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BAGHDAD — Iraq on Thursday took the first step towards taking over the giant Majnoon oilfield following the pullout of Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said.

Luaibi said a committee was formed to "start taking over all responsibilities and documents from Shell which decided to withdraw from the field" in southern Iraq.

The committee has until March 30, 2018, to take full control of Majnoon, his ministry said in a statement, adding that "Shell employees will be present until June to complete certain procedures".

It said the target was to achieve production of more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) "in the years to come" while reducing costs by over 30 per cent.

In 2009, Iraq chose Shell to develop the field, whose reserves are estimated at 12.58 billion barrels.

The company had set a goal of producing 1.8 million bpd, but this figure was exaggerated and all contracts were later revised downwards.

In 2013, the oil ministry accused the Anglo-Dutch company of responsibility for $4.6 billion in lost revenues due to production delays, in a letter seen by AFP.

Shortly afterwards, Shell expressed its desire to end the contract after the oilfield became less profitable.

The French company Total has said it was interested in taking over the Majnoon oilfield.

DUBAI — Saudi Arabia, for decades dependent on crude oil to fund its budget, now says it will cut its reliance on the black gold to less than half of total revenues.

King Salman unveiled the 2018 budget on Tuesday, just hours after the Saudi seat of government, Riyadh's Yamamah Palace, was targeted by a rebel missile fired from neighbouring Yemen.

The monarch, addressing his Cabinet with no mention of the spillover from Saudi Arabia's war-torn neighbour, said the kingdom would "continue to decrease its dependence on oil to 50 per cent" of total revenues.

The target is 42 per cent by 2023, a finance ministry statement later said.

The king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, sat at attention in the audience as the budget was announced. 

The powerful prince has pegged his rise on an ambitious diversification drive, which has also been necessitated by a global slump in oil prices.

Bin Salman's Vision 2030 programme has set its sights on the privatisation of the jewel in the crown: energy giant Saudi Aramco. 

Along with decreasing oil as a source of income, Saudi Arabia plans to slash its lavish welfare system.

 Slow-paced austerity 

In 2017, Riyadh posted an economic contraction for the first time in eight years due to severe austerity measures in the past two years as oil revenues dived. 

But the coming year's budget envisions record spending for the kingdom, a move meant to stimulate the economy and return to positive growth.

Riyadh has decided to accept the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund to slow painful reforms and push back the sought-after breakeven point between revenues and spending to several years from now.

To start the ball rolling, the new budget outlined plans to slowly raise non-oil revenues by increasing taxes and fees, namely through the introduction of a 5-per cent VAT (value-added tax) and taxing expatriates and their dependents.

Saudi think tank Arqaam Capital on Wednesday estimated that Riyadh will earn $23 billion next year from VAT and taxes on services and goods.

Spending in 2018 is estimated at $260.8 billion, up 10 per cent on this year. The deficit is projected to be $52 billion.

 New budget era 

The new budget lays the foundation for a stable financing to economic development away from the oil price swings, analysts say. 

"I believe the expansionary budget offers the solution that we had waited for decades to see," said Ihsan Bu-Hulaiqa, head of Riyadh-based Juana Economic Consultants.

He said that development spending had in the past been directly linked to oil revenues. 

"The new budget offers a new structure and accordingly provides long-term stability for revenues and consequently spending," Bu-Hulaiqa told AFP.

"It shields development spending and economic growth from fluctuations in oil prices."

In 2014, the kingdom derived 90 per cent of its revenues from oil. Today, that once-lucrative piece of the pie has plummeted to less than two-thirds. 

The goal now is to gradually further cut the oil income share in revenues by 2023, when Riyadh hopes to achieve a deficit-free budget. 

"This year's budget continues to support the overarching goals of the Vision 2030, with a strong focus on supporting economic diversification," Saudi Jadwa Research said in a commentary on the budget.

It said capital spending on projects and infrastructure, from the 2018 budget and other sources, is estimated at $90 billion, a sizeable portion of expenditures.

"This shows a renewed emphasis by government to support growth in the private sector," said Jadwa.

