July, 2016

• 18 July

  Qatar’s Commercial Bank gets $166 mn int’l loan

  REUTERS Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) has obtained a $166 million, three-year loan from international banks for general corporate purposes, it said on Monday. Seven lenders participated in the deal, with Mizuho Bank acting as sole co-ordinator, sole bookrunner and mandated lead arranger. Agricultural Bank of China, State Bank of India and Bank of Taiwan were also mandated lead arrangers; ...

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• 18 July

  Saudi Binladin seeks loan extension after Grand Mosque payment delay

    Riyadh / REUTERS Saudi Binladin Group has asked for an extension on a 817 million riyal ($217.8 million) Islamic loan that matured last week and which was being used to fund construction work on the kingdom’s Grand Mosque site, according to sources aware of the matter. The request to delay the payment, originally due on July 15, was because ...

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• 18 July

  China crude buying sustained even as local supplies drop

  

    Bloomberg Growing demand from oil refiners and the continued filling of strategic crude reserves in the face of domestic production declines will support crude buying by the world’s second-largest consumer, according to analysts from Energy Aspects Ltd. and ICIS China. Coal imports will continue to rise to help fill a supply gap left by a mining slowdown. “Crude buying ...

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• 18 July

  EU, Indonesia launch free trade talks

  

    AFP The EU’s 28 member states agreed on Monday to launch free trade talks with Indonesia, despite growing public doubts in Europe about two major transatlantic deals. The deal with Indonesia will build on pacts with other Asian powers such as Singapore and Vietnam. “The EU and Indonesia represent a huge market of 750 million consumers. These negotiations are ...

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• 18 July

  Malaysia’s US$30billion fund goes long as Islamic plan progresses

    Bloomberg Malaysia’s second-largest pension fund plans to buy more bonds with maturities of 10 years and above to hedge against another interest-rate cut as it moves further toward becoming a full-fledged Islamic entity. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), which manages about 120 billion ringgit (US$30 billion), is considering lowering its 5 percent minimum return target because of the uncertainty in ...

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• 18 July

  Reliance Jio’s plan launch triggers mobile data rate cut

    Bloomberg Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s plan to begin mobile services at Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd by August has caused incumbent operators led by Bharti Airtel Ltd to cut data tariffs to stem defections. Airtel will offer prepaid customers as much as 67 percent more data for the same fees, according to a statement from India’s largest mobile company Sunday. Idea, ...

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• 18 July

  Temasek to weigh Buyout of Singapore rail operator SMRT

  

    Bloomberg Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte is considering a buyout offer for SMRT Corp, the city-state’s biggest subway operator, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Temasek is weighing an offer to buy all the shares it doesn’t already own in SMRT, according to the person, who asked not to be identified as the information is ...

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• 18 July

  Amid Western alarm, Turkey sacks 9,000 officials in post-coup purge

  

    Istanbul / AFP Turkey launched fresh raids and sacked almost 9,000 officials on Monday in a relentless crackdown against suspects behind an attempted coup that left over 300 people dead, as Western allies warned against reinstating the death penalty. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to wipe out the “virus” of the putschists after facing down the coup bid ...

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• 18 July

  Beijing to hold South China Sea war games after tribunal ruling

  

    Beijing / AFP Beijing will close off access to part of the South China Sea for military drills, officials said on Monday, after an international tribunal ruled against its sweeping claims in the waters. An area off the east coast of China’s island province of Hainan will host military exercises from Tuesday to Thursday, China’s maritime administration said on ...

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• 18 July

  Clashes erupt as Israel destroys Palestinian home over cop’s killing

  

    Nablus / AFP Clashes erupted on Monday as Israel’s military demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of involvement in a February attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City that killed a policewoman, officials said. The family home of Bilal Abu Zeid in Qabatiya, in the north of the occupied West Bank, was destroyed by a bulldozer around 2:00 am (2300 ...

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