Dubai: The UAE’s foreign exchange reserves surged 50 per cent to $75 billion in November, data showed yesterday, shedding new light on central bank concern that month about the dirham currency’s dollar peg. The data for November, the latest available, showed reserves growing at their fastest pace in at least 18 years, increasing inflation pressures that probably took the rate of price growth in the country into double digits last year. UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al Suwaidi said in November the state was under pressure to drop its peg to the declining dollar and might consider linking to a basket instead. However, on Wednesday, the government accepted a committee’s recommendation to keep the peg at the current rate. « The November [reserves] numbers do not bode well for the UAE’s inflation outlook, » said Caroline Grady, economist at Deutsche Bank in London. « Via the money multiplier, the sharp increase in the money base could well feed through into broad money and inflation. » Reserves jumped from $50.4 billion in October, the biggest rise since data going back to 1990, according to the data provided by a central bank treasury official who did not want to be identified. Inflation in the UAE rose to a 19-year high of 9.3 per cent in 2006 and probably accelerated to 10.9 per cent last year, according to National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Source: Reuters
Dubai: Burj Dubai has surpassed the United States’ KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota to become the world’s tallest man-made structure. Burj Dubai is now 629 metres high while KVLY-TV, which held the record for the world’s tallest supported structure since 1963, has a height of 628.8 metres. Burj Dubai is already the world’s tallest building, and at 160 storeys, is taller than Taipei 101 (508 metres) in Taiwan and CN Tower (553.33 metres) in Canada. Burj Dubai is billed to meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures. CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flagpole. The KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, is a television transmitting mast, which was completed in 1963. Source: Agencies
Dubai: A Formula One race in Abu Dhabi from 2009 won’t undercut the $548 million Bahrain generates from hosting a Grand Prix, the head of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board said. « We view this as a complement and not competition, » chief executive officer Shaikh Mohammed Bin Eisa Al Kalifa said. « It brings the eyes of the world to the region two times a year and therefore generates interest and exposure. » Abu Dhabi was added to Formula One’s 2009 calendar last year and, according to a recent report, Qatar wants to host a Grand Prix once it upgrades its Losail circuit. The economic benefit of the Bahrain race last year surged 46 per cent from 2006, Dubai-based Godo Research and Marketing said in a report last month. Source: Bloomberg
Cairo: Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, yesterday received Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs. The meeting was attended from the Egyptian side by Rashid Mohammad Rashid, minister of trade and industry and from the UAE side, by Mohammad Bin Dha’en Al Hamili, Minister of Energy and Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy. Shaikh Mansour conveyed to the Egyptian President greetings from President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his best wishes for the progress and prosperity of the Egyptian people. During the talks, Shaikh Mansour reiterated UAE’ s keenness in strengthening bilateral ties with Egypt, especially in the fields of economy, investment, tourism and culture. The two also discussed the bilateral relations between the UAE and Egypt and ways to enhance them. Shaikh Mansour also met Ahmad Nazif, the Prime Minister of Egypt. The two discussed bilateral relations and cooperation on the investment and trade levels, as well as encouraging the private sector to set up investment projects, in the interest of the two countries. Shaikh Mansour and the accompanying delegation arrived in Egypt yesterday morning and was received by Rashid Mohammad Rashid and the UAE’ s ambassador in Cairo. Source :WAM
Dubai: Arabian Gulf shares fell on concern that a possible recession in the US will deter investments in the region and as investors await first-quarter results. Dubai’s main index dropped almost three per cent, posting its sharpest one-day decline in two months, to 5,248.88 led by Emaar Properties and Dubai Financial Market Co (DFM). Abu Dhabi’s main benchmark declined 1.34 per cent to 4,602.56. Saudi Arabia’s Index slid for a third day as shareholders boosted cash reserves to fund their subscription to Inmaa Bank’s 10.1 billion riyal initial public offering, the kingdom’s largest in five years. Sorouh Real Estate Co closed at its lowest in two months after founding members were cleared to sell their shares in the company. Dubai Investments PJSC declined for