Last week, King Salman announced a $19-billion stimulus package to support the private sector over the next four years.

"This budget has taken us out of the vicious circle of oil prices going up and down," Jadwa said.

LONDON — After a year of relatively healthy global economic growth, economists are predicting pretty much the same for 2018 — a neither too-hot nor too-cold Goldilocks scenario, but with little sight of the three bears.

The idea is that all is pretty much on track for growth that will be stronger than in 2017. 

Part of this may come from the fact that forecasters generally got it wrong last year, underclubbing this year's economic performance, particularly for the eurozone and Japan.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, saw 2017 global growth at 3.4 per cent with advanced economies advancing 1.8 per cent. It now reckons them at 3.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

It had the eurozone and Japan growing 1.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. It now has them at 2.1 per cent and 1.5 per cent.

"Faster growth is reaching roughly two-thirds of the world's population," the IMF said in a December blog post.

This performance has made some economists optimistic. Nomura is among the more bullish: "Global growth has far more self-reinforcing characteristics at present than at any time over the last 20-30 years."

But Goldilock's bears do have a habit of showing up. There are huge numbers of potential political and economic risks to the status quo. But as in the fairy tale, let us go with just three: central banks, trade, and bubbles.

In the first case, the danger is that there will be a policy mistake, squeezing debtors. The second relates to renewed US protectionism or anger over Chinese exports triggering tit-for-tat, growth-stifling trade barriers.

The third is about sudden market losses that dry up spending and demand.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia appears set to post a lower-than-expected budget deficit this year, as oil revenues rebounded and the kingdom kept public spending in check, official figures showed on Monday.

Faced by a persistent budget shortfall, the world's largest oil exporter has embarked on an ambitious reform programme to curb expenditure and lessen its dependence on crude. 

The kingdom will on Tuesday announce the financial results for 2017 and next year's budget, with experts predicting the Saudi economy has shrunk for the first time since 2009. 

Slightly rosier finance ministry data on Monday put the shortfall for the first nine months of 2017 at $32.4 billion, just 61 per cent of the $52.8 billion deficit projected for the whole year. 

That was thanks to revenues in the first nine months rising to $120 billion, a 23 per cent surge compared to last year, while public spending remained unchanged at $152.4 billion.

The revenue boost was mainly due to a 33per cent jump in oil income to $82 billion as crude prices rebounded to above $60 a barrel thanks to an output cut by major OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

Non-oil income rose six per cent to $38.1 billion, but there was a massive third quarter surge of 80 per cent after the introduction of fees on the dependents of expatriates and duty on cigarettes, power and soft drinks. 

Riyadh's reform programme has already cut fuel and power subsidies as the authorities seek to contain spending.

To further boost income the kingdom plans to introduce a five-per cent value-added tax in the new year.

DUBLIN — The union representing Ireland-based Ryanair pilots said on Sunday it had agreed to talk with the no-frills airline but warned that the meeting could be too late to avert a strike set for Wednesday.

The Irish airline on Friday offered to recognise unions for the first time after pilots in Ireland, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal threatened walkouts, throwing Christmas travel plans into chaos.

On Saturday, the airline said it was prepared to meet representatives from Impact, to which the Irish Airline Pilots' Association  is affiliated, on Tuesday in a bid to avert the strike.

The union responded on Sunday that it would be "happy to do that", but warned against premature hopes of success.

"We indicated to Ryanair that we were happy to meet them on Wednesday, but we would not be in a position to consider suspending the scheduled industrial action until we met them," Impact spokesman Niall Shanahan told Today FM's Neil Delamere. 

"They suggested a meeting on Tuesday evening, and again we are happy to do that, but similarly, we are not in a position to consider the stages of the industrial action until after we've met them because then we are just in a much better position to ensure the substance of the Ryanair offer.

"The earlier we can meet the better," he added, saying the "devil was in the detail" of the deal.

The Dublin-based airline said Friday it would recognise the unions "as long as they establish committees of Ryanair pilots... as Ryanair will not engage with pilots who fly for competitor airlines".

