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  • Why Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan rank among the ‘world’s angriest countries’

    Just as the world economy appeared to be recovering from the lockdowns, supply-chain disruptions and travel bans of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine sent inflation spiralling, with rising food and fuel prices falling heavily on the world’s poorest.

  • ROSHN strikes $1.6bn finance deal with top 3 Saudi banks

    Saudi Arabia’s leading national real estate developer powered by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), ROSHN has signed a working capital facility agreement worth $1.6 billion (SR6 billion) with three leading banks in the kingdom.

  • Roshn seals $1.6bln project finance deal with top Saudi banks

    Roshn, a leading Saudi real estate developer powered by Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signed a working capital facility agreement worth SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) with three leading banks in the kingdom - SABB, Bank Albilad and Al Rajhi. With a total value of SR2 billion each, these new credit facilities will constitute a fundamental change in the real estate sector as well as a basis for diversifying financing, said the Saudi developer in a statement published on state-owned SPA. The move comes as part of Roshn's efforts to obtain external funding for its upcoming integrated community projects, it stated.

  • Pakistan banks on Saudi Arabia to avoid default

    In what appears to be an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressed hope to receive a $3 billion second bailout from Saudi Arabia within days, vowing to raise money through sale of assets to beef up the critically-low foreign exchange reserves.

  • Ronaldo banned from making Al Nassr debut for previously smashing fan’s phone from hand

    Article 12.1 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players says: “Any disciplinary sanction of up to four matches or up to three months that has been imposed on a player by the former association but not yet (entirely) served by the time of the transfer shall be enforced by the new association at which the player has been registered in order for the sanction to be served at domestic level.” It rules the footballing legend out of Thursday’s game as well as Saturday’s top of the table clash at second place Al-Shabab.

  • Saudi Central Bank Establishes Open Banking Lab

    SAMA’s open banking lab aims to foster innovation and accelerate the development of open banking services across Saudi Arabia. The lab is to provide a “technical testing environment” to enable the development and testing of open banking services. The tests will also look to ensure compatibility with SAMA‘s open banking framework.

  • SAMA launches Open Banking Lab to facilitate financial innovation 

    Launched in November, the Open Banking Framework includes a comprehensive set of legislation, regulatory guidelines and technical standards based on international best practices to support banks and fintechs in the Kingdom. The first version focused on account information services, and the second will concentrate on the payment initiation service. The implementation of open banking services is one of the initiatives of the Fintech Strategy, one of the pillars of the Financial Sector Development Program under Saudi Vision 2030.

  • World Bank seeks more funds to address climate change, other crises

    The World Bank is seeking to vastly expand its lending capacity to address climate change and other global crises and will negotiate with shareholders ahead of April meetings on proposals that include a capital increase and new lending tools, according to an "evolution roadmap" seen by Reuters on Monday. The roadmap document - sent to shareholder governments - marks the start of a negotiation process to alter the bank's mission and financial resources and shift it away from a country- and project-specific lending model used since its creation at the end of World War Two

  • Setback for GCC investors as Canada bans foreign investments in residential properties

    Investing in a residential property in Canada will be a distant dream for wealthy investors from GCC now, as the country’s ban on foreigners buying residential properties took effect on Sunday, January 1. Canada imposed the ban after the spike in home prices since the pandemic started, CNN Business reported. Cash rich investors from GCC are among the leading international investors in real estate assets in several Western cities.

  • Israeli army kills 2 Palestinians in West Bank confrontation

    Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a man claimed by an armed group as a member, during a confrontation that erupted early Monday when troops entered a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.