Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi’s macro economy saw robust performance in Q1 of 2016, reflecting continuous good growth rates at the end of 2015. Latest estimates issued by SCAD indicate that the GDP of Abu Dhabi, at the fixed prices, reached AED 196.1 billion in Q4 of 2015 with a growth rate of 7.7%, compared to the ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Imdaad has been named this year’s recipient of the “IMA ME Finance Team of the Year Award.” Through this award, IMA identifies and honors the contribution of finance teams in the overall success of their organizations based on the foundations of outstanding performance, management accounting excellence, business partnering and innovation. The recognition is awarded to ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business In line with the recent trend, the UAE’s non-oil private sector expanded at a steady pace in June. Higher output and new orders were key factors behind the overall improvement in business conditions. That said, the respective rates of growth were subdued compared to those seen over the course of 2014 and 2015. Both employment ...

  Bloomberg The European Union is in a political bind as it looks into the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions against Spain and Portugal for breaching budget-deficit limits. The European Commission is seeking the go-ahead from finance ministers to propose fines and a suspension of some EU regional-development funding after concluding that Spain and Portugal took inadequate steps to narrow ...

  Bloomberg Count tennis champion Serena Williams among those who have lost money in wake of last month’s Brexit vote. Williams beat Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday’s Wimbledon final, her 22nd major title, tied with Steffi Graf for most in the Open Era. The winner’s prize is worth $2.59 million when converted to U.S. dollars, about $380,000 less than ...

  London / AFP Britain’s referendum vote to quit the European Union is starting to bite hard, with the property sector fast losing investor confidence and banks offered a helping hand to boost lending. Data meanwhile has shown the British economy taking a knock already in the run-up to Brexit, with business confidence hitting a 3.5-year low in June, according ...

  Bloomberg The U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union will make it harder for British seafood exporters to compete with other countries, according to the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization. Four of the top five importers of British seafood exports are nations in the EU, according to data from industry group Seafish. While it’s uncertain what kind of ...

  Sydney / AFP Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday declared victory for the ruling conservatives after the Labor opposition conceded defeat, but faced a tough time ahead after the narrow mandate in the closely fought election. The declaration ended eight days of uncertainty about the new government’s identity. A tight race between the two major parties left neither ...

  Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative ruling coalition and its allies appear set to win a majority in Sunday’s upper house election, an NHK exit poll showed, though it’s unclear if they’ll gain the two-thirds majority allowing him to press ahead with plans to revise the pacifist constitution and assemble a package of fiscal stimulus. Abe’s Liberal Democratic ...

  Beirut / AFP The IS extremist group lost 12 percent of the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2016, according to an analysis by British think-tank IHS. The analysis published on Sunday says the extremist group, which proclaimed its self-styled “caliphate” in the two countries in 2014, is continuing to lose ground after ...