Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made a pertinent point when she described tax as “the lifeblood of modern states”. Addressing finance ministers at the recent Arab Fiscal Forum in Abu Dhabi, she drove home the idea of introducing Value Added Tax (VAT) to shore up GCC economies. Her call for the Gulf states to introduce ...

Call it the new normal for European bank earnings. Standard Chartered shares plunged by the most in more than three years on Tuesday after the bank posted a “surprise” 2015 pretax loss of $1.5 billion, somewhat different from the $1.37 billion average profit estimate from 20 analysts. On Monday, HSBC delivered a “surprise” fourth-quarter pretax loss of $858 million, rather ...

Four years into the Obama administration’s “Asia-Pacific Rebalance” and on the eve of a tumultuous national election, questions about the coming consistency of U.S. foreign policy are at the forefront of every policymaker’s mind. Yet even without these disruptive factors, there is one area in which the United States should continue to provide coordination, collaboration, and commitment with allies and ...

Last November, in a bid to internationalize its currency, China’s yuan was successfully admitted to the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of reserve currencies, joining the Euro, the US dollar, Japanese yen and British sterling in the cohort of elite currencies. The yuan’s ascension is an economic milestone for China and a political victory for the world’s ...

Mobile World Congress 2016 has given us a glimpse into the innovations that will hit our stores this year. From the looks of things we will get much more than just thinner handsets. Many phone manufacturers have flooded the event with gadgets and accessories that can be bundled with phones. These include virtual reality headsets, 360-degree cameras, and a digital ...

The countdown to Britain’s EU referendum has started. Prime Minister David Cameron has secured some important concessions from his European counterparts. This is all very welcome, but deal or no deal I would have argued for Britain to stay in Europe. I became involved in the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign —comprised of organizations and individuals that favour Britain remaining ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business As part of the Knowledge Forums that were launched in 2014, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) in coordination with the Office of the Abu Dhabi Excellence Program at the Secretariat of the Executive Council (GSEC), showcased its government excellence experience, initiatives and projects at the forum which was held at Dusit Thani hotel in ...

BLoomberg Fancy another recession? Economists say voting to leave the European Union would dramatically increase the U.K.’s chances of heading down that road. As Britons contemplate their place in the 28-nation bloc before June’s referendum, respondents to a Bloomberg survey said the probability of a slump spikes to 40 percent in the event of an “out” vote. That compares with ...

Bloomberg Rachel Holdsworth has the “Brexit” blues. The 38-year-old London resident is anxious that her already expensive planned holiday to Norway is getting pricier with each passing day. The pound is sinking under the weight of worry that her fellow subjects will vote to quit the EU. “How much I pay will be entirely dependent on the exchange rate,” says ...

Bloomberg Bank of England Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Jon Cunliffe said risks to the UK outlook have increased and policy makers must be ready to act if needed. In a speech in London, Cunliffe said the global and domestic expansion has been weaker than he expected, pay growth will probably remain subdued and “deeper structural factors” may be at ...