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Khaleej Times
ABU DHABI -
Under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler
of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, Ministry of Finance (MoF) will
organize, for the second consecutive year, the “Best International
Practices in Public Debt Management Strategy” conference on Tuesday, 10
May 2010, at Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi. A host of local, regional
and international experts in public debt management will participate in
the event. The conference will not only highlight distinguished practices
applied globally in public debt management, but will also promote public
debt management investment in the UAE. “MoF hosts the second annual
public debt management conference in line with its ongoing commitment to
develop prudent management of financial resources, as well as promoting
balanced and sustainable development in the UAE. By organizing this
event, the ministry seeks to take advantage of its international
expertise in public debt management. It also aims to strengthen UAE’s
ability to establish a global market specializing for sovereign debt and
bonds management,” said Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for
Financial Affairs. A panel discussion will be held to review
methodologies of developing sovereign debt management market in the UAE.
Outlining Singapore’s experience and challenges while attracting
investors and organizing first rounds of auctions, the conference will
also touch on ways to develop traditional bond markets. Types of
securities issued in initial stages and the process of gradually
developing a yield curve will also be reviewed
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Gulf News
Dubai:
Nothing seems to have changed dramatically for UAE banks in the first
quarter of 2011 except gradual improvement in liquidity, capitalisation
levels and reduction in provisioning for bad loans. Most leading banks in
the country missed anal-ysts' estimates on key performance indicators
such as profits, provisions and loan growth. Loan growth in 2010 was 4.4
per cent and going by the first quarter trend both bankers and analysts
expect it to remain soft for the rest of the year. Emirates NBD, the
UAE's biggest bank by assets, reported a 27 per cent increase in its
first quarter profits helped by gains from the sale of a 49 per cent
stake in Network International, its credit card processing unit, which
resulted in a gain of Dh1.8 billion. "There are clear signs that the
decline in margins witnessed through 2010 has been arrested and we have
made significant progress in de-risking the balance sheet," said
Rick Pudner, chief executive of Emirates NBD. The bank's customer loans
were down one per cent at Dh194.4 billion from Dh197.1 billion at the end
of 2010, customer deposits were up 6 per cent at Dh212 billion from Dh200
billion at the previous year-end.
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Emirates 24|7
Bank credit
to the UAE private sector picked up in January as banks are gradually
shedding their risk aversion after building up enough provisions to
counter fresh financial problems in the future. Official data showed
lending to the government and other public sector establishments also
maintained their steady growth while banks appear to be still hesitant to
re-open their coffers to individuals. From around Dh581.6 billion at the
end of 2010, credit by the country’s 23 national banks and 28 foreign
units grew to nearly Dh584.6 billion at the end of January, an increase
of around 3.6 billion, the central bank figures showed. The increase
followed a decline by nearly Dhfour billion in the previous month and a
rise of about Dhthree billion in October. In 2010, credit to the private
sector shrank by around 4.3 per cent while there was a decline of nearly
4.2 per cent in the previous year. The decline over the previous two
years followed a sharp rise through 2007 and 2008, when credit to the
private sector raced by 42.9 and 41 per cent respectively because of
strong domestic demand during the oil boom.
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Gulf News
Dubai: The
first quarter results of UAE banks show that the majority of banks are in
no hurry to expand their loan books. Bankers said slow loan growth has
not been all that bad. In most cases, marginal growth in loans combined
with stronger growth in deposits has seen the loan to deposit ratios
improving. Sustained provisions and conservative approach to lending have
strengthened the balance sheets of most banks. Emirates NBD, for example,
booked an impairment charge of Dh1.37 billion in the first quarter compared
with Dh555 million in the first quarter last year. Its portfolio
impairment allowances increased by Dh628 million to cover future
contingencies, taking the total allowance to Dh2.8 billion. Debt overhang
"ENBD used the special gains to strengthen loan loss reserves. Loan
loss reserves now stand at 45 per cent of impaired loans All in all,
operationally a little weak quarter, but ENBD is now better provisioned
vs year-end 2010 thanks to the gain on Network International," said
Jaap Meijer, head of the bank team, AlembicHC. The Interantional Monetary
Fund in its latest regional economic outlook said that UAE banks are
recovering fast from the impact of the financial downturn, but are likely
to face pressure on balance sheet expansion due to loan and portfolio
impairments in the real estate sector.
