Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai welcomed 4.1 million overnight visitors in the first three months of 2016, a 5.1 percent increase over the same period last year, backed by strong double digit growth from its top two proximity markets, the GCC and India, according to figures released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). The GCC …

  DUBAI / Reuters Zain, Kuwait’s biggest telecommunications operator by subscribers, reported a 9 percent year-on-year fall in first-quarter profit on Sunday, extending an earnings slump as foreign exchange losses increased. The former monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, made a net profit of 37 million dinars ($123 million) in the three months to …

  ABU DHABI / Reuters Indonesia’s governor to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday that oil at $45 a barrel was “not bad” and that there would be no urgency to freeze output if crude remained at that price. Despite failure to reach a deal to curb oil output and support prices at an April 17 …

  Reuters Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ), the Gulf Arab state’s third-largest lender by assets, reported a 36.3 percent fall in net profit attributable to equity holders, below analysts’ forecast. The bank earned a net profit attributable to equity holders of 288.1 million riyals ($79.1 million) in the three months to Mar. 31, it said in a statement. That compares …

  Bloomberg The pound rose to its strongest level in more than a month versus the dollar amid signs the “remain” camp is pulling ahead in the campaign over Britain’s membership of the European Union. Sterling touched a six-week high against the euro, after posting its longest winning streak in 10 months through Friday, as U.S. President Barack Obama backed …

  Bloomberg German business confidence unexpectedly deteriorated in the latest sign that Europe’s largest economy is losing some of its pace. The Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index fell to 106.6 in April from 106.7 the previous month. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for an increase to 107.1. The Bundesbank said last week that it …

  Bloomberg Norway increased its withdrawals from the nation’s wealth fund again in March, running ahead of estimates made by the central bank just two months ago. The government withdrew 7.4 billion kroner ($898 million), according to monthly data published by Norwegian Government Agency for Financial Management. That’s up from 6.7 billion kroner in each of the first two months …

  Bloomberg The currency market is becoming more convinced that the Brazilian real’s world-beating rally this year is far from over. Foreign investors have reduced their bearish bets against the currency in the futures market by 33 percent since the end of 2015 to $15 billion, the least since November 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and BM&FBovespa SA, …

  bloomberg Believe it or not, companies still want to make deals. Half of executives expect to pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months and 40 percent aim to boost sales through partnerships, according to EY’s Global Capital Conference Barometer, a survey of more than 1,700 executives in 45 countries. While that’s down from the 59 percent of participants who …

  Bloomberg President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Congress to vote on a trade deal with Asia-Pacific nations after the primary season over, and that his administration will complete negotiations on a similar pact with the European Union by the end of his presidency. “When we’re in the heat of campaigns people are naturally going to worry more …