GCC

Islamic banks to outpace conventional banking in GCC, says Moody’s

Non-oil economic growth in GCC countries to remain strong in 2025 due to ambitious government economic diversification plans

UAE’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, King of Bahrain discuss in Abu Dhabi strong and longstanding relations between two countries

His Highness and His Majesty discussed advancements in cooperation, and the need for better collaboration for mutual development

Kuwait-India non-oil trade surpassed $2 billion in 2022, says Chamber

The Chamber highlighted that Kuwait and India's relationship extends beyond business due to their historical ties

Qatar, Armenia formalize agreement to strengthen labor sector cooperation

This agreement aims to attract skilled workers, boost their local presence 

Oman Central Bank issues treasury bills worth $77.93 million

The bills have a maturity period of 28 days amounted to OMR300,000, with an average acceptable price of OMR99.650 

QatarEnergy to build 6 new QC-Max LNG vessels at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard

The QC-Max vessels are the largest LNG carriers, each with a 271,000 cubic meter capacity 

Kuwait Central Bank issues bonds, tawarruq worth $792 million

On August 19, KCB announced a similar allocation of bonds and tawarruq for three months at the same value and return rate 

Oman’s Salalah Free Zone draws $11.95 billion in investment by June 2024

In H1 2024, the Salalah Free Zone added 13 projects in frankincense, packaging, air conditioning, and textiles

GCC markets’ net foreign inflows cross $50 billion for first time in August: Report

In August, GCC equity markets saw strong net foreign inflows of $892 million

GCC banks well positioned to continue strong run in 2024: Report

The report stated that high interest rates kept profit margins at 2.7 percent, with strong bank profitability in H1

UAE, Kuwait strengthen bilateral ties with MoUs on standardization, infrastructure, and cybersecurity

Other notable agreements included collaboration in communications and information technology

Qatar cultural events in September: New attractions, events, performances and concerts

Qatar recorded 2.6 million visitors, with a notable 43 percent coming from GCC countries during the first six months of 2024

Saudi Arabia-GCC non-oil trade balance exceeds $1.8 billion in Q2 2024

The UAE led with exports valued at SAR15.070 billion, approximately 61.8 percent of total Saudi non-oil commodity trade among GCC countries

Bahrain: Multinational enterprises required to pay new 15 percent minimum tax on profits starting January 1, 2025

This new framework for MNEs is fully in line with the guidelines set by the OECD

QatarEnergy to double urea production to 12.4 million tons by 2030

QatarEnergy plans to build a large urea production complex to boost global food and energy security

Moody’s upgrades Oman’s outlook to positive, citing improved debt metrics and strong fiscal management

The agency also retained its (P)Ba1 rating for the Government of Oman’s senior unsecured medium-term note program

UAE oil imports to Japan reach 31.07 million barrels in July 2024, 49.1 percent of total

Arab oil made up 97.8 percent of Japan's imports, totaling 61.92 million barrels

Kuwait Warba Bank’s $500 million sukuk issuance on London Stock Exchange draws $1.8 billion in 3.5x demand

These five-year sukuk support projects advancing ESG goals aligned with sustainability objectives

UAE’s ADX sees $507.2 million in ETF trading value during eight months of 2024

Since the start of 2024, ETF trading volume has reached 450.7 million units

Listed firms in GCC report $60.7 billion in net profits, 8.1 percent QoQ growth

Dubai's YoY profit growth reached 30.9 percent in Q2 2024, totaling $6.7 billion