, fees and commission. The bank made a profit of 43.8 million rials ($113.8 million) in the three-month period ending on March 31, up from 43.3 million rials a year ...

  Reuters Saudi Hollandi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s oldest lender, posted a 5.1 percent fall in first-quarter net profit on Thursday as income from trading, fees and commissions dipped. The lender made a profit of 511.5 million riyals ($136.5 million) in the three months to end-March, down from 538.9 million riyals in the corresponding quarter of 2015, according to a bourse ...