UAE money supply growth slows to 2.1% at April end

Money supply in the UAE grew 2.1 percent year on year at the end of April, down from a 3.3 percent rise in the previous month, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

M3, the broadest measure of money circulating in the economy and an indicator of future inflation, grew only 1.4 percent in February in the slowest pace since at least 2001 as banks grappled with Dubai's debt restructuring.

It rose to $256.2 billion at the end of April, from $254.5 billion at the end of March, the data showed.
Money circulating in the second largest Arab economy and the world's third largest oil producer had more than doubled in the two years to the end of 2008.

Bank credit grew 2.4 percent year on year to $278.2 billion in April, but edged down marginally from $278.24 billion in March, the data showed.

Provisioning levels for non performing loans rose 4.7 percent month on month to $9.8 billion to reach their highest level since at least December 2008, up from a 2.4 percent rise in March. Learn more United Arab Emirates Court of Cassation Judgements (Arab and Islamic Laws Series, 17)


Source : Reuters

UAE, Bahrain back Kingdom

MANAMA/RIYADH: Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday pledged their full support to the action taken by Saudi Arabia to secure its southern borders.

The backing from the two Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries came following a meeting between UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa in Manama.

Meanwhile, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah received a message from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The agency said Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi handed over the message to King Abdullah during a meeting at the king’s Janadriya ranch. It did not say anything about the content of the message.

The news agency said the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin and Yemeni Ambassador to Riyadh Muhammad Ali Al-Ahwal.

The meeting took place a day after Saudi Arabia gave ultimatum to Yemeni infiltrators to leave the Kingdom’s territory within 24 hours or face death. “They have 24 hours to surrender, or we will destroy them,” said Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation, on Tuesday.

Prince Khaled said 73 Saudi soldiers were killed, 470 wounded and 26 went missing since fighting broke out in November between Saudi forces and Yemeni infiltrators.

This is the first time the Kingdom has given a death toll for the fighting between Saudi forces and Yemeni intruders, which began more than a month and a half ago. On Nov. 3, rebels killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages inside Saudi territory.

Prince Khaled said Saudi forces would remain in the area until the last intruder is expelled. “What we are doing now is bringing things to normal. We have also made arrangements to prevent infiltration and other crimes,” the minister told reporters.

The annual GCC summit, which was held in Kuwait City last week, had reaffirmed its support to Saudi Arabia against any attempt to undermine its security and sovereignty.

“We are fully behind Saudi Arabia against the cross-border assaults launched by armed infiltrators against the Saudi territories,” the communiqué issued at the end of the summit said. They also extended full backing to the unity, security and stability of Yemen.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah opened the summit on Dec. 14 voicing full support for Saudi Arabia in its fight against the infiltrators.

“We renew our strong condemnation of these aggressions (against Saudi Arabia) and declare full support for whatever actions Saudi Arabia takes to defend its territory,” the emir said.

Source : Arab News

UAE, Saudi among world's top website censors - project

by Neeraj Gangal

The UAE ranks high among countries that have blocked most websites, a recent report has revealed.

Internet users in the country reported the eleventh highest rate of blocked websites from among the countries in the world, according to the Herdict project.

Herdict is a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. It seeks to gain insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility. As on June 12, 11am UAE time, UAE users reported that 509 different webpages were flagged as “inaccessible”, the Herdict Web project statistics revealed.

China is the most reported country when it comes to website censorship, according to the report. From among the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia ranked at No.4. and Bahrain at No.6 in the top 10 slots.

A noteworthy aspect of the report is that the Western countries were equally vigilant about restricting websites. Germany was ranked at No.2, US at No.3, France at No.7, Australia at No.8 and the UK at No.9.

According to the www.herdict.org website, Herdict is a portmanteau of 'herd' and 'verdict' and seeks to show the verdict of the users (the herd).
Speaking to the UAE’s The National newspaper, Jillian York, the social media manager for the project said that the websites that were found by UAE users to have been blocked ranged from pornography and dating websites to religious pages.

“But then, you also get some sites where you’ve got to wonder why they’re blocked – like Flickr.”

Top 10 countries that reported the most-restricted sites as on June 12, 11am, UAE time:

1. China (4,969)
2. Germany (6,972)
3. United States (5,162)
4. Saudi Arabia (2,364)
5. Iran (990)
6. Bahrain (1,004)
7. France (1,530)
8. Australia (911)
9. United Kingdom (1,237)
10. Philippines (909)

$90mn collected during TV Gaza fundraisers

By Andy Sambidge

TV fundraising campaigns in the UAE and Bahrain have raised a total of $90 million to help the Palestinian people in Gaza strip.

The nationwide fundraisers, aired through all TV and radio stations on Friday, saw $86 milllion raised in the UAE and $4 million in Bahrain, while solidarity marches also took place simultaneously in four of the emirates.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) and Head of the Office of Coordination of Foreign Aid, thanked UAE residents for their generosity, saying that the donations received had exceeded expectations, news agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Hamdan said the RCA, in association with the humanitarian relief and charity organisations in the UAE, would coordinate with international aid organisations to ensure the aid bought by donations would be distributed as soon as possible.

The rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai pledged to rebuild 1,200 homes in Gaza, while Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of the Interior, pledged to rebuild 100 houses.

The NMC Hospital also gave 1.4 million dirhams of medical equipment as part of the fundraising initiative.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Minister of Presidential Affairs, also pledged to build an extension to al Shafaa Hospital in Gaza while the Western Region donated 150,000 dirhams and 110 grammes of gold.

In Bahrain, the main contributors were Bahrain National Committee for the Support of Palestinians in Gaza chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and leading businessman YBA Kanoo, who donated 100,000 dinars ($265,000) each. BBK donated $300,000 while NBB, Batelco, Alba and Bapco contributed 100,000 dinars each.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 men, woman and children turned out in four emirates to make sure the people of Palestine were not forgotten.

In Sharjah, an estimated 5,000 gathered along Khaled Lagoon draped in Palestinian flags and wearing traditional black and white scarves, or kaffiyeh.

In Abu Dhabi, about 4,000 demonstrated along the Corniche Road while in Dubai, supporters gathered in Greek Park, waving flags and placards.

Hundreds donned the kaffiyeh in Ras al Khaimah to demonstrate outside Manar Mall.

Source. ArabianBusiness.com

UAE, Kuwait shares 'among world's most attractive'

By Soren Billing
Investors are beginning to differentiate between different GCC stock markets, and valuations in the UAE and Kuwait are among the most attractive in the world, Rasmala said on Thursday.

The regional investment bank said that although it is cautiously optimistic that the worst is now over, a recovery will not be uniform across GCC markets and sectors.

“The global economic picture will be important, but domestic factors will increasingly play their part as governments across the region announce fiscal, monetary and regulatory measures to deal with the current challenges posed by the global economic crisis and lower oil prices,” Khaled Al Masri, partner at the bank, said.
The region’s markets reacted differently to local, regional and international factors in December, signaling that investors are beginning to differentiate between markets and stocks after an indiscriminate sell-off over the past few months.

Valuations of UAE listed equities, which are trading at around five times 2008 earnings, are the lowest in the region and among the most attractive globally, according to Rasmala.

“Lingering uncertainties surrounding the announced restructuring of the mortgage sector and a decimated domestic investor base are precluding a near-term recovery in the market, despite extremely attractive valuations,” Al Masri said.

Valuations of Kuwaiti stocks are also seen as some of the most attractive in the region, but continuing fears over the investment sector and lingering political squabbles are weighing on investors and delaying a recovery, despite official support for the market.

The Kuwaiti central bank last month cut its repurchase rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent and has lowered the minimum reserve requirements for banks.

With current valuations at under nine times 2008 earnings, a dividend yield of close to 5 percent and an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy, Rasmala believes Saudi equities are well positioned for any improvement in the global economic environment.

Gas rich neighbour Qatar was the best performing regional market in December, with gains of close to 13 percent.

“The market has been exhibiting sensitivity to both the global environment and oil prices and has benefited from the improvement of both these factors over the month, and the Qatari economy is expected to be one of the fastest growing global economies over the next few years,” Al Masri said.

Valuations of Omani stocks are in line with the regional average and the market awaits fourth quarter results from leading companies to determine whether current valuations are attractive, according to Rasmala.

Source : Arabian Business

Global financial community turns towards Middle East

Continuing with the financial community's interest in the MENA region, NASDAQ OMX is hosting its first ever Middle East Investor Conference on 20 November in Dubai.

As the single largest exchange entity worldwide, NASDAQ OMX offers a full suite of capital raising solutions to publicly traded companies around the world.

The event, held jointly with the NASDAQ Dubai, will provide the Middle Eastern investor community with the opportunity to meet with and learn more about the strategies of several leading listed companies, as well as learn more about NASDAQ Dubai's exciting new equity derivatives initiative. The regional potential for exchange-traded funds will also be discussed.

The NASDAQ OMX Middle East Investor Conference further supports this growing interest by bringing together private and institutional investors with regional businesses within a networking and information exchange forum.

NASDAQ OMX has been hosting investor programs in Europe and Asia for over 13 years and they have grown to become the largest institutional investor programs for U.S. equities in Europe. In 2008 alone, the NASDAQ OMX international investor programs will have hosted over 130 NASDAQ-listed companies.

In addition to the conference discussion panels and many high level-networking opportunities, investors from the Middle East will be offered access to the senior management of many leading companies in the form of private one-to-one meetings.The day will conclude with an Opening Bell Ceremony for The NASDAQ Stock Market. It marks the first time a global exchange has opened its market remotely from Dubai.

The Bell Ceremony will take place at the DIFC Gate and will be broadcast live in New York's Times Square and around the globe.

Presentations will be made by the senior management of 28 companies, from across the

These participating panelists, will not only be in the optimal position to secure investment funds to fuel their continued growth, but as well, serve as corporate ambassadors for the region by building strategic relationships with business leaders, key investors, and with local and international business media.

Being such an integral facilitator of both financial jurisprudence as well as global liquidity, both at the corporate and investor levels, it is no wonder that NASDAQ OMX has turned its focus to one of the remaining economic dynamic regions of the world.

