Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Saudi expects $18.7bn budget deficit in 2010
December 22, 2009-Saudi Arabia's 2010 budget projects a SR70bn ($18.7bn) deficit, as the Arab world's largest economy focuses on development and job creation, Bloomberg has reported. The government expects to spend SR540bn, 14% above its target for last year, though below actual spending of SR550bn.
'This is another expansionary budget demonstrating commitment to sustainable growth with a minute deficit due to high spending in 2009,' said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Banque Saudi Fransi. 'It shows the government's resolve to spend heavily to prevent the economy from slowing down further.
Source: AME Info
Dubai government may be restructured, says report
December 22, 2009--Dubai may bring independent 'associations and authorities' under government control as part of a 'major restructuring process', Gulf News reported, citing a government official it didn't identify.
Dubai Health Authority and the Roads & Transport Authority are among 40 institutions that may be put under direct government control, the newspaper said, adding that the plan has not been finalized yet.
Source: AME Info
Dubai World to present 'standstill' deal, says report
December 22, 2009--Dubai World will present a standstill offer to banks in early January as it attempts to restructure about $22bn of debt, Bloomberg has reported, citing three bankers who attended a presentation on the matter yesterday.
Dubai World told lenders it needs time to allow its assets to recover from the drop in value following the credit crunch, said the bankers, who declined to be identified because the meeting was private. Some assets may be sold over time to repay debt, they said.
Source: AME Info
Guide To Issuing Sukuk From The DIFC
December 21, 2009--The Dubai International Financial Centre Authority today announced the release of the "DIFC Sukuk Guide" - a comprehensive introduction to various sukuk structures, as well as legal and regulatory information on issuing sukuk from the DIFC and listing sukuk on NASDAQ Dubai.
The guide reflects the leading role that DIFC plays in global Islamic finance. Not only is it home to the largest exchange for sukuk by listed value, worth more than $16bn, it provides an operating, listing and incorporating environment that is world class, and ideally suited to structured Islamic, and non-Islamic, products.
"Promoting continued growth and development in the dynamic field of Islamic finance is a key priority for DIFC and is the reason behind our continued efforts to enhance the legal, regulatory, operating, listing and human capital infrastructure within DIFC to nurture this sector," said Abdullah Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of the DIFC Authority.
The guide provides detailed descriptions of more than 10 sukuk structures, information on the history and current status of sukuk globally, an overview regarding the issuing and listing of sukuk in or from DIFC, and regulatory licensing in the district.
view the Download Islamic Finance Infrastructure White Paper
Source: Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC)
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly Views Dec 20, 2009
December 20, 2009--Commodities Overview
Precious metals prices sold off last week. Petroleum meanwhile rebounded from its declines the week before. Prices for these and other commodities may be choppy this week, but trade largely sideways. Precious metals may find a floor while oil consolidates recent increases.
The selling pressure may continue in precious metals, but strong buying on dips are expected to limit any further declines. Crude oil meanwhile may trade largely between $71 and $75. Much of the weakness in precious metals reflected investor attitudes shifting more toward a positive economic outlook, a shift we expect to continue, albeit with interruptions, over the next weeks and months.
Currencies Overview
The dollar has staged a forceful upward move since the beginning of December. The longer term trend may be upward for the dollar, although this week there could be a pause in the upward move. The dollar strength may have been a bit overdone last week, as investors reacted harshly to news about the financial conditions within Greece. There may be some moderation of the anti-euro bias in the market this week. We should admit that six months ago our view was that the dollar had bottomed out and was about to stage a rally of 5% or so. The dollar was at $1.40 against the euro at that time. It steadily deteriorated in value until reaching $1.51 in late November. While the dollar has recovered since then, it still has not regained what we had viewed as a bottom in July.
Source: Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
Dubai may get more Abu Dhabi aid in 2010
December 21, 2009--The UAE's economy minister said today Dubai may get more aid from either the UAE federal government or Abu Dhabi, Reuters has reported. Asked whether the UAE government will extend more financial support to Dubai next year, Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said the situation would be evaluated.
'This issue has to be studied in a proper manner, evaluated and based on that, an answer will be provided on the federal level or the local level because the way we see this is one economy not separated from each other,' he was quoted as saying by the news service.
Source: AME Info
Is Iraq Ready for American Investors?
December 18, 2009--At the end of her speech to more than a thousand US and Iraqi businesspeople packed in a hotel ballroom, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton threw an American spin on an Arab proverb: “Dawn does not come twice to wake a man – or a woman.”
Her point? It’s time to invest in Iraq.
It sounds crazy. Though the violence has ebbed, terrorists still make their presence felt with deadly attacks. Challenges – from dividing oil revenues to the future of the northern city of Kirkuk – threaten to split the country. Even if Iraq hangs together, it faces a daunting to-do list of reforms before it becomes a place many foreign businesses would set foot in.
Iraq, to put it mildly, needs everything: more than 2 million housing units, half a million hospital beds, seemingly endless technology and know-how for an escalating oil and gas extraction industry, the rebuilding of the nation’s once-robust education system from top to bottom.
Source: csmonitor.com
Oil price goes above $74, Opec to keep production
December 18, 2009--Saudi Arabia: Oil price rose above $74 per barrel on Friday after an Iraqi official said in reports that Iranian troops briefly entered an Iraqi oilfield on Thursday,
Reuters has reported. Iraq's deputy interior minister has denied any incursion. Meanwhile, Saudi's oil minister Ali Al Naimi has said that the upcoming Opec meeting on Tuesday will not lead in change of production.
Source: AME Info
Dubai government revises financial laws
December 18, 2009-A number of economic and financial laws to add to the legislative system in Dubai has been issued by HH Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Gulf News has reported.
Law No 35 of 2009 concerns about the administration of Dubai's government public funds. The new rulings include regulation of the preparation of annual budgets of all governmental bodies. These include those whose annual budgets are listed in the government's budget, those who enjoy fiscal independence or those entities who receive financial support from the government.
Source: AME Info
Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index to Underlie First Fixed Income Exchange-Traded Note in Israel
December 17, 2009-- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that the Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index will serve as the basis of the first fixed-income exchange-traded note (ETN) available in Israel. This is the first time the index has been licensed as the basis for an exchange-traded product globally. The ETN is sponsored by Harel SAL, a subsidiary of Harel Finance, and is available on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
In addition to the Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index, Dow Jones Indexes licensed the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 Index as the basis for an ETN that was listed at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange last week.
“The Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index measures the market performance of a small, diversified and readily tradable basket of investment-grade bonds issued by U.S. companies. The equal weighting of the basket prevents large borrowers from significantly impacting the index. For the first time, Israeli investors will have access to a reliable and consistent portfolio of high-quality U.S. corporate debt instruments through Harel’s new ETN,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes.
The Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index is an equal-weighted index of 96 investment-grade corporate bonds with laddered maturities. It measures the performance of readily tradeable, high-grade corporate bonds on a total-return basis. The index can be further subdivided into sector indexes for Financials, Industrials, and Utilities/Telecom, each of which has a yield curve index series. All issues in the index are equally weighted in the maturity cells, sectors and the composite index. The maturity cells are 2, 5, 10 and 30-year cells.
The Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index is calculated by Ryan Labs, a New York-based fixed income asset manager. The index is rebalanced monthly and daily historical data is available back to December 31, 1996.
More information on the Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index can be found at http://www.djindexes.com.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
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