The BALPA union on Saturday said it had accepted Ryanair's offer to represent British-based pilots, but only if the TUC federation of British trade unions was allowed to attend future talks.

Friday's announcement led to Italian pilots' union Anpac and Portuguese union SPAC calling off strike action due to take place next week.

Portuguese pilots were set to strike on Wednesday, while pilots in Germany had voted to take industrial action during the Christmas period.

German union Vereinigung Cockpit said the onus was now on Ryanair to "prove that this announcement is serious".

In Spain, there are no strikes planned for pilots, but ground staff unions have not ruled out action on December 30. 

Next week's industrial action planned for Ireland was backed by 94 per cent of pilots directly employed by Ryanair in the eurozone member.

However, a majority of pilots used by the airline in Ireland are not directly employed by the company.

Ryanair, Europe's second-largest airline by passenger numbers, has been forced to cancel 20,000 flights through to March because of pilot scheduling problems stretching back to September.

Despite the difficulties, Ryanair still expects to deliver annual profit after tax of 1.40 billion-1.45 billion euros ($1.65 billion-1.71 billion).

WASHINGTON — A major tax cut promised by US President Donald Trump was on track for final passage in the few coming days, after two previous holdouts in his Republican Party on Friday said they would vote yes on the legislation.

Republicans in both houses of the US Congress, where they hold majorities, each adopted their own versions of the controversial tax code overhaul since November and were putting the final touches on a bill combining the two plans.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida had imperiled the legislation this week when he said he would not vote in favour of the sweeping bill unless some changes were made.

Rubio had been demanding a doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000. His spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that Rubio had moved to the "yes" camp after he got an increase in the refundable portion of the credit, which will help lower-income families.

Bob Corker of Tennessee, a fiscal conservative who had been the only Senate Republican to vote against the chamber's initial tax proposal, also said he would vote for the bill, despite reservations over the likelihood that the reforms would substantially increase the national debt.

"I know every bill we consider is imperfect and the question becomes is our country better off with or without this piece of legislation," Corker said in a statement. 

"I think we are better off with it. I realise this is a bet on our country's enterprising spirit, and that is a bet I am willing to make."

 Wall Street records 

Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records following the news that Rubio and Corker were on board with the reform, pushing the long-awaited measure closer to the finish line.

An outline of the compromise text that leaked this week saw the federal corporate tax falling from 35 per cent to 21 per cent — a notch up from the 20 per cent in previous versions — and the maximum income tax rate would drop from 39.6 per cent to 37 per cent.

But the final text, which both chambers will likely vote on, has not been released yet by negotiators amid last-minute haggling.

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, and could have only afforded two defectors, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a deciding vote in case of a deadlock. 

As for Democrats, none of them supports the measure.

Trump has promised Americans that the sweeping reform would pass before Christmas, so that it would take effect from the beginning of 2018. 

Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. for $52.4 billion in stock, giving the world's largest entertainment company an arsenal of shows and movies to combat growing digital rivals Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

The deal brings to a close more than half a century of expansion by Murdoch, 86, who turned a single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father at the age of 21 into one of the world's most important global news and film conglomerates. The new, slimmed down Fox, will focus on TV news and sport. 

Shares of Fox, which have surged more than 30 per cent since talk of the deal surfaced in early November, climbed 3.2 per cent in early trading. Disney shares edged slightly higher after the company said it expects to buy up to $20 billion of its own shares to offset dilution from the all-stock deal.

Fox stockholders will receive 0.2745 Disney shares for each share held and will end up owning about a quarter of Disney. 

Under the deal, expected to close in 12 to 18 months, Disney acquires 21st Century Fox's film and television studios, its cable entertainment networks and international TV businesses. 

The Fox deal brings marquee franchises like "Avatar" and "The Simpsons" inside the Mouse House, on top of Iger's previous purchases, including Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and "Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm.

Disney's global footprint also expands with the acquisition of Fox's international satellite assets, including Star TV network in India and a stake in European pay-TV provider Sky Plc . 