The GCC countries continue to enjoy growth and liquidity due to a spate of profitability in recent years, coupled with budget surplus supported by high oil and commodity prices, and an economic diversification policy that has decreased the reliance on oil-based income, according to reports.

NASDAQ Dubai is a strategic union that will offer investors everywhere greater exposure to Middle Eastern companies, while simultaneously positioning MENA region businesses for a broader pool of capital raising possibilities.

The rebranding NASDAQ Dubai is instrumental in putting the spotlight on MENA based companies and helping them attract investor interest and raise capital.

In addition to a more liquid financial context, comparatively speaking, the GCC continues to house companies that are seeking expansionary and operational financing.

Investors cashing in on the opportunity to pick up equities and other securities at a fraction of their market values mere months ago, and with growth potential, are answering the call.

Many multinationals that have set up establishments in the UAE in recent years, a number of local and regional companies have also established their presence on the MENA corporate horizon, with grand ambitions and the desire to raise the necessary capital to achieve them.

Finally, the events of this week-the NASDAQ Dubai rebranding, the Middle East Investor Conference, and the opening bell ceremony - all indicate the beginning of a fruitful relationship between Dubai and New York, and other global exchange capitals.
Source : Sukuk.net

UAE may look to invest in US markets

DUBAI // The UAE has remained upbeat in its financial outlook and is looking to invest in US and European markets.

But a key figure in the capital has admitted feasibility of projects is being assessed because of the global financial crisis.

Soud Ba’alawy, executive chairman of Dubai Group, the diversified financial company of Dubai Holding, and Sameer al Ansari, the head of Dubai International Capital, indicated the UAE could weather the world financial crisis and look to invest in the US markets.
The two have been attending the inaugural Summit on Global Agenda, hosted by the World Economic Forum and the Dubai Government.

“There will be fantastic opportunities in the next 12 to 18 months ... and that is not exclusive to Europe and North America. There will be fantastic opportunities in Russia, India, China and this region,” Mr Ansari, who controls about US$13 billion (Dh47.75bn) in assets, said at the summit.

He said his company had done very little in 2008 and would wait until 2010 to invest in foreign markets as prices hit rock bottom.

Mr Ansari said Dubai’s estimated Dh70 billion debt was manageable and it would not need to be bailed out as the credit crunch hit the GCC.

Mr Ba’alawy said availability of cash and low interest rates could help the UAE to weather the crisis, then recover quicker than expected.

Hussain al Nowais, the chairman of Emirates Holdings and a member of the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, said on the opening day of the summit Abu Dhabi was considering mergers in its banking and financial services sector because of the global crisis.

“I think the credit crisis will help us reflect and make sure the projects we are proceeding with are attractive and feasible,” Mr Nowais told Reuters news agency.
“The fundamentals of the economy are strong.”

There has been speculation the credit crunch will force banks in the region to consolidate, with tight lending conditions and slower project funding.

In September, there were rumours that the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank would merge with the larger National Bank of Abu Dhabi to create the biggest lender in the UAE. Both banks denied it.

Addressing the opening of the inaugural Summit on Global Agenda, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, blamed financial policies, and not flaws in the economy, for the global financial crisis.

“I am not saying that we must have a protected economy but [we should] promote a process of co-operation to protect regional and international economies,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

There has been speculation the credit crunch will force banks in the region to consolidate, with tight lending conditions and slower project funding.

In September, there were rumours that the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank would merge with the larger National Bank of Abu Dhabi to create the biggest lender in the UAE. Both banks denied it.

Addressing the opening of the inaugural Summit on Global Agenda, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, blamed financial policies, not flaws in the economy, for the global financial crisis.

“I am not saying that we must have a protected economy but [we should] promote a process of co-operation to protect regional and international economies,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

Economics and finance were among the key topics to be discussed by more than 700 experts from academia, business, government and society during the three-day conference that ends tomorrow.

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, said: “This is an exciting and historic venture, made more timely by recent events.

“The challenges faced by the world today are more complex, more interrelated, more intractable than ever before.

“In these crucial times, what we want to do is find the right formula with transparency so that the next generation can benefit. We just have to look at the global financial crisis to see we need to do something about our future.”

Mr Klaus, speaking on the opening day, highlighted the importance of the role developing countries such as the United Arab Emirates could play in framing the future.

“Strong emerging countries have a say on how the future is shaped, and one of the reasons why we will have the summit in Dubai is because the country here has a vision and a strong growth potential,” he said.

Health, religious extremism and social values are also on the agenda for what will become an annual event. Delegates will select the 10 most important ideas for improving the state of the world.

“Problems in the world usually start in the developed countries and then hit the emerging, or developing countries,” said Mohammed Alabbar, member of the Dubai Executive Council and chairman of Emaar, who used as an example the current global economic crises that started with the crash of the US housing market.

“Dubai is a perfect place for such a historic meeting, which comes at a time when the world is facing challenges that have no parallel,” he added.

Ideas from the summit, which is held in partnership with the Government of Dubai and took 11 months to plan, will be presented at annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
Source : The National