Economics
Iran, which fell two places to become India’s fourth-largest crude supplier last year, may lose $2.5 billion of revenue as global sanctions prompt the South Asian nation to reduce purchases.
Foreign buyers helped Egypt’s index recover some of the previous session’s losses that had been sparked by the country’s foreign reserves slumping to critical levels, while Gulf markets were mixed in uneventful trading ahead of the weekend.
The International Monetary Fund offered to provide assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon during Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi’s visit to Washington last week.
Oman's government will limit the number of foreign workers and sharply raise the minimum wage for locals in a drive to increase employment of Omani citizens, state news agency ONA reported.
Companies
HSBC will close the accounts of some Syrian nationals in the Middle East and North Africa, the bank said on Thursday, after heavy compliance costs made it unprofitable to deal with them.
Profits at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank topped $207.9 million last year as it targeted growing its expatriate customer base.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Telecommunications (MoT) will open a new branch in Jdeideh for Call Center International (CCI), the global outsourcing call center.
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