The new pipeline of shows and movies will help Disney battle technology companies spending billions of dollars on programming shown online that is siphoning audiences away from traditional TV networks.

"The deal illustrates the huge strategic challenge traditional media companies face and how they need to reinvent their business models to compete with digital, online competitors such as Netflix, Google and Amazon," said Nick Jones, partner and head of technology at Cavendish Corporate Finance. "[It] helps Disney dramatically reduce its reliance on traditional television, a business that has declined over the last two decades."

 'New' Fox 

Immediately before the acquisition, Fox will separate the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, its sports channels FS1, FS2 and the Big Ten Network, into a newly listed company that it will spin off to its shareholders.

"This will be a growth company, centred on live news and sports brands and the strength of the Fox network," 21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Murdoch told investors. He said Fox was not retreating, rather "pivoting at a pivotal moment".

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, 66, will extend his tenure through the end of 2021 to oversee the integration of the Fox businesses. He has already postponed his retirement from Disney three times, saying in March he was committed to leaving the company in July 2019. If Iger sees out his new term, that would rule out a presidential bid in 2020, which had been the subject of some speculation. 

"This gives us the ability to marry the great content of Fox with the great content of Disney, it gives us a much larger international footprint, and it enables us to use cutting-edge technology to reach consumers in far more compelling ways," Iger told ABC's "Good Morning America" programme.

Iger said new technology would be necessary to meet the demands of viewers who want to access content anytime. Direct-to-consumer service is a top company priority, he added.

Disney has been struggling to bolster its TV business as cancellation of cable subscriptions is pressuring its biggest network, sports channel ESPN. 

The company plans to launch its own streaming service in 2019, a calculated gamble that it can generate more profit in the long run from its own subscription service rather than renting out movies to services like Netflix.

It is not clear who will head the new Fox. Iger said current Fox CEO James Murdoch, Rupert's younger son, will help with the transition and that the two will discuss whether he will have a longer-term role at Disney. 

Sky's future

Through Fox's stake in the Hulu video streaming service, Disney would assume majority control of one of Netflix's main competitors. Hulu is also partially owned by Comcast Corp and Time Warner Inc.

It is unclear whether the deal will meet the same resistance in Washington that AT&T Corp's bid to acquire Time Warner Inc has met.

A majority of antitrust experts contacted by Reuters said the deal would likely win approval from US antitrust authorities, although the US Department of Justice may require asset sales or conditions, they said. 

Disney will also assume about $13.7 billion of Fox's net debt in the deal.

Fox also said it remained committed to buying the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own and expects to win regulatory approval from Britain and to close the deal by the end of June, 2018.

Britain's Takeover Panel said Disney had informed the watchdog that should it only buy 39 per cent of the company — if Murdoch fails to buy the rest of Sky — it did not think it should be forced to make a full bid for the company. The statement prompted Sky's stock to fall by 1 per cent.

In Britain, any investor acquiring 30 per cent of a listed company is automatically forced to make a bid for the rest of the stock. The Takeover Panel said it would seek the opinions of Sky's independent directors before making a decision. 

NEW YORK — Wall Street stocks rose early on Wednesday ahead of an expected Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate increase and amid signs Republican congressional leaders were nearing a deal on tax cuts.

The Fed was widely expected to raise the benchmark interest rate and outgoing Fed Chair Janet Yellen was expected to offer clues on the pace future rate hikes at a news conference. Fresh data on Wednesday showed inflation rose above the Fed's target, but that was driven by higher gasoline prices, while other sectors showed signs of weakness.

About 20 minutes into trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 24,558.71, up 0.2 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.2 per cent to 2,669.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 per cent to 6,892.60.

The Dow and S&P 500 closed at records on Tuesday.

Analysts are watching Washington for updates on how congressional Republican leaders are doing in efforts to meld the House and Senate tax cut bills into a final version that President Donald Trump can sign. 

