Economics and Policy
Dubai’s index rallied from an eight-week low Thursday as bargain hunters returned, but this was not enough to stop the benchmark making its largest weekly decline since May.
OPEC crude production slipped to a 16-month low in March as output in Nigeria dropped to the lowest level in over three years.
Lebanon’s acting energy minister Gebran Bassil has announced that 52 firms from 25 countries have submitted applications for the pre-qualifying round for the country’s offshore oil and gas.
Power cuts in Egypt are due to a lack of funds to buy fuel for power stations, the oil ministry said on Thursday, another sign that a government funding crunch is disrupting the wider economy.
Lebanon’s GDP growth could climb to 3 percent if an effective Cabinet is formed, the chairman of Byblos Bank said.
The feared run on Cypriot banks failed to materialise when they reopened at noon on Thursday after a two-week lockdown.
Companies and Business
Kuwait’s number two telecoms operator Wataniya, which has suffered a sustained profit slump, has appointed Abdulaziz Fakhroo as its new chief executive, its third CEO in less than a year.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts has announced plans for a $200 million renovation strategy for all its Le Méridien hotels in the Middle East and Africa.
