Bahrain's economy 'has survived global crisis'

MANAMA: Bahrain has succeeded in withstanding repercussions from the global economic meltdown.

"The financial situation remains stable and assuring thanks to our balanced economic policies," His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa said yesterday.

He was speaking as he chaired a meeting of the Economic Development Board's (EDB) executive committee. He also highlighted the importance of precautionary measures to protect Bahrain's solid financial standing.

"Contrary to most countries, the impact of the meltdown was less detrimental to this region," he said.

He expressed his confidence in the capacity of UAE officials to deal with the current crisis competently. He also highlighted the remarkable developments achieved by the UAE and other GCC countries.

Finance Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Rasheed Al Maraj and EDB chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa highlighted the impact of the crisis on the region.

They discussed precautionary measures to deal with potential repercussions. Initiatives to maintain oil and gas supplies and meet Bahrain's needs also came under the spotlight.

Oil Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza gave an update on the industry and electricity sector. Upgrading the output of Bahrain Oil Field and intensifying explorations are part of initiatives ensuring Bahrain's energy security, he said.

Source : Gulf Daily News

Economy tops agenda in Iran

By Alireza Ronaghi in Tehran

For the first time in many years, Iranians will turn away from the geopolitics which have dominated discourse since the Islamic revolution in 1979 and focus instead on the state of their economy.

In 1979, with the overthrow of the Shah and rise of the Ayatollahs still fresh in their memories, Iranians could not have imagined that a year later they would be locked in a bitter war with Iraq.

In the 1990s, Iran was part of the US administration's dual-containment policy and then became branded as a member of the axis of evil. After 9/11 Iran dominated world headlines as its nuclear programme became the springboard for all discussion on the Islamic republic.

However, as Iranians mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, politics will be overshadowed by economic hardships which have arisen partly due to plummeting oil prices and the world banking crisis.

In 2008, the UN Security Council passed two more resolutions on Iran's nuclear programme and international sanctions, bringing to five the total number of resolutions since the standoff with the West started.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, remained defiant and said: "Issue as many resolutions as you want. Pass [and collect] resolutions until your 'resolution pouch' bursts."

Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation announced that it was planning to install 6,000 centrifuge machines to double its uranium-enriching capacity from the previous year.

While sanctions failed to coerce Tehran into curbing its nuclear programme they did, however, shield Iran's economy from the global economic recession - momentarily.

Nearly five years of record-high oil prices helped Iran's government increase public spending in an effort to protect the local economy from the global financial meltdown.

However, this policy was strongly criticised by many economists who warned about rising inflation and called for more economic discipline and less spending.

Controversial economic plans

In spite of the warnings, Ahmadinejad pressed on with his controversial economic plans, which included forcing banks to lower their interest rates and offer cheap loans to small businesses.

This led to a high-level resignation in the government's economic team.

Tahmasb Mazaheri, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), who had successfully controlled the spiraling liquidity growth by tightening the grip on credit loans to government banks, resigned in September.

He had been in office for about a year and his resignation inflamed the already existing economic differences among the conservatives in power.

The conservatives, who had always praised Ahmadinejad's achievement on the international scene and his ability to march the masses against world powers' will to scupper Iran's nuclear ambitions, distanced themselves from his economic plans.

Ahmadinejad has become increasingly alone in his economic battle.

Parliamentary elections
In 2008, Iran held its eighth parliamentary elections since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Reformists dominated the parliament between 2000 and 2004, but they were defeated by conservatives as many of their potential candidates were disqualified by the conservative Guardians Council, a 12-member constitutional watchdog.

It accused reformists of trying to "deconstruct" the Islamic government and roll back the ideals of the revolution.

Second-ranking reformist candidates failed to secure even a third of the 290-seat parliament.

However, despite winning parliament's majority for another four years, defections within the conservative camp left few reasons for celebration.

The new parliamentarians soon proved that they were not going to follow in the footsteps of the elders who had been at the heart of the revolution.

Damaging economic policies

The defections posed a challenge to Ahmadinejad who had enjoyed nearly unconditional support and was almost unquestioned when it came to his economic policies.

After the elections, many of the conservative MPs said his economic policies were damaging. This brought the critics closer to their reformist rivals and resulted in the election of Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, as parliament's new speaker.

Larijani resigned from his position as nuclear chief over differences with Ahmadinejad in how to manage the country's longstanding nuclear row with the West.

Though he had never openly criticised Ahmadinejad, his resignation signaled the emergence of a more moderate conservative faction.

Showdown
On November 4, the Iranian parliament fired off the opening salvo of its confrontation with Ahmadinejad when it impeached and sacked his interior minister.

Ali Kordan, who was appointed only 90 days prior to his impeachment, was unanimously voted off his post because he had presented a fake degree from Oxford University to obtain parliamentary confirmation.

Legislators called him a disgrace to Iranian conservatism.

The parliament approved Ahmadinejad's next candidate for the post, his close ally Sadeq Mahsouli, in a display of unity with the government but the rift was beginning to shake legislators' confidence that the country was headed in the right direction.

Ahmadinejad is hoping parliament will pass an "economic revolution" plan which he hopes will eliminate most government subsidies and replace them with $40-70 cash payments per person per month.

A reformist newspaper has recently revealed that this plan is in fact a copy of the World Bank recommendation to save Iran's oil income for much needed development plans.

Few options

Though it may sound odd for a government that has constantly criticised World Bank policies, the government may not have much choice.

Oil prices that had sky rocketed to over $140 in July, are now below $50.

Saeed Leylaz, an economic analyst and vocal critic of Ahmadinejad's monetary policies, has said that the government now faces a deficit of $100 million a day.

The government is being forced to cut expenses including the $90 billion annually spent on subsidies.

