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Bahrain
Middle East retail rents staganted in the 2010/11 period which ended in June, according to research consultants Cushman & Wakefield (C&W;).
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Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, widely known as a reformer in Saudi Arabia, took another bold step in Saudi Arabia by allowing women to compete and vote
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Macroeconomic Data
The Gulf is not immune to the U.S. downgrade by ratings agency Standard & Poor's from triple-A to AA+, and the issue if European sovereign debt crisis.
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Islamic Finance
I was at two recent conferences, OIC Member States’ Stock Exchange Forum 5th Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, and SWIFT’s SIBOS massive event in Toronto, and, folks, we have
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetMr. President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
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Bahrain
TweetThe MENA region has a shortage of 3.5 million affordable dwellings, with Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi Arabia suffering from the biggest shortfalls. For all the boom (and
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UAE
TweetEmirates airline will surpass the likes of Air France/KLM, Lufthansa/Swiss, British Airways and other major airlines. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projects that passenger flow in the Middle East
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Islamic Finance
“Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.”
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Markets
NCB Capital has more assets under management (AUM) than any other in the region and commands nearly 21% of market share by the first quarter of the year,
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Islamic Finance
‘…Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity … darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out
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Libya
Ousting Moammer Gaddhafi may have been the easy part as the National Transitional Council mulls over the next steps to restore domestic stability and investor confidence back into
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters Nigeria has become a ‘battleground’ for Islamic finance, unfortunately further dividing Africa’s most populated country. Some recent newspaper headlines
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Featured Islamic Finance
If Islamic finance is about inclusion, where are the sisters?
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Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is not immune to the debt crisis in the European Union
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Islamic Finance
To date Islamic finance has missed two important opportunities: addressing the ‘have nots’ (micro-finance), and deploying the funds of the ‘haves’ into Islamic VC funds
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Gold
Gold’s strong start to the year was reinforced during the second quarter of 2011 where total global gold demand measured 919.8 tonnes (t), worth a near-record US$44.5bn
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters It took Islamic finance forty years to reach the magical US$1 trillion benchmark (in terms of size or
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Featured Islamic Finance
As a student of Islamic finance, there are a number of important lessons captured over the years, and today’s focus will be why there is no real need
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Islamic Finance
My children, son (14) and daughter (11), asked a straight-forward two-part question as part of their homework assignment on parent career choices: why did you chose Islamic finance?
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Macroeconomic Data
Mark Mobius, chief of investment house Franklin Templeton, and a known emerging market bull thinks the S&P; downgrade of U.S.'s sovereign ratings makes emerging markets more attractive
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Featured Islamic Finance
Response to the New York Times article on Anti-Shariah Push
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetRamadhan is a period of introspection for Muslims and Islamic financial institutions to better observe Islamic teachings, appreciate our blessings and be moved to action by the burdens
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Islamic Finance
One of the most over-used words in Islamic finance is not standardization, scholars, regulations, etc., but 'consolidation'. Islamic banks, Islamic leasing companies, Takaful companies need to consolidate to
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Featured Saudi Arabia
Forget Arab Spring. If Saudi Arabia's spending patterns and economic policies don't change, it could be staring at a breakeven oil price of an astonishing $320 a barrel
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Islamic Finance
Islamic finance did not invent or innovate negative screening for publicly listed companies to arrive at a sub- universe of "ethical" companies. In fact, Islamic equity investing is
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Islamic Finance
Tweet Islamic equity indices, 1.0, became a global ‘instrument’ in 1999, with the launch of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM). But, what progress, if any, has
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Bahrain
TweetThe Arab World’s tryst with democracy and freedom is unlikely to bear economic fruits, according to a study. Instead, we could well see a gridlock political environment and
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Macroeconomic Data
The Gulf states will need to create 3.3 million jobs over the next ten years, meanwhile the MENA region will need to create 30.7 million jobs by 2020,
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Egypt
Even as the Egyptian Government looks to revive the country's economy, it has turned down the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s stand-by agreement
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Islamic Finance
Tweet The price of oil is not the only ‘greaser’ for expansion of Islamic finance. Lately, a number of countries seem to be pre-empting social-movement-cum-change of regime as
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Egypt
As investors say goodbye to the first half of the year and brace themselves for a strange and uncertain world in the second half, the worry beads are
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Islamic Finance
TweetIs Manal Al Sharif the Rosa Parks of the Saudi Arabia? Ms Parks, a courageous black woman during the civil right movement in the US, refused to vacate
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetEven if Saudi Arabia was aware of the IEA’s move to draw from its oil reserves, all parties appear to have lost face, without really upsetting the trend
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Islamic Finance
Innovation and the ensuing needed authenticity are the pre-requisites to move Islamic finance to 2.0 or $2-Trillion by 2015
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Islamic Finance
Here is a sample why Halal/Islamic finance stories often fall on the editing floor
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Macroeconomic Data
Capital inflows in the Middle East and North Africa region will drop this year, as investors avoid the region's uncertain political and economic conditions. Troubled states such as
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Qatar
While the Arab Spring has unleashed havoc on the region's economy, one country that has escaped the regional turmoil is Qatar
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Saudi Arabia
International and regional investors discouraged by asset mispricing and lack of investment grade properties
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Islamic Finance
Rushdi Siddiqui: I have a recommendation for the next head of the IMF. His name is Dr Mohamed A El Erian.
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Bahrain
TweetQatar, which has been beating its regional rival on economic performance, has also won the title of the most peaceful country in the Middle East North Africa region.
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetDubai’s debt problems refuse to go away, as the IMF warns that the emirate’s debt will rise to 53% of GDP by 2016 if it does not act.
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head, Islamic Finance & OIC Countries, Thomson Reuters Questions for Islamic Finance “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we
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UAE
Tweet The global financial crisis brought an end to a decade of high growth. The U.A.E. has had remarkable achievements over the last decade with its open and
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Oil
TweetOpec is the latest battleground in Iran and Saudi Arabia’s cold war. News that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may attend the next Opec meeting, has the potential of
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Featured Gold
TweetCentral banks are buying gold, says HSBC. That mean that the metal’s stratospheric rise may not be over yet. And with Goldman Sachs spelling doom for the dollar,
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Bahrain
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head, Islamic Finance & OIC Countries Thomson Reuters It’s polling time once again in Islamic finance, but, today, we survey two major developments: Arab
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UAE
Tweet By Activist Shareholder It is great to see Emaar’ supremo Mohamed Alabbar looking for a challenge. Dubai and certainly the emirate’s real estate sector needs dynamic personalities
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters I was watching highlights of the Royal wedding, when I heard the news of the death of Osama
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetPrivate equity (PE) activity in the MENA region remained slow for the second consecutive month, in April, according to Al Masah Capital research. “The first month of 2Q
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Africa
TweetMiddle East’s oil-importing countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria could fall into recession this year, according to the International Institute of Finance (IIF), a group of
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Kuwait
TweetDonald Trump’s recent hysterical comments on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are set to put more pressure on President Obama. Expect
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head, Islamic Finance & OIC Countries, Thomson Reuters Unless Islamic finance is made relevant to young people, it will struggle to gain popularity and
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head, Islamic Finance & OIC Countries, Thomson Reuters Arab Revolution 2.0 opens an interesting closed window of opportunity for financial inclusion of the devout. Islamic
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Islamic Finance
TweetBy Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head, Islamic Finance & OIC Countries, Thomson Reuters Has Islamic finance passed the ‘public good’ test? HRH Dr Raja Nazrin Shah, the charismatic Crown
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Oil
TweetHere is the leaked Wikileak cable that shows a former Aramco executive saying Saudi Arabia has over-estimated its oil reserves.
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetQatar’s investment over the next five years will be a staggering $225 billion, but the country is still worried about low energy prices during the period. As a
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Qatar
TweetChevron is the world’s fastest growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, beating Qatar Petroleum, according to Evaluate Energy data. Between 2010 and 2020, the U.S. energy giant will
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Bahrain
TweetThe GCC has around $40bn of debt coming due each year over the next five years, says Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). Plus a chart that neatly shows SCB’s
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Bahrain
TweetRead why EFG-Hermes is worried about Omani and Bahraini growth. And the bank’s insightful regional heat map that neatly highlights problem areas. Read the full story here
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Macroeconomic Data
TweetThe only Middle East country in the Ciitbank list (Also read full report Regional Dynamos) is Saudi Arabia which is expected to emerge as the sixth largest economy
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