Money matters bulletin

Regional stock market indices Regional currency rates MAF mall empire set for $3.5 billion expansion Majid Al-Futtaim Properties (MAF), the Dubai-based retail, property and investment company, aims to double its portfolio by 2015 with 14 new projects in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Qatar, Syria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. MAF Properties, which is famous for building an indoor ski slope in Dubai, currently runs 10 malls across the Middle East and North Africa region, and plans to invest $3.5 billion in the coming five years to build four new shopping malls in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and the UAE. The malls are scheduled for completion by 2014 and will increase the company’s total gross leasable area from 800,000 square meters to more than 1.3 million square meters. The group’s chief executive, Peter Walichnowski, declared that sales in the company’s malls were not significantly affected by the global financial crisis.