Other experts believe the "economic revolution plan" will increase inflation at least in the interim; Larijani has said that parliament will stop any plan, bill or measure that fuels inflation.

Confrontation

The rift between conservatives in the parliament and those in the government is expected to widen in the coming year.

Ahmadinejad's critics say his economic revolution plan is merely a populist scheme to buy votes ahead of presidential elections on June 12. He has repeatedly denied the charge, saying this plan would only cost him his popularity.

Ironically, the plunge in oil prices may bring the nuclear issue back to the fore. Deprived of a major part of its income, Iran cannot afford to remain isolated from the rest of the world.

The government may feel forced to return to the negotiating table with world powers.

That, in turn, may cost the government dearly ahead of the election.

Ahmadinejad, who came to power with promises of improving the lives of the poor and maintained his popularity by defying world powers in Iran's nucelar stand-off with the West, faces the risk of losing on both fronts.

His economic revolution plan might be a way out. The impact of the economic plan on Ahmadinejad's popularity remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that his position among his conservative allies has waned since he won office in 2005.

Source: Al Jazeera

Iran under sanctions

Yemeni-Indonesian joint committee commences meetings

Sana'a (ANTARA News/Saba) - Yemeni- Indonesian Joint Committee started its second round`s meetings here on Tuesday.

The meetings of the round are co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Hisham Sharaf and Indonesian Ambassador in Yemen Nour al-Aulia`a.

In the meeting, Sharaf highlighted historical relations between Yemen and Indonesia, indicating wide horizons for improving them in the framework of realizing joint interests. He took into consideration economic and trade privileges.

He noted importance of President Ali Abdullah Saleh`s visit to Indonesia because it has formed improved step for activating relations between the two countries and enhancing suitable mechanisms for utilizing existing possibilities in the two countries.

For his part, the Indonesian ambassador affirmed his country`s keenness on improving relations with Yemen, taking into consideration that Indonesia there is a number of Yemeni migrants who had com to the country in the thirteen century for spreading Islam.

The second round discusses during two-day meetings evaluation of cooperation between the two parts in fields of economy, trade, higher education, investment and sports and youth.

A number treaties and protocols are expected to be signed during the round.

Watch Obama's election victory speech by John Whitesides

Barack Obama rode a wave of voter discontent to a historic White House victory, promising change as the first black US president but constrained by a deep economic crisis and two lingering wars.

Obama led Democrats to a sweeping victory that expanded their majorities in both houses of Congress as voters emphatically rejected President George W. Bush's eight years of leadership.

The son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, Obama was born at a time when black Americans were still battling segregationist policies in the South.

His election triumph over Republican rival John McCain on Tuesday is a milestone that could help the United States bury its long and often brutal history of racism.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama, 47, told more than 200,000 ecstatic supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate.

Raucous street celebrations erupted across the country, but Obama will have little or no time off to enjoy the victory. He was expected to start work on Wednesday on planning a course for his formal takeover on Jan. 20 and putting together a team to tackle the huge challenges at home and abroad.

Obama won at least 349 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 he needed. With results in from more than three-quarters of US precincts, he led McCain by 52 percent to 47 percent in the popular vote.

A first-term Illinois senator who will now be the 44th U.S. president, Obama said he would work to ease the country's sharp political divisions and listen to those who voted against him.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," he said.

McCain's hopes for a surprise win evaporated with losses in a string of key battleground states led by the big prizes of Ohio and Florida, the states that sent Democrats to defeat in the last two elections.

McCain, a 72-year-old Arizona senator and former Vietnam War prisoner, called Obama to congratulate him and praised his inspirational and precedent-shattering campaign.

"I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill," McCain said.

Blacks and whites celebrated together in front of the White House to mark Obama's win and Bush's imminent departure. Cars jammed downtown Washington streets, with drivers honking their horns and leaning out their windows to cheer.

Thousands more joined street celebrations in New York's Times Square and in cities and towns across the United States.

"This is the most significant political event of my generation," said Brett Schneider, 23, who was in the crowd for Obama's victory speech in Chicago.

"This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night," said US Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a civil rights march in the 1960s.

Lewis was at a celebration in Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the home church of Martin Luther King, who led the civil rights movement and was murdered in 1968.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, joined the celebrations in Chicago on Tuesday night, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Obama will face intense pressure to deliver on his campaign promises. He has vowed to restore US leadership in the world by working closely with foreign allies, to withdraw US troops from Iraq in the first 16 months of his term and to bolster US troop levels in Afghanistan.

But his immediate task will be tackling the U.S. financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. Obama has proposed another stimulus package that could cost about $175 billion and include funding for infrastructure and another round of rebate checks.

Most world leaders welcomed Obama's victory.

Allied governments said they hoped for closer cooperation with Washington, while critics of the United States, ranging from officials in Russia and Iran to Islamist groups in the Middle East, called for clear changes in policy.

Obama took command of the election race in the last month as the financial crisis deepened and as his steady performance in three debates with McCain appeared to ease lingering doubts among voters.

His judgment on handling the economic crisis appeared to help tip the race in his favor. Exit polls showed six of every 10 voters listed the economy as the top issue.
In addition to Ohio and Florida, Obama won Virginia, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado - all states won by Bush in 2004. McCain's loss in Pennsylvania eliminated his best hope of capturing a Democratic-leaning state.
On the campaign trail, Obama had accused McCain of representing a third term for Bush's policies and being out of touch on the economy.

McCain attacked Obama as a tax-raising liberal and portrayed him as too inexperienced to run the country, but the Republican candidate struggled to distance himself from Bush. Exit polls showed three out of every four voters thought the United States was on the wrong track.

In the fight for Congress, Democrats gained at least five Senate seats and about 25 more House of Representatives seats, giving them a commanding majority in both chambers. (Reuters)