The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

All upheavals leave their marks. Some fade away, some linger. Following the Black Death, the plague that’s believed to have killed 60% of Europe’s population in the second half of the 14th century, the realisation that life is short, played a big role in shaping interest rates in late medieval Europe, stretching all the way to the Enlightenment. Could we ...

If the recent selloff in markets proves anything, it’s that for too many years too many people were focussed solely on returns with zero consideration for risk or safety. The last time anyone really thought about safety in markets was during the financial crisis more than a decade ago, when investors couldn’t get enough government bonds or cash. But as ...

It doesn’t matter that the United States doubled China in reported Covid-19 cases because those numbers (164,610 and 82,198 respectively as of March 31) don’t tell us how many people actually became infected in either country. Nor do they tell us how fast the disease is spreading, since only a tiny portion of the population in the United States has ...

Authorities’ efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus have plunged the US economy into a sharp contraction, leading some to argue that the cure may be worse than the disease. This misguided thinking ignores a crucial consideration: As Congress and the Federal Reserve have demonstrated, we can improve the trade-off by lowering the cost of saving lives. No doubt, ...

The UK housing market — that obsession of middle-class Brits — has been placed in suspended animation. Buyers and renters have been told to delay moving home to limit the spread of coronavirus. While a few transactions are still going through, a functioning market depends on prospective buyers and surveyors being able to view people’s homes. Mobility restrictions and distancing ...

Dubai / WAM Expo 2020 Dubai has convened a second virtual meeting of its Steering Committee, with representatives of the countries taking part in the event, as part of ongoing consultations that the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) will have on global preparations of Expo 2020 Dubai. Participating countries briefed the Steering Committee on the global precautionary measures that have to ...

Bloomberg Oil slumped to a 17-year low as coronavirus lockdowns cascaded through the world’s largest economies, leaving the market overwhelmed by cratering demand and a ballooning surplus of crude. Futures in London fell as much as 7.6% to lowest since November 2002, while New York crude briefly dipped below $20 a barrel. Physical oil markets are struggling to store fuel, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM ADCB Group, including Al Hilal Bank, on Monday announced its commitment to ensure the continuity of employment at the Bank, pledging that no employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Commenting on the announcement, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of ADCB Group, said, “The banking sector plays an important role ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s central bank is ordering lenders to provide concessional loans to businesses grappling with the fallout of the coronavirus so companies won’t have to cut jobs. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama) wants banks to immediately put in place a lending program for at least six months to “assist in maintaining employment levels,” according to a document sent ...

HANNOVER / WAM The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) – a joint initiative by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on Monday announced that the third edition of its Summit (GMIS 2020) will be converted into a series of digital sessions. The summit invited thought-leaders from the global manufacturing community ...