Issue 04 July / August 2010

World trade has slowed by 3.5 per cent over the last quarter, according to the third edition of the Global Trade Flow Index by Capgemini Consulting. The report tracks trade by quarter based on the latest available official data from national agencies within the top 23 countries in the global trade arena. The index figures revealed growth of five per …

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has now opened in Iraq to help finance shortterm and medium-term sales of US exports to Iraqi buyers in both the public and private sectors. “Iraq’s economy is growing, offering specific opportunities for US exporters in a variety of industries, and Ex-Im Bank can help by reducing the repayment risk, especially …

More than 1400 contracts for various projects in Saudi Arabia were given the go-ahead during the first half of 2010. They were valued at more than 70bn Saudi riyals, according to the kingdom’s Ministry of Finance, which added that the contracts didn’t include those deals worth less than five million riyals or those that would take less than a year …

Bank Audi has launched “Audi Cards On-line”, a new internet banking service that meets “today’s on-thego cardholder’s lifestyle”. It allows cardholders to “log in to their credit card information and check all their transactions and card movement within the comfort of their own homes”. They can also access this service anywhere, anytime, even through their mobiles. Mrs Randa Bdeir, group …

Investors have turned bearish in their outlook for the global economy and corporate earnings, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers published in July. The survey shows a net 12 per cent of respondents predicting the global economy will deteriorate in the coming year, the first negative forecast since February 2009. This represents a big turnaround from …

Dear Reader, How things change, as many a business has discovered since economies around the world rolled around unsteadily like listing ships and then sank into recession. Before the global financial crisis, companies took it for granted that banks would always be willing and able to provide additional funding as and when it was required, at a price. But it …