Economy

The UAE Central Bank on Tuesday asked local banks to reduce early settlement fee for mortgages to a maximum of one per cent or Dh10,000, whichever is less, to those borrowers who want to exit their mortgages early. The apex bank said in a circular sent to banks that those …

-The UAE ranked first in the Arab World and 25th globally in the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, released by the World Economic Forum, Davos, on Wednesday. According to the report, which assesses the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies, providing unique insight into the drivers of economic growth, the UAE gained …

The International Air Transport Association, IATA, has presented its latest study on the importance of air transport to the UAE showing that ongoing prioritisation of aviation as a key strategic asset could generate an additional 620,000 jobs and an extra US$80 billion in GDP for the nation’s economy by 2037. …

 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at US$59.09 a barrel on Monday, 7th October, compared with $58.59 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), Zafiro …

Dubai Cars and Automotive Zone’s, Ducamz’s, customs centre has announced that it processed 429,602 transactions and made 31 seizures in 2018, compared to 268,070 transactions and 14 seizures in the first half of 2019. Meanwhile, Dry Port customs centre carried out 812,529 transactions last year, with that number totaling 430,142 …

UAE-linked Petrofac, an international service provider to the oil and gas production and processing industry, has secured a contract to support the appraisal and selection phase of the Greater Buchan Area development in Britain’s North Sea. Under the terms of the agreement, Petrofac will provide facilities and well support to …

Demonstrating strong investor confidence in its solid credit fundamentals, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on 23rd September 2019 successfully priced a US$10.0 billion multi-tranche international bond offering. The transaction comprised three tranches: (i) US$3.0 billion, 2.125 percent, due in 2024, which priced at 65 bps over US Treasuries; (ii) US$3.0 …

The UAE has maintained its position as a leading investor in Lebanon with its foreign direct investment, FDI, constituting 11 percent of total FDI inflows to Lebanon, according to a top Emirati diplomat. “The upcoming joint investment forum is a realisation of the vision of the UAE’s leadership for joint …

European Union finance ministers are set to remove Switzerland and United Arab Emirates next week from the bloc’s lists of countries deemed to act as tax havens, an EU document said. On October 10 they are expected to drop UAE from the list, which includes jurisdictions that have failed to …

The number of new jobs created by the UAE’s private sector during the second quarter of 2019 reached 40,000, excluding jobs in free zones, reflecting the activity of the labour market supported by positive developments in the national economy. The national economy posted a year-on-year growth of 2.2 percent at …