a fifth day as the company started a joint venture. Saudi Basic Industries Corp slid for a third day. Main losers Emaar and DFM shed 3.56 per cent and 6.64 per cent, respectively. In Abu Dhabi, Emirates Telecommunications Corp (etisalat) and Sorouh Real Estate lost 1.43 per cent and 5.46 per cent, respectively. « We are not seeing a lot of fresh capital being injected into the market, » said Blair Look, head of asset management at Al Mal Securities, in a telephone interview from Dubai. Dubai Financial Market PJSC said foreign investors bought Dh2.095 billion of shares last week, almost as much as the 2.007 billion they sold. Sorouh retreated 5.5 per cent to Dh8.14, its lowest close since January 31. Dubai Investments fell 3.7 per cent to Dh5, bringing the five-day slump to 11 per cent. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index retreated 1.3 per cent, bringing the three-day fall to 4.8 per cent. The Muscat Securities Market 30 Index retreated 0.9 per cent, falling for a seventh day. The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index lost less than 0.1 per cent. The Bahrain All Share Index added 0.5 per cent, snapping four days of declines, while Qatar’s Doha Securities Market Index was unchanged. Source: Bloomberg
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s WCT Engineering said on Wednesday it has won an extra 800 million ringgit ($252 million) contract for its Formula 1 race-track project in Abu Dhabi, raising the total contract value to 2.1 billion ringgit. Executive director Loh Siew Choh said the project would now be completed in June 2009, six months later than originally scheduled, because of the additional work. « The client wanted us to do more things. We have [secured] an additional work worth 800 million ringgit, » he said at an investment conference. « The value is likely to increase. » « Right now, the project is on time, » Loh said. WCT, which specialises in building F1 tracks, had won the Abu Dhabi contract last July. The company has built F1 race tracks in Malaysia and Bahrain. Source: Reuters
Dubai: Gulf banks and individual investors are planning to set up a $3 billion Islamic investment bank and an Islamic stock exchange in Bahrain by 2009, the chief executive of Al Baraka Banking Group said. « It will be the largest bank in the region for the issuance of sukuk and will create a secondary market for sukuk, » Adnan Yousuf said yesterday. The bank, which is aiming to be a global player, would also take projects from a conceptual stage to financing and eventually flotations, Yousuf said. Al Baraka is one of the lenders that is looking to invest in the new bank, which will have a paid-up capital of $3 billion and plans to start operations in 2009. The bank will have a targeted capital of $11 billion, Yousuf said. Other banks that have shown an interest include Saudi Investment Bank and Bahrain Islamic Bank. « We are in discussions with the central bank of Bahrain and regulators and hope to finalise the details by year-end, » he said. Advisors Ernst & Young has been appointed to advise on the bank’s establishment. The project is being promoted by the chairman of the General Council of Islamic Banks, Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Yousuf said. Value of assets under management in Islamic institutions has been growing at over 20 per cent a year and reached $900 billion in 2007 and is set to hit $2 trillion by 2010, Ernst & Young said in February. Yousuf said Bahrain also planned to set up a secondary stock market in Bahrain complying with Islamic law to encourage regional investment. Source: Reuters
Dubai : The general assembly of Etisalat has approved a 35 per cent cash dividend of the nominal share value for the second half of 2007 to be distributed to shareholders. This brings the total cash dividend distributed in 2007 to 60 per cent of the nominal share value. In its meeting on Monday, the assembly also approved the distribution of a 20 per cent share dividend, with one share distributed for each five shares. On the demand by some assembly members to allow foreigners to acquire Etisalat shares, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, who represented the government in the assembly meeting, said Etisalat submitted a request to review the government concession and setting a proper mechanism for it. Etisalat also requested to transform from an establishment into a company, and the request has been submitted to the concerned authorities to take the proper decision. The authorities will also discuss the issue of foreign ownership of Etisalat shares, Al Mansouri said. Mohammad Hassan Omran, Etisalat Chairman, said the establishment is committed to providing the latest technologies available and world-class services, and has invested more than Dh3.4 billion to enhance its infrastructure in 2007. In a statement following the meeting, Omran said Etisalat would seek to become to a company, which would enhance its financial performance. « The transformation into a company requires an Emiri decree, since Etisalat was set up by a special law, which must be amended to allow the switchover onto a public joint stock company, » Omran said. Source: WAM
