The kingdom's finance ministry estimated expenditures for 2024 to be at US$333.5 billion. According to the ministry, the projection is based on the government's fiscal objectives to expand strategic spending at the sectoral and regional levels, broaden and diversify the economic base, as well as improve public services, among others.

WASHINGTON, US - The United States is heading toward a government shutdown this weekend with no foreseeable way out of a deadlock in Congress over hardline Republican calls for deep spending cuts. The new US fiscal year begins on October 1, but sharp disagreements in the Republican Party over the scale...

According to the company's liquidator, Su Zhu was detained at Singapore's Changi airport while trying to leave the city-state. He was one of the co-founders of collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The company filed for bankruptcy last year when its fortunes suffered a sharp decline after a massive...

Tripoli, Libya-- Qatar and Libya have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in the field of civil aviation. In this connection, Qatar's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) held Thursday bilateral talks with Libyan Civil Aviation Authority. Acting President of GCAA Mohamed Faleh Al Hajri chaired the Qatari...

DIB felt Turkey is a great investment destination.

WASHINGTON, US - President Joe Biden's administration on Friday announced it would auction three new oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering a furious reaction from environmental groups who said the move would accelerate climate change. Biden, who faces re-election next year, has repeatedly broken his promise made...

The bank said the loss could be as much as $2.2 billion.

The value of the deal is expected between $3.2 billion to $4.1 billion.

PARIS, FRANCE - Europe must invest more quickly and massively in its energy transition if it wants to remain a global industrial power, top policymakers warned on Friday. The plea was made at a conference on the clean energy transition hosted by the International Energy Agency, the European Central Bank and...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Assets held by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) declined by SAR 24 billion ($6.39 billion) month-on-month (MoM) to SAR 1.76 trillion in August. When compared to August 2022, SAMA’s assets fell by around SAR 229.2 billion, according to data released by SAMA, Argaam reported. SAMA’s investments...

SIATT is Brazilian smart weapons and high-tech systems specialist.

ABU DHABI, UAE - The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Thursday entered into a Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement between the UAE Dirham (AED) and the Egyptian Pound (EGP). The agreement, signed by Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of...

The deal will be Aramco's first international investment in LNG.

New York, US - The generative AI platform ChatGPT can now fetch data directly from the internet and gather up-to-date information in real-time, its creator OpenAI said, in a major milestone for the software. Until now, ChatGPT's responses to user queries were based on a vast database, which did not contain...

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - Israel's US$3.5-billion sale of its Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany, sparked by security fears after Russia's Ukraine invasion, is the biggest yet for the small country's outsized arms sector. With its armed forces steeled by a tragic history of war, Israel is now the ninth...

ABU DHABI, UAE - The financial markets of the United Arab Emirates topped the Arab stock exchanges during last week's trading, according to the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). The fund, in its weekly bulletin on Arab financial markets, which monitors the performance of 13 exchanges, said that the UAE markets...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Red Sea Global (RSG) will become the exclusive agent for Bear Grylls Survival Academy (BGSA) bringing the world-famous survival and adventure brand to Saudi Arabia. It is the second outdoor tourism project of Grylls’ in the Middle East, who has another outpost in the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah...

The jump in oil prices came in the wake of a a surprising drop in US crude inventories. Oil prices have been trending higher following moves by Russia and Saudi Arabia to limit output. The US futures benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November, jumped 3.6% to $93.68 per...

Zuckerberg made his announcements at the Connect developers conference at Meta's headquarters in Silicon Valley, the company's main annual product event. The event was the first in-person edition of Connect since 2019, before the pandemic, and announcements on generative AI were widely expected.

Tehran, Iran--Iran has exported 27.7 million tons of goods worth $9.1 billion to BRICS member countries from March 21-August 21, 2023). In the first five months of this year of 1402 in the Iranian calendar nearly 37 million tons of goods worth $25.1 billion were exchanged between Iran and current...

Seoul, South Korea--QatarEnergy has signed US$3.90 billion worth agreement with Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for the construction of 17 ultra-modern LNG carriers. The deal marks the start of the second phase of QatarEnergy's LNG ship acquisition program, which will support its expanding LNG production capacity from the North...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--Masdar and PLN Nusantara Power (PLN NP) have signed an agreement to develop Phase II of the successful Cirata floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plant in Indonesia by up to 500MW, in a major expansion to Southeast Asia’s largest FPV plant. The signing ceremony was witnessed by UAE Minister...

Jakarta, Indonesia - Indonesia has banned goods transactions on social media platforms in a new regulation, its trade minister said Wednesday, as Jakarta aims to rein in direct sales by major tech firms it says are harming millions of small businesses. Government officials in recent weeks called for social media and...

