Business / Middle East Business

Egypt plans to apply gains tax in QNB bid for NSGB 27 Mar 2013 - 06:24 am

CAIRO: Shareholders and investment funds that make capital gains from Qatar National Bank’s (QNB) bid for Cairo-based National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB) will...

Cyprus banks remain shuttered 27 Mar 2013 - 06:22 am

Cypriot students shout slogans during an anti-bailout protest outside the presidential palace in Nicosia yesterday. NICOSIA: Cyprus reversed a decision to reopen some...

Dubai Airport handled 5 million passengers in Feb 27 Mar 2013 - 06:20 am

DUBAI: Passenger traffic at Dubai’s main airport surpassed 5 million people in February, rising 11.4 percent from a year earlier, airport authorities said...

$100 a barrel ‘reasonable’ price for oil: Saudi minister 26 Mar 2013 - 06:28 am

KUWAIT CITY: Opec’s largest oil producing member Saudi Arabia yesterday said that $100 a barrel is a “reasonable” price for oil while its...

Region’s bourses mixed as investors await Q1 results 26 Mar 2013 - 06:25 am

DUBAI: Kuwait’s bourse tumbled to a two-week low yesterday as investors sold shares in small-cap companies ahead of a deadline to report corporate...

Cyprus bags €10bn deal 26 Mar 2013 - 02:57 am

BRUSSELS/NICOSIA: Cyprus reached a last-ditch deal with international lenders on a ¤10bn ($13bn) rescue plan to avoid economic meltdown, agreeing to close down...

Cyprus makes dramatic U-turn 24 Mar 2013 - 01:02 am

Thousands of bank employees protest outside the Finance Ministry in Nicosia yesterday. NICOSIA: Cyprus said yesterday it would tax big savers at its...

Small nations still believe in euro, despite Cyprus crisis 24 Mar 2013 - 01:02 am

SAARISELKAEAE, Finland: Despite the mounting debt crisis in bankruptcy-threatened Cyprus, small EU and applicant countries yesterday said they still believed in greater European...

ENI stops Nigeria activities due to oil theft 24 Mar 2013 - 01:01 am

ROME: Italian energy major ENI said yesterday it had suspended its activities in Bayelsa state in southern Nigeria due to frequent thefts from...

Zain Saudi appoints new chairman 24 Mar 2013 - 01:01 am

RIYADH: Zain Saudi, Saudi Arabia’s struggling third-largest telecoms provider, has appointed Fahd bin Ibrahim Al Dughaither as its new chairman, it said yesterday,...

Dubai plans to modernise management of Awqaf 21 Mar 2013 - 01:19 am

DUBAI: A fund management venture set up in Dubai this month is taking aim at one of the great backwaters of the Middle...

UAE mulls awarding Bab gas project to Shell 21 Mar 2013 - 01:18 am

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has recommended that Shell win the multi-billion dollar project to develop its Bab gas field,...

DMCC to launch Islamic commodity trade platform 21 Mar 2013 - 01:12 am

DUBAI: Dubai’s government-owned commodities centre is launching a Shariah-compliant commodity trading platform which Islamic banks in the Gulf could use to manage their...

Saudi labour reforms add 600,000 pvt sector jobs 20 Mar 2013 - 03:49 am

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s attempts to reform its expatriate-heavy labour market have put more than 600,000 locals into jobs at private companies, a senior...

Saudi to launch Fannie Mae-style firm 20 Mar 2013 - 03:45 am

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s central bank plans to launch a real estate refinancing company with SR5bn ($1.3bn) of capital to help develop the kingdom’s...

Qatar Exchange ends in green 19 Mar 2013 - 12:56 am

DUBAI: Downbeat global sentiment weighed on Middle East markets yesterday, with Egypt’s bourse further shaken by a court ruling freezing assets of 23...

Abu Dhabi gets world’s biggest solar power plant 18 Mar 2013 - 02:49 am

Journalists visit the Shams 1 solar power plant in Al Gharibiyah district on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi yesterday. MADINAT ZAYED, UAE: Oil-rich...

Banks lift UAE bourses; Qatar’s measure slips 18 Mar 2013 - 02:49 am

DUBAI: Banks helped lift the Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourses yesterday as investors bet on a fundamental improvement in the sector, while most...