Tehran / AFP Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani presented his budget on Sunday, with OPEC’s decision to cut production helping to boost its expected oil revenues. Rouhani’s 2017-2018 budget is based on oil prices of $50 per barrel, up from $40 last year, with a focus on unemployment, water resources, railways and the environment. The sums look realistic after last week’s …

  Reuters Kuwait Energy plans to close by the end of this year a reserve-based lending (RBL) loan facility of up to $100 million, sources familiar with the situation said. The Kuwaiti oil and gas exploration and production company, with assets in Egypt, Iraq, Oman and Yemen, is likely to obtain the financing on a bilateral basis from the European …

  Cairo / AFP Egypt is raising tariffs on some imported goods to up to 60 percent following a decree by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the finance ministry said. The ministry said the measure was introduced to “reduce imports”, which have seen Egypt’s trade deficit soar to more than $49 billion (46 billion euros). Sisi’s list of hundreds of imported …