Regional stock market indices
Regional currency rates
South Koreans awarded housing development contracts in Libya
Two South Korean contractors, Sungwon Corporation and Amco, won a $1 billion contract to construct housing units in Libya. Sungwon Co. signed a $996 million deal with Libyan Investment and Development Company to construct 5,000 residential units, while Amco, a Hyundai motor Co. subsidiary, will build 2,000 domiciles and related infrastructure in the city of Qubbah, as part of a $420 million project developed for the Organization for Development of Administrative Centres. In a related development, following its meeting in Alexandria, the Mediterranean union launched a new regional $1.3 billion infrastructure fund with the aim of developing infrastructure across the region.
Kuwait KPI and China Sinopec to build oil plant
Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and the Chinese state refiner, Sinopec, announced the relocation of their $9 billion mega refinery and petrochemical project to Donghai Island near Zhanjiang, in China’s Guangdong province. The plant, which is set to be completed by the end of 2013, will have a crude oil refining capacity of 300,000 barrels per day and ethylene production capacity of 1 million tons per year. The proposed project would become one of the largest Sino-foreign joint ventures in China. It is part of Kuwait’s plans to build strong links with China, regarded as a key future market for oil and gas. Furthermore, it is expected to serve as a driving force for the Gulf state to achieve its China-bound crude oil export target of 500,000 bpd by 2015. KPI will supply 100 percent of the crude to be processed at the plant.
Egypt’s 2009 growth between 3.2% and 4.3%
The International Monetary Fund, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Moody’s Rating Agency Services have published their relevant economic data on Egypt indicating a 2009/10 growth ranging between 3.2 percent and 4.3 percent. The IMF pointed out that the gross domestic product will grow by 4% in 2009/2010, while inflation will decline to below 10 percent in June 2009. Moreover, the IMF said that despite the lower economic growth rates than previous years, Egypt has weathered the impact of the global financial crisis well. The EIU has made an upward revision to their GDP growth forecast to 4.4 percent in 2008/09, and 4 percent in 2009/10 following better than expected economic data. The EIU specified that the Egyptian government has taken several steps to weather the crisis, while the Central Bank of Egypt has made four interest rate cuts so far and is expected to implement further reductions in 2009 and 2010. Moody’s Ratings estimates real GDP growth exceeded expectations in the first quarter of 2009, at 4.3%, and the expected growth for the year is estimated at 3.2 percent to 4 percent, despite the agency’s downgrade from stable to negative in June 2008.