Binance is likely to sell its Russian assets to CommEX.

Dahran, Saudi Arabia -- Aramco and Jiangsu Eastern Shenghong Company (Eastern Shenghong) Wednesday signed a cooperation framework agreement to facilitate discussions relating to the possible acquisition by Aramco of a 10 percent strategic equity interest in Jiangsu Shenghong Petrochemical Industry Group (Shenghong Petrochemical). Shenghong Petrochemical, a wholly owned subsidiary of...

The bank will extend three-year credit facility of $500 million.

With inflation still sitting well above the central bank's target and the labor market showing few signs of softening, decision-makers have warned that more tightening will be needed to achieve their goal. However, while the US economy remains in reasonable health, there is a growing concern that the Fed could...

A technical cooperation agreement will follow the signing.

The $86m project will be AMEA's first operational asset in Tunisia.

Xu Jiayin, who is known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was taken away by authorities earlier this month, according to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg News. He is being held under "residential surveillance", the report said, which does not mean he has been arrested or charged with a crime.

The estimated worth for the company behind generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT is nearly triple that of just a year ago, according to the report in the financial daily citing unnamed people familiar with the discussions. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, kicking off an AI race among...

The contracts to install traffic systems are worth US$211m.

According to the country's economy minister, around 1.5 million acres of public land -- nearly the size of Kuwait -- have been set aside for green hydrogen and ammonia plants. Morocco is looking to become North Africa's top player in the emerging "green hydrogen" sector, with plans to export the...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran will sign a long-term contract with India to develop Chabahar Port, according to the Islamic republic's minister of roads and urban development. Mehrdad Bazarpash emphasized that a long-term contract for the operationalization of Chabahar Port project with the Indians will be signed in the near future. He...

It invested the money to be a big supply chain player.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – China on Tuesday granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) to the Gulf Kingdom. The bilateral agreement, signed on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia allows Chinese citizens to travel to the Kingdom in group tours in addition to facilitating greater ease of access. ADS...

It did not give a timetable for the move or how much it hoped to raise.

Dubai, UAE - UAE and China explored opportunities for the two countries to cooperate and exchange experiences in areas related to labor, human resources development and skills enhancement. A discussion on these issues was held at a meeting between Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, UAE's Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization,...

Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq's oil revenues in August hit nearly $9 billion, according to the data issued by the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO). The $8.99 billion revenue came from crude oil exports of more than 106 million barrels, the country's Ministry of Oil said in a statement, according to...

PARIS, FRANCE - Soaring demand for the raw materials needed for the transition towards renewable energy is creating dilemmas for investors weighing the economic, environmental and human rights risks of such projects. With demand for fossil fuels expected to peak by the end of the decade, the focus is shifting towards...

They will develop Phase II of Indonesia's Cirata project by up to 500MW

New York, US-- The UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed has held talks with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, and pledged to further develop cooperation as part of the two countries' strategic partnership. The two ministers met on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the United...

The auto giant announced in February the project in Marshall, Michigan as a way to diversify its battery profile away from its current exclusive use of nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), which are costly to produce because of raw material scarcity. Ford said it would work with a Chinese company to...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran's exports of agricultural products to the outside world shot up 10% in the first 5 months of this year, the Iranian customs administration reported on Monday, According to a report released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) in the first 5 months of this year...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-- Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has launched a new TV channel called Saudia Alaan (Saudi Now) to highlight the kingdom’s “rapid progress” towards the Saudi Vision 2030 and its recent advancements. The ceremony, held under the patronage of the Minister of Media and Chairman of the Board of...

Brussels, Belgium - EU member countries on Monday adopted a watered-down deal on curbing car emissions, after auto manufacturers complained stricter measures could undermine electric vehicle investments. Led by France and Italy, the 27 nations voted for a less ambitious plan than the one put forward by the European Commission in...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) signed an agreement with the Expo Center Sharjah to enhance its services for Sharjah’s investor community, local media reports said. The agreement was signed at Expo Centre Sharjah, with Abdulla Salem Al Nuaimi, CEO of ADX, and Saif Mohammed Al...

MANAMA, BAHRAIN - The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) and the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) have decided to jointly provide training programs aimed at strengthening the global Islamic finance community.The programs cater to professionals from financial institutions, regulatory bodies, supervisory authorities and legal experts within the Islamic...

Under the deal, two luxury hotels will be built in Trojena.

ABU DHABI, UAE –  Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund Dr Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Al Humaidi said that Arab countries account for about 60 percent of the global Islamic financial industry, which amounted to US$3 trillion by the end of 2021. Al...