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Khaleej Times
ABU
DHABI - The UAE’s economy is on back to recovery path as its non-oil
foreign trade rose 22 per cent year-on-year in January 2011. The data
gathered by the Federal Customs Authority showed that the UAE foreign
trade jumped Dh12.6 billion to Dh70.2 billion from Dh57.6 billion in the
period a year-ago. “The growth rates in January 2011 are similar to
those recorded before the 2008 global financial crisis,” according to the
FCA press release, which it said is “a clear evidence that UAE economy is
on the track to recovery and that the production and trade is restoring
its pre-crisis normal rates.” The break-up showed exports growing impressively
by 32 per cent to Dh7.5 billion, followed by imports rising 21 per cent
to Dh46.4 billion. Re-exports recorded a year-on-year expansion of 20 per
cent to Dh16.6 billion, reflecting that the regional countries are also
showing signs of economic growth. Each of India, China, US, UK,
Germany, Japan along with Italy, South Korea, Switzerland and France were
the top 10 exporters to the nation in January with a total value of
Dh29.6 billion, which is 64 per cent of the total imports.
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Khaleej Times
DUBAI -
Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan received, at a
ceremony at his office, a palette of postage stamps specially issued on
the occasion of the 31st session of Supreme Council of the Gulf
Cooperation (GCC) states. The stamps depicting the
leaders of GCC states were issued to mark the 31st GCC summit
which was held in Abu Dhabi earlier in December last year. A delegation
from the Emirates Post visited Shaikh Abdullah at his office on Sunday
and Executive Director of the Emirates Post Group Fahd Abdullah Al Housni
presented Shaikh Abdullah with the palette at an informal ceremony held
in the presence of other officials. Shaikh Abdullah thanked Emirates Post
for this issue, which reflected its keenness as a federal authority to
project the status and role of the UAE.
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Gulf News
Dubai: The Embassy of Syria
has signed an agreement with Empost to ensure prompt delivery of
documents to its customers in the UAE within 48 hours. The agreement was
signed by Dr Abdul Latif Dabbagh, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic
in the UAE and Sultan Al Midfa, CEO of Empost, Under this agreement,
customers can be assured of safe and speedy delivery of documents through
Empost's "Tawseel" service by purchasing a Dh15 sticker which
will have transaction and customer details, including the address, to
facilitate easy delivery.
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Emirates 24|7
Sales
of water pumps in the UAE and other Gulf oil producers have been
adversely affected by a downturn in construction activity following the
2008 global fiscal distress but it is expected to rebound on the economic
recovery and expansion in farming areas, a semi official study has said.
The relatively high demand for such pumps in the UAE and other members of
six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should prompt local businessmen
to embark on projects involving the manufacture of these machines, said
the study by the government-controlled Emirates Industrial Bank (EIB).
But it noted that any local brand will face considerable competition from
very well entrenched brands, some of whom have been present since before
the oil boom. “Manufacturing would have the challenge of finding the
appropriate parts suppliers. UAE being a small country with a modest
manufacturing base, faces the big challenge that even with the region are
no major suppliers,” it said.
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Khaleej Times
ABU DHABI - His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,
said on Sunday there was need to reduce the imbalance in the country’s
demographic structure and empower the UAE citizens as the key driver to
development. He was chairing a meeting of the Federal Cabinet at the
Presidential Palace. The meeting also called
for the control on importing unskilled workers, and instead to meet the
demand by sources available in the local market. Addressing the Cabinet
meeting, which was dominated by the issue of demographic structure,
Shaikh Mohammed said the UAE’s handling of the challenge was one of the
most important national priorities and key guidelines of the government.
Shaikh Mohammed said: “The instructions given by President His Highness
Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan are clear, empower the UAE
citizen and make him the key engine of development. Guided by these
instructions, the government is drawing and implementing an integrated framework
of concerted initiatives and policies with the prime target to strike a
demographic balance in parallel with the comprehensive development
that benefits UAE citizens in all emirates of the country.” According to
the latest National Bureau of Statistics, the expatriate community
accounts for 88.5 per cent of the total population of the country which
is more than 8 million, leaving a huge disparity between UAE nationals
and expatriates.
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The National
ABU DHABI // A raft of measures aimed
at shaping the nation's workforce of the future were announced yesterday
with a strong focus on the empowerment of UAE nationals. Three
resolutions aimed at transforming the UAE's demographic structure over
the next 20 years were issued at a meeting of the Federal Cabinet,
chaired by the Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. The first
resolution established benchmarks to develop the Emirati workforce to
meet projected economic and social growth by 2030, according to the state
news agency, WAM. A second resolution instructed all authorities
concerned with economic planning and with monitoring the workforce to
adopt "balanced development". Relying on economic
diversification, a skilled and qualified workforce and the advances of
modern technology were key to developing a knowledge-based economy that
generated opportunities for all citizens, WAM said. The third resolution
limited the "unorganised recruitment" of unskilled workers.
Instead, recruitment from within the country was to be encouraged, and
only a highly skilled labour force, with accompanying vocational or
educational degrees, would be brought to the country. However, domestic
workers or other categories of labourers may be exempt from this rule.
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