Author: Steven Sahiounie

Viktor Orban had previously vowed to block any increase in the EU budget, jeopardizing the bloc’s financial aid to Kiev The European Commission is expected to unfreeze about €13 billion ($13.6 billion) in EU funds for Hungary by the end of November, aiming to secure the country’s support for an increase to the bloc’s budget and massive financial assistance to Kiev, according to three officials briefed on the discussions cited by Financial Times. In December, Brussels froze €22 billion ($23 billion) in cohesion funds allocated to Hungary. The money was blocked over major concerns related to the independence of judges…

Measuring up to other currencies is a “remnant of the past,” Dmitry Peskov has said The Russian currency’s continued backslide against the US dollar is not a reason for concern, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on Tuesday, calling such worries a “remnant of the past.” The comment follows the ruble’s depreciation past the symbolic threshold of 100 rubles to one dollar on Tuesday for the first time since mid-August. The currency recovered slightly through the morning to trade just above 99 to the dollar. “Excessive attention to the ruble-dollar exchange rate is possible from an emotional point of view, but rather…

Initial estimates also indicated positive growth for most economic sectors during the second quarter of this year The Kingdom’s GDP grew by 2.6 per cent at current and constant market prices in the second quarter of the year compared with the same period of 2022, the Department of Statistics (DoS) announced on Monday. The department’s quarterly report indicated a 2.7 per cent growth in GDP at constant market prices for the first half of this year when compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. Initial estimates also indicated positive growth for most economic sectors during the second quarter…

Egypt’s LNG terminals on the Mediterranean coast have the capacity to ship 12 million metric tons per annum Egypt, which faces growing demand for gas from its population of 105 million, will resume liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports this month as planned, petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said on Tuesday. “We are still arranging and preparing for that, quantities are not yet defined,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi. Egypt’s LNG terminals on the Mediterranean coast have the capacity to ship 12 million metric tons per annum, a figure the country aims…

The growth in income tax and national contributions is a promising development AMMAN — The Income and Sales Tax Department’s utilisation of artificial intelligence in electronic tax auditing is playing a pivotal role in accelerating tax audit procedures and swiftly identifying tax discrepancies, according to officials. These measures have already resulted in a notable growth of 11.4 per cent in the total value of collected tax in September, they said. Director-General of the Income and Sales Tax Department Hussam Abu Ali announced on Sunday that the value of tax collection from income and sales levies in September 2023 reached JD470…

TOKYO: Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil increased slightly in August to about 27.93 million barrels or 36 percent, according to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. In July, Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil were 27.6 million barrels or 38 percent of the total. In August, Japan imported about 77.55 million barrels. Some 94.6 percent of that share, or 73.33 million barrels, was supplied by six Arab countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, according to the data. Japan imported about 35.67 million barrels from the UAE, or 46…

RIYADH: The total foreign assets of the Central Bank of Oman increased 27.4 percent year on year to 6.86 billion Omani riyals ($17.82 billion) by the end of July, according to its statistics authority. The National Center for Statistics and Information also reported an annual increase of 4.9 percent in local liquidity by the end of July. While reporting the figures, Oman News Agency found that private sector deposits in commercial banks and Islamic windows were 18.17 billion riyals by the end of July, up 6.5 percent compared to the year-ago period. An Islamic window is a section of a…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has strengthened its position in global supply chains after a ship loaded with 37,000 tons of crude iron set sail from the Port of Jazan City to New Orleans, US. According to the Saudi Press Agency, this product marks a significant milestone as it is the first to be manufactured within the region, produced at the Advanced Smelting Industries Co. factory in Jazan. Crude iron, also known as pig iron, is a more brittle form of the material and is used in steel production. Traditionally recognized for its vast oil reserves, the Gulf nation has been proactively…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s purchasing managers’ index rose to 57.2 in September, up from 56.6 in August, as business confidence in the non-oil private sector improved, showed an economy tracker. According to the Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia PMI report, compiled by S&P Global, the Kingdom witnessed a sharp increase in economic activity and new businesses in the non-oil private sector in September, signaling improved market conditions and rising client orders. The upswing was attributed to increased business intake, with 27 percent of surveyed firms reporting output growth in each of the four major sectors monitored by the survey. “The non-oil economy continues its growth despite the challenges arising…

The country’s manufacturing sector has been contracting for six months, a new survey has revealed Factories in Italy have seen a downturn for six months in a row, as manufacturing continues to decline in a sign of a deep industrial recession, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a survey by S&P Global. An index based on responses from purchasing managers (PMI) stood at 46.8 in September, compared to 45.4 in August, well below the mark of 50, indicating a contraction. Italian industry and manufacturing, in particular, have been struggling in the past several months due to a lack of new orders…