Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Islamic Finance Set to be a $ 2 Trillion Industry Globally Within Five Years
May 24, 2010--Islamic Finance is all set to be a $ 2 trillion industry in the next half a decade according to Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the MENASA Forum titled ‘The Challenges Ahead for Islamic Finance’, Siddiqui said: “It took the Islamic Finance industry 40 years to become a $ 1 trillion industry. It will take another two to five years to become a $ 2 trillion industry.”
However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome for the industry to realise its potential. Panellists said the lack of standardisation in the industry, the lack of consensus among Shari’ah scholars, the a poor “connectivity” between Islamic Finance institutions across the world, and the global shortage of experienced Islamic Finance professionals are some of the challenges facing the industry.
Apart from Siddiqui, panelists who participated in the discussion included Mutlaq H. Al-Morished, Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance, SABIC; and Harris Irfan, Head of Islamic Finance, Barclays Capital and Barclays Wealth. The session was moderated by Afaq Khan, CEO, Standard Chartered Saadiq.
Talking about the lack of standardisation and diversity of Sharia’h interpretation in the industry, Harris Irfan said it was becoming less of a challenge with the increasing convergence of standards. “I am 100 % convinced that we are seeing the convergence of opinion in Islamic Finance across countries, scholars and schools of thought.”
Earlier, introducing the discussion, Afaq Khan said that as with any fast growing industry, Islamic Finance also faces many challenges as the industry and its stakeholders try to keep pace with developments in human capital, access to Shariah guidance from scholars, changes in regulations aimed at allowing Islamic Finance to grow side by side with conventional finance and risk management both for Islamic Finance institutions and Islamic customers.
Source: DIFC
Saudi executives more confident in overall business outlook
May 24, 2010--The second Oliver Wyman / Zogby International survey of C-suite (including CEOs, CFOs and COOs) executives in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar finds the business mood in the region upbeat.
The 134 GCC executives surveyed expressed uniform confidence when asked about immediate and near term prospects: 58% of those surveyed regionally find current conditions improved (with 67% of the executives in Saudi Arabia perceiving conditions to have improved), and 82% are optimistic about the prospects for the next two years (with 85% of executives in Saudi Arabia expressing optimism).
Source: AME Info
Saudi banks focus on equity to back private firms
May 24, 2010--Official figures by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) have showed a continued decline in money supply in the kingdom and that Saudi banks had raised their investment in securities to support a cash-hungry private sector in April, Reuters has reported.
M3 growth slowed for a seventh straight month in April to 2.6% - the lowest in at least seven years.
Source: AME Info
Egypt to cut deficit to 3.5% of its GDP in 2015
May 24, 2010--Egypt's finance minister has said the country aims to cut its budget deficit to 3.5% of its gross domestic product in 2015 and raise the growth rate by that time to 8.5%, Reuters has reported.
Youssef Boutros-Ghali said the target was for growth of 7.55% in 2013, 8.1% in 2014 and 8.5% in 2015.
Source: AME Info
Ogilvy & Mather’s Research Defines the Global Rise of the ‘New Muslim Consumer’
May 24, 2010– As political and business leaders of the Muslim world come together in Kuala Lumpur for the 6th World Islamic Economic Conference, a tectonic shift is happening in the Muslim world. According to Ogilvy & Mather’s survey on “Islamic Branding,” a new generation is redefining what it means to be modern and Muslim, creating new meanings of religious pride, economic progress and global citizenship.
In partnership with TNS, Ogilvy & Mather’s two-year survey in the making reveals what drives Muslims as consumers, against the vast backdrop of ethnic, economic, political and religious diversity of the Muslim world. Researchers looked at Islam through the lens of the tangible effect it has on how lives are lived and how that in turn affects brands and business. The research has identified trends and opportunities that are emerging from the world’s most interesting, dynamic yet controversial “marketplace.”
The report, entitled ‘Brands, Islam and the New Muslim Consumer’ also serves as the launchpad for Ogilvy Noor, a multidisciplinary global Islamic Branding practice that aims to help brands better engage with Muslim consumers worldwide. The Muslim consumer is viewed as a critically important segment for marketers, with the halal segment alone worth US$2.1 trillion, and growing at US$500 billion annually.
The report debunks many of the stereotypes that surround Muslim consumer attitudes towards brands and their marketing communications. For example, halal labels, while important to showcase certification, are no longer sufficient to persuade the New Muslim Consumer that the company behind the product conducts its business in line with Islamic values.
