BEIRUT: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Lebanon said it hoped its parliament would approve the draft 2019 state budget as soon as possible, the Lebanese finance ministry said in a statement.The head of the IMF mission, Chris Jarvis, hoped “parliament would as soon as possible approve the budget in which work happened to…
BERLIN: German energy giant RWE said Sunday it will be seeking prosecutions after hundreds of climate activists occupied their open-cast mine at the weekend to protest against the use of coal. Following a cat-and-mouse game with police on Saturday, around a thousand activists invaded the vast Garzweiler lignite mine, some 43 km west of Cologne.…
FRANKFURT: Daimler cut its 2019 earnings outlook on Sunday after lifting provisions for issues related to its diesel vehicles by hundreds of millions of euros.Group earnings before interest and tax this year are now expected to be at last year’s level, the carmaker said, against a previous estimate for a slight increase. Earnings will be…
RABAT: Three years after it was liquidated for racking up billions of euros worth of debt, Morocco’s sole oil refinery and the one-time economic flagship is struggling to attract a buyer and survive.A self-declared “national front” — comprising employees, economists and union leaders — is leading the charge to salvage refining company SAMIR, while a…
DUBAI: Middle Eastern stock markets fell on Sunday, as political tensions ramped up after US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Iran. Trump on Saturday said additional sanctions would be imposed on Monday but that he wanted to make a deal to bolster Iran’s flagging economy, an apparent move to defuse tensions following the shooting…
RABAT: Three years after it was liquidated for racking up billions of euros worth of debt, Morocco’s sole oil refinery and the one-time economic flagship is struggling to attract a buyer and survive.A self-declared “national front” — comprising employees, economists and union leaders — is leading the charge to salvage refining company SAMIR, while a…
SHANGHAI: Instead of waging a trade war with China, the United States should drop its win-at-all-costs mentality and consider the interests of its own people as well as the global community, the official People’s Daily said an editorial on Saturday.The Chinese Communist Party’s newspaper urged the United States to cancel all tariffs on Chinese goods,…
SHANGHAI: Instead of waging a trade war with China, the United States should drop its win-at-all-costs mentality and consider the interests of its own people as well as the global community, the official People’s Daily said an editorial on Saturday.The Chinese Communist Party’s newspaper urged the United States to cancel all tariffs on Chinese goods,…
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdog has fined Lloyds Banking Group $57.69 million (£45.5 million) for failures at its HBOS Reading unit to disclose suspicions of fraud.Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) was involved in one of Britain’s biggest ever banking frauds in the early 2000s, which saw some of its bankers enrich themselves at the expense of…
BASRA: Just weeks ago, US energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the company’s ambitions to expand in the country.But now a combination of contractual wrangling and security concerns, heightened by escalating tensions between Iraq’s bigger neighbor…
BASRA: Just weeks ago, US energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the company’s ambitions to expand in the country.But now a combination of contractual wrangling and security concerns, heightened by escalating tensions between Iraq’s bigger neighbor…
BASRA: Just weeks ago, US energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the company’s ambitions to expand in the country.But now a combination of contractual wrangling and security concerns, heightened by escalating tensions between Iraq’s bigger neighbor…
BENGALURU/PARIS/SINGAPORE: When Karan Mehrotra booked a flight from Delhi to Guwahati, he did not go to a travel agent or an airline website.Instead, he turned to Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer which now sells tickets to Indian customers and offers them an easy payment process and cash-back offers.“It was just a lot simpler,” Mehrotra…
DUBAI: Attacks on tankers in the Arabian Gulf have jolted the shipping industry, with some of the 2,000 companies operating ships in the region on high alert and ordering their vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz only during daylight hours and at high speed.Washington’s accusation that Iran is behind the attacks targeting oil tankers…
LONDON: Oil rose more than 3 percent toward $64 a barrel on Thursday after Iran shot down a US military drone, raising fears of a military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.Expectations that the US Federal Reserve could cut interest rates at its next meeting, stimulating growth in the world’s largest oil-consuming country, and a drop…
LONDON: Oil prices declined on Wednesday as data suggested a smaller-than-expected fall in American crude inventories, as hopes for a US-China trade deal continue to grow.Brent crude futures were down 51 cents at $61.72 a barrel.US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 25 cents to $53.65 a barrel. On Tuesday, it had recorded its biggest daily…
LONDON: Oil prices declined on Wednesday as data suggested a smaller-than-expected fall in American crude inventories, as hopes for a US-China trade deal continue to grow.Brent crude futures were down 51 cents at $61.72 a barrel.US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 25 cents to $53.65 a barrel. On Tuesday, it had recorded its biggest daily…
TOKYO: Substantial discussions on trade, including reform of the World Trade Organization, will likely take place at a summit of Group of 20 major economies next week in Osaka, a senior Japanese finance ministry official said on Wednesday.Japan, which chairs this year’s G20 gatherings, will take a neutral stance in the US-China trade row and…
VIENNA: After years of largely banking on low-cost Russia for growth, OMV is shifting attention toward the Middle East as its chemist chief executive chases his vision of making the Austrian oil and gas group a major supplier of plastics.OMV boss Rainer Seele has spent more than €4 billion ($4.5 billion) — 40 percent of…
VIENNA: After years of largely banking on low-cost Russia for growth, OMV is shifting attention toward the Middle East as its chemist chief executive chases his vision of making the Austrian oil and gas group a major supplier of plastics.OMV boss Rainer Seele has spent more than €4 billion ($4.5 billion) — 40 percent of…
