The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan are to have a discussion in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on a deepening crisis over sharing their oil wealth. When South Sudan became the independent state last July, Sudan lost most of its oil fields. But the export pipelines go through Sudan, which has seized some $815m in oil revenue, accusing the south of not paying transit fees. South Sudan last week said it reduced oil production, accusing Sudan of "stealin... Read more »

Although it has managed to avoid the popular uprisings that have rocked other Arab nations, Jordan is facing high unemployment as it struggles to define its economic policy. On Sunday Central Bank governor Fares Sharaf was dismissed over accusations by Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit that he took "unilateral" decisions and publicly opposed the government efforts to save economy. "It's not the first time the government has sacked an official for his or her opin... Read more »

Tunisian PM Beji Caid Essebsi yesterday painted a bleak picture of the national economy. According to him the key reason for that repeated strikes that have stopped the operation several firms. "The economic situation is very bad. Repeated sit-ins and strikes have stopped operations at several firms," middle-east-online.com quotes Essebsi as saying. He gave an example of a chemical complex in the southeastern town of Gabes where activity was disrupted for w... Read more »

According to Egypt’s Finance Minister Samir Radwan, the country has dropped plans to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The decision was made after the planned deficit in the 2011-12 budget had been revised down from 11% to 8.6% of GDP. But an adviser told a news agency the decision had been partly a response to the "pressure of public opinion". In May Mr Radwan appealed to the IMF, telling the bbc.co.uk that the situation was "... Read more »

The emir of Qatar arrived in Madrid yesterday on a visit to invest ailing Spanish economy and to boost ties between the oil-rich Gulf state and Spain as well. After the arrival Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, lunched with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the royal palace of Zarazuela outside Madrid. Today he is to hold talks over lunch with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, after which seve... Read more »

Gas-rich Gulf kingdom Qatar unveiled its budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year that forecasts 22.5 billion riyals ($6.1 billion) in surplus revenues. The Qatari fiscal year starts April 1 and ends March 31. As in the previous fiscal year, calculations were based on a crude oil price of 55 dollars per barrel, although oil has been trading above 100 dollars a barrel because of the conflict in Libya. According to the ministry forecasts economic growth in Qatar ... Read more »

Russian-Saudi Business Forum and the Third Russian Exhibition will take place in Riyadh and Jeddah in March, 2011. These events, branded as the Russian Business Week in Saudi Arabia are jointly organized by the Russian-Arab Business Council and the Arabia-EXPO exhibitions company.
The business forum will offer its participants an extensive business schedule, including a plenary session, sections and round table discussions, bilateral meetings and neg... Read more »

Tunisia has suspended former ruling party Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). Security officials in the coalition government have said there is a conspiracy by officials close to the old authorities to spread chaos and take back power. The latest deadly clashes have caused questions about whether Tunisia is returning to stability after Ben Ali's departure to Saudi Arabia. "The minister of the interior has decided to suspend all activities and all meeting... Read more »

According to analysts, Lebanon's economy should be able to survive the political storm that has seen the appointment of a Hezbollah-backed prime minister due to the strength of the country's banking system and replete foreign currency reserves. "The financial defence lines are currently the strongest in Lebanon's history," middle-east-online.com quotes Marwan Barakat, chief economist at Bank Audi as saying. The Central Bank has $30 billion (22.5 billion eur... Read more »

Stock markets have negatively responded a mass revolt in Egypt. Many leading companies have interests there and on Sunday they drastically dropped. The Dubai Financial Market shed over six percent of its value. The leading traded company, Emaar Properties, possessing the world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, saw its share price plummeting by nearly 10 percent. The Middle East's largest low-cost carrier Air Arabia also saw its share plunge by nearly... Read more »