Dubai: Abu Dhabi government-owned Ipic and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will invest $2 billion in a new fund for global acquisitions, the managing director of Ipic said yesterday. « We plan to invest in all sectors, including oil and petrochemicals, » Khadem Al Qubaisi said. The fund could thus mark a new direction for the International Petroleum Investment Co (Ipic), which until now has limited its investments to the energy sector. Ipic and QIA initially will each invest $1 billion in the fund, Qubaisi said. Investment will be leveraged to maximise acquisition potential, and the fund will be operating in about six months, he said. « We will look at any opportunities where we can make money and add value. That could be anywhere – the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States, » Al Qubaisi said. Ipic and QIA investment in the fund, which Qubaisi said had yet to identify any specific targets, will likely be increased later. « We will be conservative with the first investments and build carefully, » he said. « You cannot be aggressive from day one. » QIA officials were unavailable for comment. The tie-up fits with the ambitions of both countries for gas trade, said Mustafa Al Alani from Dubai-based think-tank the Gulf Research Centre. Abu Dhabi is short of gas, while Qatar holds the world’s third-largest gas reserves. Qatar started gas exports through a pipeline to the UAE last year, but Abu Dhabi needs more to meet spiralling domestic demand from both power generators and heavy industry. Qatar has looked beyond the Gulf for years for gas markets and is the world’s top exporter of liquefied gas. But as petrodollars fuel a regional economic boom, Doha is eyeing markets closer to home, Al Alani said. « I see this very much as a question of gas, » Alani said. « The UAE needs gas. The Qataris… for the last 10 years were looking at distant markets. Now they feel that the political impact of their policy was negative, so they are moving closer to other Gulf states, and are talking about joint projects and more integration. » Last year, Qatar also set up joint investment funds with the governments of Oman and Dubai. Sover-eign funds from the Middle East, Asia, Russia and China have poured billions of dollars into stakes in Wall Street firms, arousing concern among US lawmakers that politics may be influencing investments. US and Abu Dhabi agreed last week on a set of principles for the funds to keep politics out of decisions. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is thought to be the largest sovereign fund in the world, controlling assets of over $800 billion. The UAE is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, and its government has reaped the windfall from a five-fold increase in crude prices since 2002. Funds including QIA and ADIA have helped rescue struggling Western banks in recent months. Quick look: Investment vehicles – IPIC is an investment vehicle for the Government of Abu Dhabi, which has more than 90 per cent of the United Arab Emirates’ oil reserves. – QIA is Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. Its assets stand at around $60 billion, according to an estimate by Standard Chartered. Source: Reuters
Dubai : The general assembly of Etisalat has approved a 35 per cent cash dividend of the nominal share value for the second half of 2007 to be distributed to shareholders. This brings the total cash dividend distributed in 2007 to 60 per cent of the nominal share value. In its meeting on Monday, the assembly also approved the distribution of a 20 per cent share dividend, with one share distributed for each five shares. On the demand by some assembly members to allow foreigners to acquire Etisalat shares, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, who represented the government in the assembly meeting, said Etisalat submitted a request to review the government concession and setting a proper mechanism for it. Etisalat also requested to transform from an establishment into a company, and the request has been submitted to the concerned authorities to take the proper decision. The authorities will also discuss the issue of foreign ownership of Etisalat shares, Al Mansouri said. Mohammad Hassan Omran, Etisalat Chairman, said the establishment is committed to providing the latest technologies available and world-class services, and has invested more than Dh3.4 billion to enhance its infrastructure in 2007. In a statement following the meeting, Omran said Etisalat would seek to become to a company, which would enhance its financial performance. « The transformation into a company requires an Emiri decree, since Etisalat was set up by a special law, which must be amended to allow the switchover onto a public joint stock company, » Omran said. Source: WAM
