Business

RIYADH: Kuwait’s non-oil growth is projected to increase to about 3.8 percent in 2023 on account of a robust expatriate community, the International Monetary Fund has forecast.    While overall growth is anticipated to drop to 0.1 percent this year, the non-oil economy will be strengthened on the back of the financial stimulus and partial recovery in the employment of expatriates, according to the IMF’s latest analysis of Kuwait.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top banks have continued to register steady earnings growth while maintaining profitability despite global headwinds amid rising interest rates, according to global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal. The analysis by the New York-headquartered company revealed the Kingdom’s leading 10 banks collectively recorded 2.7 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in net profits during the first three months of the year to hit SR17.3 billion ($4.61 billion).

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will soon become an active partner in global ecological governance after the UN granted the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center a key role in its environmental activities.  According to a KAPSARC press note, the think tank will now be able participate in global energy, climate and environment dialogues, as well as adopt an observer status, after being handed a place in the UN Environment Program.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index continued its upward trend for the second consecutive day, as reigning oil prices raised investor confidence.  On Monday, the benchmark index gained 71.63 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,293.59.  The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.38 billion ($1.70 billion) as 125 listed stocks advanced, while 75 retreated. 

VIENNA: Defending the decisions made by the oil producers’ alliance, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stressed the need to “trust OPEC+” which he described as “the most effective international organization” working to restore market stability. Talking to CNBC International’s Dan Murphy on Sunday, the energy minister said the voluntary oil output cuts announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, also known as OPEC+, were precautionary measures.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s green hydrogen project being developed at NEOM received the Kingdom’s first sustainable guarantee from the British bank, Standard Chartered, which agreed to extend funding support for its contractor Larsen & Toubro to build the necessary renewable energy infrastructure.  Located at Oxagon, the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is being built by NEOM Green Hydrogen Co., which is an equal joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and the $500-billion giga-project.

RIYADH: Qatar registered more than two-thirds of its expected 2023 budget surplus in the first three months of the year thanks to a large inflow of oil and gas revenues, the country’s Finance Ministry has revealed. According to Qatar’s state news agency, the country’s trade balance was 19.7 billion Qatari riyals ($5.4 billion) in the black for the first quarter of the year, the equivalent of 68 percent of its anticipated budget surplus for 2023.