Reuters Kazakhstan’s financial centre expects the government to issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in coming months as part of efforts to develop Islamic finance business in the central Asian country, an official said on Tuesday. Final legislative changes to allow issuance of sovereign sukuk are nearly complete, alongside registration of a special purpose vehicle by the Ministry of Finance, said …

DUBAI / Reuters Egypt’s EFG Hermes is considering adding 20 percent more staff as one of the region’s biggest investment banks expects an improved deals outlook in Saudi Arabia by the second half of the year, a senior executive told Reuters. “There is massive interest in Saudi, but you will find that a lot of people are looking at it …

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s central bank said it would no longer offer repurchase agreements for seven-, 28- and 90-day periods, after short-term Saudi money market rates fell below US rates for the first time in nine years. In a brief statement, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency said it no longer needed to use the instruments and aimed to preserve …

DUBAI / Reuters The Lebanese central bank’s dollar reserves climbed by $1.4 billion in the first two months of the year and its total assets in dollars exceeded $43 billion, recovering from a decline during a political crisis at the end of last year, its governor said on Tuesday. Governor Riad Salameh said political conditions in the country had “returned …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. wants to appeal to more cashless customers, like tech-savvy millennials, while trying to cut its transaction expenses, copying a strategy set by PayPal Holdings Inc. The e-commerce giant is in talks with JPMorgan Chase Financial Co., Capital One Financial Corp. and other banks about creating new online accounts, according to two people familiar with the matter. The …

Bloomberg The US has offered the UK a more limited “Open Skies” aviation deal after Brexit than it has as a member of the European Union, but participants expressed confidence that the lucrative transatlantic market would continue unimpeded. The main stumbling block in the negotiations is that the US is using its standard template for aviation agreements, which has less …

Bloomberg General Electric Co. plans to replace a part in hundreds of recently delivered engines after uncovering a durability problem inside the turbines powering the upgraded workhorse jets of Boeing Co. and Airbus SE. The manufacturer has identified a fix for a previously disclosed issue with the new Leap engine, and the redesigned part will be incorporated into the production …

Bloomberg Starbucks has sought every means to fuel its growth while fending off smaller, lower-cost rivals like Dunkin’ Donuts. And a push to lease stores, rather than own them, may be part of the answer. The two companies have vied for foot traffic to maintain same-store sales growth, which for Starbucks Corp. is at its lowest level since 2009. But …

Bloomberg Shares in Just Eat Plc fell the most in 20 months despite the food-delivery company beating revenue estimates, after concerns over future spending and acquisition costs. Just Eat’s full-year 2017 revenue grew 45 percent to $755 million, with underlying earnings up 42 percent to 164 million pounds. International revenue grew 75 percent, representing 44 percent of group revenue, and …

Bloomberg Ten months into the top job and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg’s to-do list hasn’t gotten any shorter. While its cargo business and passenger traffic, especially premium travelers, are recovering, inflated wage costs and ever-increasing competition from Chinese rivals are issues he has to contend with. Among these, fuel-hedging bets gone awry top the list: …