UAE external trade increases during first quarter of 2010

By Hamdan Al-Muhairi in Dubai
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-06-04

[Chris Jackson/Getty Images] Exports from Dubai rose 5% over the same quarter last year.

Dr. Mattar Ahmad al-Ali, director of the UAE Department of Analysis and Trade Information of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, said Wednesday (June 2nd) that the value of external trade in the UAE was 171.7 billion dirhams ($46.7 billion) during the first quarter of 2010.

The increase compares favorably with the 164 billion dirham ($44.6 billion) trade value for the first quarter in 2009 and represents a 5% growth rate. Al-Ali said the volume of exports increased 23%, reaching 17.4 billion dirhams ($4.6 billion), compared with 14.1 billion dirhams ($3.1 billion) during the first quarter of 2009.

According to the World Trade Organisation annual report for 2009, the UAE ranked 19th worldwide in terms of exports, which were valued at $239 billion.

Lebanon real estate begins to recover

Minister of State Adnan Al-Qassar announced during the Lebanese Economic Forum on Wednesday (June 2nd) that real estate investments in Lebanon during the previous year reached $7 billion.

Al-Qassar said the Lebanese economy grew between 8% and 9% in 2009, accompanied by a low rate of inflation of 2.5%. In 2008 the economy grew by 10.8%.

He expected home loans from banks for low- and average-income households to reach $2.5 billion in 2010, indicating that at the end of 2009, real estate sales increased dramatically in Lebanon. Property sales were completed for 7.5 million square metres of space.

Jordan foreign currency reserves increase

Dr. Omaya Toukan, governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, said Jordan's foreign currency reserves reached $10.7 billion during May. The increase will boost confidence in the economy and stabilise the exchange rate of the dinar.

Toukan said that the central bank was able to address the reluctance by financial institutions to provide more credit, a consequence of the overvaluation of the increased risk premium caused by the recession. The outstanding amounts for all bank credits grew 2.1% in 2009.

Saudi electricity authority to boost production

Dr. Abdullah Al-Shehri, governor of the Kingdom's Electricity and Co-generation Regulation Authority, announced Tuesday (June 1st) that 320 million barrels of crude oil are used for electricity production annually.

He said the authority plans to raise power production capacity to 121,000 megawatts by 2032, which will require 900 million barrels of crude oil annually.

Saudi Arabia plans to produce about 10% of its power needs from renewable sources, particularly solar energy, by 2020.

Qatar to issue bonds for local banks

Yusuf Kamal, finance minister of Qatar, confirmed Qatar will issue Islamic and traditional bonds, which will be issued in riyals and valued at 10 billion riyals. The bonds will be designated exclusively for local banks to diversify finance instruments, provide an alternative to the dollar and enhance the local bond market.

Kamal said most local banks have excess liquidity and are seeking a new client to absorb it, "which is why we have designated a certain amount of bonds for each bank."

He called on Qatar Central Bank officials to issue local bonds to absorb the excess liquidity in the banking system. The liquidity was caused by the government's infusion of money into the banking sector to counter effects of the global financial crisis.

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