Author: Maaiz el-Kamel

London (04/11 – 50) US government last week intervened in a lawsuit triggered by Hamilton Reserve Bank in St Kitts & Nevis. Somehow, a small bank based in a county with 50,000 inhabitants and GDP of under $1billion has amassed a $250million face-value stake in a Sri Lankan bond. The mysterious ‘global financier’ aka cunning vulture investor, Benjamin Wey is suing Sri Lanka. This specific bond was issued in happier times in 2012 and lacks some now-common clauses that make bonds easier to restructure. HRB’s $250million is enough in theory to veto any restructuring proposal Sri Lanka makes to that…

The UAE’s economy continues to grow, benefitting from strong domestic activity as its fiscal and external surpluses remain high on the back of high oil prices, the IMF said. “Overall real GDP is expected to grow around 3.5% this year. Average inflation will remain contained at around 3% in 2023, down from 4.8% in 2022,” Ali Al Eyd said in a statement on Monday following the conclusion of the recent staff visit. The near-term outlook is positive but subject to elevated global risks and uncertainty, the fund cautioned. “A decline in oil demand and reduced global trade and tourism from…

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the so-called Zangezur trade corridor passing through Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran must be completed, broadcasters reported on Tuesday, a day after he met Azerbaijan’s leader. Speaking to reporters on his return flight from the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan, where he met President Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan said that if Armenia does not allow the trade corridor to pass through its territory then Iran was warm to the idea of allowing it passage through its territory. Following Azerbaijan’s rout of Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz in Nagorno-Karabakh last week, Baku has raised hopes of opening…

The European Union Commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Oliver Varheyli, signed a 781-million-euros package for refugees in Turkey during his visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara. “[Turkish] Minister Mahinur Ozdemir signed a €781m agreement to continue to support the most vulnerable refugees. EU committed to continue with its support and assistance, in solidarity with Turkey,” Varheyli said on Wednesday. The financial package is the biggest EU contract ever signed, Varheyli announced. According to the latest data shared by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, nearly 5 million refugees and migrants live in Turkey, but experts and the opposition say the number is likely higher.…

The UAE’s economy is expected to expand by 4 per cent in 2024 and 3 per cent this year, driven by strong growth in its non-oil sector, according to a new report. The rising number of tourist arrivals, supportive government initiatives and increasing tech advancements are expected to spur the country’s economic expansion, S&P analysts said. Key contributors to the country’s economic growth in 2024 include wholesale trade, industry, real estate, construction, financial services and tourism, as well as oil and gas, Trevor Cullinan, sovereign ratings analyst at S&P, told state news agency Wam. The government’s economic and social measures implemented over the…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s caretaker commerce minister, Dr. Gohar Ejaz, said on Friday the South Asian country was expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the upcoming visit of an Emirati delegation in the last week of September. The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trade partner after China and the United States. It is also viewed as an ideal export destination by policymakers in the South Asian country due to its geographical proximity with Pakistan that reduces transportation and freight costs. The Gulf country is also home to an estimated 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates and after Saudi Arabia,…

For some years now, polygamous marriages have been on the rise in Tajikistan, likely due to the growing influence of religion and the mass exodus of young men abroad. High poverty rates and a tough job market have contributed to nearly 1 million of the country’s approximately 9 million citizens finding employment outside of Tajikistan. Their remittances are a key source of income for many families and make up roughly 20-30% of the country’s GDP, according to data from the World Bank and World Economic Forum. This is one reason why many divorced Tajik women apear to support the right of…

The UAE, within 10 years, succeeded in transforming its economy towards a multi-diversified economy, away from oil and natural gas sources, based on promising and new sectors. The latest data of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre confirmed the significant growth of economy with 36 per cent achieved by the UAE away from oil. The country’s GDP at constant prices grew in 2022, by an average of 7.9 per cent and worth Dhs1.62 trillion, compared to the previous year, in which the country achieved a GDP of Dhs1.5 trillion with an increase of 36 per cent, Dhs1.19 trillion in 2012.…

Central Asia It’s no secret that China is intent on influencing news narratives concerning its economic activity in Central Asia. To promote the Chinese view of developments, authorities staged an international conference, titled Hello, Silk Road, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in late July. The Uzbek outlet UzDaily reported that the gathering focused on fostering information cooperation among China and its Central Asian neighbors. Sponsored by the government-controlled China Internet Development Fund, roughly 200 media professionals from “over 20 countries,” but mostly China and Central Asia, attended the meeting. The UzDaily report quoted one of the Uzbek attendees, editor-in-chief of news website…

Incredibly, the Ukrainian M-55S tank that ate what appears to have been a Russian artillery round last week survived the blast with moderate damage. A social-media post by the tank’s crew, depicting the damaged but mobile tank, is all the evidence we need to herald the 36-ton vehicle’s return from the dead. It’s possible the four-person crew of the ex-Slovenian tank—a 1990s Israeli upgrade of an ex-Soviet T-55 from the mid-1950s—owes its good fortune to the Rafael-made explosive reactive armor that covers the frontal arc on all 28 M-55Ss. ERA basically is a sandwich of steel and plastic explosives that blasts outward when…