Source: Ogilvy & Mather
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly Views-May 23, 2010
May 23, 2010--Commodities Overview
Commodities prices are likely to continue to be volatile, although perhaps not at the levels that were seen over past couple of weeks. Heightened concern over economic prospects, and volatile equity and currency markets have helped increase price activity in most commodities markets.
Investor sentiment over near-term problems turned increasingly negative last week as prices for many commodities declined. Investors moved toward safe haven investments, but buying of gold and silver was not strong enough to support prices. That said, ongoing anxieties over financial markets, economic conditions, and the political environment should provide support for gold and silver. As prices for these metals find a base there could be a surge in buying from longer term investors. Short-term investors may return in force as prices begin to rise, accentuating price activity on the upside.
Currencies Overview
Wide trading bands should be expected for most currencies this week. Investors rushed to the U.S. dollar and yen last week amid increased financial market volatility and declining equity values. There was rising uncertainty over how European debt problems may affect a still fragile economic recovery being seen in most parts of the world. Confidence in the euro weakened early last week, but sentiment turned as the currency recovered from multi-year lows by week’s end. Political stresses in Europe are at high levels amid the recent financial package for heavily indebted nations, adding to volatility in the euro.
Source: Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
OPEC Monthly Report May 2010
May 20, 2010--Oil Market Highlights
Optimism about the global economic recovery and higher oil demand expectations supported the oil
market in April. The OPEC Reference Basket moved above $81/b in the second trading day of the
month for the first time since January and then followed an upward trend to end the month to reach
$84.13/b, the highest level since early October 2008. In monthly terms, the Basket averaged
$82.33/b, for a gain of $5.12 or 6.6%.
The oil market turned bearish in May amid concerns about the sovereign debt crisis in Greece with contagion risk and high oil inventories in the US. As a result, prices fell more than $10 over three days before recovering slightly to stand at $78.08/b on 10 May.
World economic growth is kept unchanged at 3.5% for 2010. While the US, Japan and China showed encouraging signs of a recovery, the Euro-zone has just managed to avoid a spillover of the sovereign debt crisis of Greece to other economies. OECD growth remains unchanged at 1.9%, as the US forecast was increased to 2.8% from 2.6% and the Euro-zone’s forecast was revised down to 0.6% from 0.7%. China is expected to grow by 9.5% in 2010 and India by 7.1%. The global economy is improving, but the challenges of sovereign debt in the developed countries, the ability of China to avoid overheating and persistently high unemployment levels need careful monitoring.
World oil demand estimate for 2009 remains broadly unchanged, showing a contraction of 1.5 mb/d. In 2010, global demand growth is expected at 0.9 mb/d, in line with the previous month’s forecast. Although the economic recovery shows signs of improving momentum, important risks remain that could impact demand growth expectations for this year. China has been among the main drivers behind oil demand growth so far this year, which should continue for the rest of the year despite the recent price increase in its gasoline and diesel retail sales by 4.5% and 5% respectively.
Source: OPEC
Dubai World creditors agree to debt deal
May 20, 2010--Dubai World said today it has agreed in principle with a group of creditor banks on terms to restructure $14.4bn of loans. The company will pay $4.4bn in five years and the remaining $10bn in eight years.
Banks will have the option to choose from combinations of loan maturities in dollar or dirhams that carry different interest rates, according to Bloomberg. Banks will be paid 1% interest on $4.4bn of the loans maturing in five years. The lenders have three options in the eight-year maturities covering about $10bn of debt with at least 1% interest and varying additional rates between 1.5% and 2.5% at maturity.
Source: AME Info
DFM gains 0.35%
May 20, 2010-The Dubai Financial Market rose 0.35% today to close on 1,697, with 17 stocks ending higher and 10 closing lower.
Among more heavily traded stocks, Emaar gained 0.81%, Arabtec rose 1.30%, and Aramex fell 2.01%. International Financial Adivors had the day's biggest loss, falling by 9.83%.
Source: AME Info
ADX nudges higher
May 20, 2010-The Abu Dhabi Securities Index moved up 0.19% today to 2,780, despite the fact that declines (21) outnumbered gainers (8) by almost three-to-one.
Among the stocks that ended higher today were National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which climbed 1.73%, and First Gulf Bank, which rose 1.40%.
Source: AME Info
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