Republicans are expected to accelerate those efforts after Tuesday's upset election victory in Alabama cut into the party's narrow majority in the Senate. Democrat Doug Jones is expected to be seated in early January, giving an impetus for Republicans to get tax bill to Trump before the end of the year.

The Dow's biggest mover was Caterpillar, which jumped 1.8 per cent following an update that showed solid gains in worldwide machine sales in each of the last three months. November sales rose 26 per cent compared with the year-ago period.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia decided on Tuesday to hike energy prices while paying compensation to Saudi families, as the world's top oil exporter seeks new revenue sources.

The cabinet, in a session chaired by King Salman, approved plans to "reform" electricity and fuel charges, as part of measures to counter lower oil prices on the world market, the official news agency SPA reported.

In a first, the government also approved cash transfers to some 3.7 million Saudi families, covering 13 million of the country's 20-million population, to compensate them for the hike.

Expatriates working and living in the kingdom have been excluded from the cash transfer programme which will start next week.

The electricity authority has announced minor price increases from early next year.

The energy ministry said new prices for petrol, diesel and aviation fuel will be applied in the first quarter of 2018, but did not give details on the planned increases.

The hikes are the second wave of Saudi subsidy cuts.

The kingdom, which pumps around 10 million barrels per day of oil, has embarked on a series of reforms and price hikes since oil revenues plummeted in mid-2014.

Saudi Arabia has posted huge deficits in the past three fiscal years, totalling over $200 billion, and has withdrawn another $250 billion from its fiscal reserves.

It has also borrowed tens of billions of dollars from the domestic and international markets to finance the shortfall.

The kingdom plans to introduce VAT, at a rate of 5 per cent, for the first time at the start of 2018.

LONDON — Most Asian and European stock markets rose on Monday, tracking fresh records on Wall Street after forecast-busting US jobs data, as investors eyed this week's upcoming Federal Reserve [Fed] meeting.

Bitcoin continued its stratospheric rise after the virtual money began trading on its first major global exchange over the weekend.

European bourses enjoyed slender gains after a broadly positive Asian session, with London up 0.7 per cent, while Frankfurt added 0.2 per cent and Paris advanced 0.1 per cent in midday deals.

Eyes are now on the Fed's last monetary policy meeting of the year, which winds down on Wednesday.

Most analysts expect the central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to lift interest rates again, but they will be more interested in what boss Janet Yellen has to say about the timetable for future increases.

"The Fed will no doubt provide markets with a central focus this week, where the FOMC are expected to come good on their promise of three rate hikes for 2017," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.

"With market expectations for 2018 somewhat up in the air, there is a feeling that investors are hungry for clues as to where things will stand in 12-months' time."

US data on Friday showed 228,000 jobs were created last month and unemployment held at a 17-year low, reinforcing the view that the world's number one economy is in a healthy state.

The reading — mixed with news of a breakthrough in Brexit talks, strong Chinese indicators and aprogress in US tax reform — helped fire a rally in US equities before the weekend, driving the Dow and S&P 500 to all-time highs.

Adding to the upbeat sentiment was an agreement by US lawmakers to keep funding the government to avert a painful shutdown.

The advance helped staunch a sell-off that has hit global markets for most of this month as traders wound down and took profits before the end of the year.

In Asia on Monday, Tokyo ended 0.6-per cent higher as the Nikkei rose for a third straight day, while Hong Kong surged more than 1 per cent and Shanghai added 1 per cent as Chinese traders brushed off lower than expected inflation figures.

Bitcoin surges 

Bitcoin catapulted past $18,000 on a wave of fresh optimism, despite persistent bubble fears.

The unit remains in focus after ticking off multiple records since the start of December.

Trading of the controversial digital currency on a futures contract began on Sunday on the Chicago board options exchange (Cboe) at a price of $15,000.

The move is a milestone for bitcoin, which has previously only been tradable on unregulated exchanges.

Bitcoin was trading at $17,600 per unit for the futures contract expiring on January 17, exceeding the highest value it had reached on alternative non-regulated internet platforms, and even climbed past $18,000.

"The level of volatility the introduction will have is uncertain," said Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers.