Oman’s Household Income Rises 83.9% In A Decade

The Muscat governorate recorded the highest average household income of $3,789 per month.

Hiring For Expo 2020 To Begin By 2016

Construction, banking, travel and hospitality are sectors that will witness a rise in hiring activity.

S&P Assigns Sharjah Sovereign Credit Rating Of ‘A’

The rating is supported by the government’s limited fiscal risks and low government debt.

Investors Switch To Kuwait, Oman As UAE Weakens

The Dubai index is developing a negative 14-week momentum divergence.

Emiratis Can Earn More In Private Sector – Al Mulla

Private sector can provide Emiratis more exposure and experience in their careers, says a top government official.

Noor Islamic Bank Rebrands, Removes Islamic From Name

The bank will continue to offer shari’a compliant products, but hopes to widen its appeal to customers.

UAE’s Credit Bureau To Start Operating In Q1 – CEO

The bureau hopes to complete agreements with banks to provide credit information and create an electronic database by the end of January.

Middle East Salaries To Rise 3.8% In 2014

Newly hired finance professionals are expected to see the largest salary hike at five per cent.

Emaar To Redeem $237m Convertible Bond On Feb 6

Shares of Emaar climbed 103.7 per cent last year, helped by returning confidence in Dubai’s real estate sector.

Qatar’s Doha Insurance Plans $120m Rights Issue

The insurer has received regulatory approval for the issuance of 24,260,000 new shares.

56% UAE Employees Are Unhappy With Their Salaries

Almost 56 per cent of those polled said that the best salary package in the UAE was offered in the oil and gas industry.

EFG International To Buy Falcon’s Hong Kong Activities

Falcon said it was leaving Hong Kong in favour of concentrating on the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.

Kuwait Six-Month Budget Surplus Down 15% As Spending Jumps

Spending soared over 50 per cent, partly thanks to increased outlays on public sector wages.

MEA M&A Deal Values Up 26.9% In 2013

The 2013 deal value saw the highest rise in the last six years with all the quarters posting values above $12 billion, the report found.

UAE Bourse Regulator To Crack Down On Unlicensed Lending

Firms must abide by the new regulations or face fines of Dhs100,000.

Saudi Electricity Co To Sell Local Currency Sukuk, Names Arrangers

The Kingdom’s monopoly utility said it would offer the sukuk to investors between Jan. 9 and Feb. 27.

EFG Hermes Appoints Khalid Ellaicy As CFO

EFG said Ellaicy would assume his duties immediately having served at Orascom Telecom as CFO for two years.

Bahrain Hikes Salaries For Government Workers

The benefits are estimated to cost the government BD6 million annually.

Oman Government Plans To Borrow $1bn In 2014

The government plans to borrow half of that amount overseas from commercial banks and “strategic partners”.

Oman Budget Sees Slowdown In Spending Growth

Spending this year is projected at $35.1 billion, up five per cent from the original expenditure plan in the 2013 budget.

Gulf Stocks To Start 2014 On Strong Note

Regional stock markets are projected to reflect expectations for solid global economic growth this year.

Middle East Funds Most Bullish About Egypt Equities – Survey

The Reuters survey found that 47 per cent of managers were likely to put more money into Egyptian equities, up from 33 per cent in November.

Shuaa Capital CEO Macdonald To Leave Company

The company has not yet named a replacement for the CEO, but has announced other management changes.

Prince Alwaleed’s Twitter Stake Value Jumps To $1.2bn

Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding bought a $300 million stake in Twitter in December 2011.

Dubai’s Index Falls For The First Time In 5 Days

The DFM General Index fell as investors sought to take advantage of a four-day rally to pocket gains.

Al Habtoor Group Announces Major Board Reshuffle

The group has said that its hotels division board has been carefully planned with a mix of expertise to cope with growing business demands.

Qatar Signs Aid Deal Worth $1.25bn For Morocco

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE agreed in 2012 to provide aid worth a total $5 billion to Morocco in the period 2012-2017.

Dubai’s DIB Approves Foreign Ownership Increase To 25%

The lender said that the decision was taken to address the huge demand from large foreign institutional investors.

Dana Jumps Most In 8 Years After Egypt Payment

The company received $53 million in dues from the Egyptian government.

Different Arab money

Soaring Compliance Costs Clip Wings Of Mideast, African Banks

Compliance teams face an increasing array of rules due to failings exposed by the financial crisis.