UAE to introduce unemployment insurance
The United Arab Emirates will introduce a form of unemployment insurance, the cabinet said on Monday, the latest reform by the Gulf country as it strives to attract talent and investment amid increasing regional economic competition.
Insured workers would receive some money for a limited time period if made unemployed, UAE Prime Minister and Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of trade hub Dubai, said on Twitter, citing a cabinet decision.
“The intention is to strengthen labour market competitiveness, provide a social umbrella for workers and establish a stable working environment for all,” the statement said.
The statement did not specify whether this would apply equally to citizens and non-citizen residents in the UAE.
Permission to reside in Gulf countries like the UAE, where foreigners make up 85 percent of the population according to the IMF, has traditionally been tied to employment, and loss of job usually means the worker has to leave the country.
Dubai ranked first globally in attracting FDI projects in 2021
Dubai took the top spot globally for attracting foreign direct investment projects in 2021 and was ranked second in terms of attracting corporate headquarters as the emirate’s economy continues to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
The emirate— the tourism and commercial hub of the Middle East — attracted 418 greenfield FDI projects during the period, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the emirate’s Executive Council, said on Sunday, as he unveiled the annual Dubai FDI Results & Rankings Highlights Report 2021, published by Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
In total, Dubai attracted 618 FDI projects in 2021, including greenfield as well as reinvestment projects and other forms of investment, with the value of FDI capital flows into the emirate estimated at Dh26bn ($7bn), up 5.5 per from the previous year, according to a statement on Sunday by the Dubai Media Office.
The number of jobs created through FDI projects also surged 36 percent to 24,868 in 2021.
Bahrain’s economy to grow 3pc in 2022
Bahrain’s economy is expected to grow 3 percent in 2022 on the back of higher oil prices and output and a rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the National Bank of Kuwait.
Fiscal balance in the Gulf country— which posted a 2.2 growth in its gross domestic product in 2021 — is projected to swing back into a surplus this year, well ahead of Manama’s pandemic-delayed target of achieving a balance by 2024, NBK said in its macroeconomic outlook.
While economic output is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels, high debt levels remain a concern. Any retreat in oil prices or an incomplete implementation of the country’s fiscal balance programme (FBP) goals are risks for growth, the lender said.
Although Bahrain is one of the Gulf region’s most diversified economies, it could benefit even more than others from higher oil revenues given its particular financial vulnerabilities that the reform programme aims to address, NBK said.
“Indeed, the government could record its first fiscal surplus in 14 years in 2022, beating its [pandemic-delayed] target of balancing the budget by 2024,” the lender said.
UAE and Greece to set up $4.2bn investment initiative
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, met Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
As part of the visit, the UAE and Greece said they had agreed to create a €4 billion ($4.22bn) initiative to invest in the Greek economy. Investments will be made in sectors including infrastructure, renewable and new forms of energy, health care and pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, and logistics, state news agency Wam reported.
For the initiative, a deal was signed between Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ and Hellenic Development Bank and Hellenic Development Bank of Investments, by Mohamed Alsuwaidi, managing director and chief executive of ADQ, and Kostas Fragogiannis, Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mubadala Investment Company and the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments also agreed to extend their partnership in a €400 million co-investment platform they established in 2018.
An agreement was signed by Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director and group chief executive of Mubadala, and Antigoni Lymperopoulou, chief executive of the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments.
Oman budget swings into $930 mln surplus
Oman’s budget recorded a surplus of 357 million rials ($929.7 million) by the end of the first quarter, boosted by a more than 70 percent rise in oil revenue as output and prices surged, finance ministry data showed.
That compared with a deficit of 751 million rials in the same period a year earlier, the ministry’s monthly bulletin showed.
Gulf oil producers have benefited from the sharp rise in oil prices, which surged past $100 a barrel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February exacerbated concerns about disruptions to global energy supply.
The surplus would be spent on measures to support economic recovery, on development projects and on lowering the debt ratio, the document said.
“We still see the GCC realizing fiscal surpluses in 2023, including Oman and Bahrain, supported by the oil price and tight global energy fundamental,” Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said.
“The fact that Oman is looking to reduce its debt levels is positive for strengthening fiscal fundamentals.”
The Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC is a six-member body including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.