Qatar predicts three years of budget deficit

  DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s government expects to run a budget deficit for at least three years as low natural gas and oil prices weigh on its revenues, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics said. In a long-term report on the Qatari economy, the ministry forecast a fiscal deficit of 7.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, ...

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GCC firms should think ahead to VAT, Excise Tax

  Emirates Business The GCC Ministers of Finance, in a vital meeting in Jeddah recently, approved in principle the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Excise Tax treaties. Some administrative matters still need to be resolved, notably with regards to the tax collection mechanism related to intra-GCC trade. The GCC Committee has been tasked to provide its recommendation by the end ...

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Experts envisage new plan to revive stalled projects in Bahrain

  Manama / Tribune News Service Setting up a new venture to collect millions of dinars to restart work on four developments in Bahrain that were never completed has been proposed by industry experts. They also called for the auctioning of two of the stalled projects as part of measures to resolve the crisis in the next six years. Thousands ...

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ATMs in Manama parks ‘may put lives at risk’

  Manama / Tribune News Service Concerns have been raised that people would be attacked if ATM machines are installed in public parks across Bahrain. The proposal, presented by Southern Municipal Council chairman Ahmed Al Ansari to the Central Bank of Bahrain, aims to provide services across the board and generate municipal income from the leased space. Works, Municipalities and ...

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First Brexit poll since Jo Cox killing puts ‘Remain’ in lead

  Bloomberg The campaign to keep the U.K. in the European Union led in the first opinion poll fully conducted since Thursday’s slaying of politician Jo Cox as the debate resumed five days before the referendum. Staying in the bloc won 45 percent support in the Survation telephone poll of 1,001 adults on Friday and Saturday for the Mail on ...

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France warns UK it will be inflexible over EU exit

  Paris, France / AFP French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said the EU should act quickly and firmly if Britain votes next week to leave the European Union. Britain’s EU referendum will be held on Thursday, with an EU summit set for a few days later on June 28 at which Macron said EU leaders should take a firm stand with ...

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Fiat’s Marchionne mulls Maserati e-sportscar as Tesla competitor

  Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is considering adding full electric vehicles to the carmaker’s line-up including the Maserati Alfieri sportscar and a small city car. “I’ve always thought the economic model that supports Tesla is something that Fiat Chrysler could replicate as we have the brand and the vehicles to do it,” Marchionne told Bloomberg Television in Venice. ...

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Angst grows over agrochemical mega-mergers

  Paris, France / AFP Three mega-mergers in the agrochemical sector, including Bayer and Monsanto, have raised concerns among farmers who fear higher prices and consumers for more genetically-modified food. Even before Bayer successfully woos US-based Monsanto, German civil society has erupted in protest against a national champion acquiring a producer of genetically-modified seeds and Roundup, the world’s leading but also ...

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Obama touts environmental record in US national parks

  AFP President Barack Obama and the first family celebrated America’s cherished natural heritage Saturday during a weekend tour marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s vaunted national park system. Obama, also using the occasion to tout his environmental record, is the first sitting president since John F. Kennedy in 1962 to visit California’s Yosemite National Park. Obama has made ...

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Olympic host Rio gets emergency funding lifeline from Temer

  Bloomberg Brazil’s federal government has agreed to provide emergency funding to Rio de Janeiro state after the host of this year’s summer Olympics declared an emergency as it runs short of cash weeks before the start of the games, O Globo reported. Acting President Michel Temer’s administration will ask Congress to authorize a one-time payment of 2.9 billion reais ...

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