Economics
Saudi Arabia may allow foreigners to invest directly in stocks in the next year, said John Burbank, founder of the $3.7 billion hedge fund Passport Capital LLC.
Lebanon’s advertising spending outpaced GDP growth by increasing 4.5 percent in 2012, with online advertising posting 29 percent growth, ArabAd magazine reported in its annual survey.
Egyptian consumer prices last month posted the biggest increase in more than two years after the pound weakened to a record and foreign reserves slid.
Japan has offered to help Saudi Arabia build nuclear power stations to free up more oil for exports, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, but a visiting Japanese minister said he was not seeking a supply increase now.
Salaries in the oil and gas sector soared across the Middle East last year, with Saudia Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates recording some of the largest increases globally, according to an annual survey.
Companies
Occupancy at Beirut’s top-end hotels fell to 54 percent in 2012, compared to 58 percent in 2011, according to the Ernst & Young Middle East hotel benchmark survey.
Dubai’s Emaar Properties surged to a four-year high on Sunday as upbeat research reports from international banks bolstered demand from local and foreign investors, while oil price gains helped lift most Middle East markets.
Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, has been appointed as non-executive director on the board Heathrow Airport Holdings.
Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, expects its credit growth to be around 14-15 per cent this year, driven by high government spending and higher wages for local citizens, local media quoted its chief operating officer as saying.
Credit Suisse’s top investment banker for Qatar has resigned, three banking sources said, in a move that comes as the Swiss bank tries to bolster operations in the Gulf state, home to its second-largest shareholder.
