The Buzz

Economics and Policy Kuwait’s government plans to form a special committee to review subsidies on goods and services which are costing the Gulf Arab state more than $15.9 billion a…

Executives from the world’s leading development financial institutions flew into town to witness the signing by the Beirut based private equity firm, the EuroMena Funds, of the first national corporate…

Economics and Policy Standard & Poor’s downgrade of three leading Lebanese banks is unlikely to have an impact on the prices of bonds or interest rates. More from The Daily…

Economics and Policy Iraqi Kurdistan has finalised a comprehensive package of deals with Turkey to build multi-billion dollar oil and gas pipelines to ship the autonomous region's rich hydrocarbon reserves…

Economics and Policy The severely weakened Syrian pound has surged against the dollar in recent days, with experts pointing to central bank intervention and developments favorable to the regime. More…

Economics and Policy Egypt returned a $500 million deposit to Qatar at the start of November after Qatar refused to renew it upon its maturity. More from Reuters   The…

Economics and Policy Intent on supplying his government with arms, oil and food, Syrian President Bashar Assad has turned to Russian banks to access world markets, and the lenders could…

Economics and Policy Lebanon's caretaker Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi has warned that growth was unlikely to exceed 1.5 percent in 2013 – and it could flatline next year. More from…

Economics and Policy The London-based Institute of International Finance has revised downward its projection for Lebanon’s 2013 GDP growth from 1.1 percent to 0.7 percent, a further indication that many…

Economics and Policy Lebanese caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said new estimates for nearly half of Lebanese waters suggested the country’s reserves of natural gas and oil might be larger…