Business

CAIRO — Egypt targets a 5 per cent economic growth in the year to June 2018, the finance ministry said on Sunday as the government seeks to revive an economy battered by political turmoil.

Egyptian authorities have battled high unemployment, inflation and a collapse in tourism income since the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who led the 2013 military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first elected civilian president, vowed to get the economy back on track after his election the following year.

In a statement Sunday, the finance ministry said it aimed to "raise growth for 2017/2018 to 5 per cent" and to create "real, productive jobs that help lower unemployment to 11 per cent and raise citizens' incomes”.

Consumers have been hit by surging price hikes since November when Cairo floated its currency and slashed fuel subsidies as part of an economic reform package linked to a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

The Egyptian pound had been pegged at 8.83 to the dollar, but has since weakened to more than 19 pounds to the dollar.

Egypt's inflation rate jumped to 19.4 per cent in November from 13.6 per cent the previous month, according to the central bank.

Despite its woes, the government has projected 5.2 per cent GDP growth in the year to June 2017.

Economic output grew 4.3 per cent in the year to June 2016, the ministry of planning said in November.

The finance ministry hopes to bring unemployment — which officially stood at 12.6 per cent from July to September — down to 11 per cent in the year to June 2018.

The ministry said it also wants to cut its budget deficit to 9.5 per cent of the GDP in the year to June 2018, down from 12.2 per cent the previous year.

It said it hopes to cut public debt to 94 per cent of the GDP in the year to June 2018, with a medium-term target of 80 per cent.

"The government will continue to implement a structural reforms package to support productive sectors especially industry and exports, while attracting investments," the ministry said.

It said it would press ahead with implementing a value-added tax and "policies to rationalise spending”.

Neanwhile, Sisi on Saturday said that the military's economic activity accounted for no more than 2 per cent of the country's output, dismissing suggestions that the military could control as much as half of the economy.

Speaking at an event celebrating the expansion of a military-owned company, Sisi said the military made up 1.5-2 per cent of economic output which he said was 3-4 trillion Egyptian pounds ($160 billion-$213 billion).

That would put the military's share of economic activity at between $2.39 billion and $4.26 billion.

"It has been said that the military's economy is worth 20 or even 50 per cent of the economy. I wish. We have nothing to hide; the military accounts for between 1.5 and 2 per cent of the economy," Sisi said, adding that the military paid taxes on all projects and that they were subject to regulations and auditing.

"We would love for it to be 50 per cent."

Sisi, a former general who took office in 2014, has promised to revive the economy, which has struggled since a 2011 uprising scared away investors and tourists, Egypt's main sources of foreign currency.

He has called in the military to assist in major infrastructure projects and with distribution of subsidised commodities to keep a lid on rising prices amid an acute shortage of dollars.

The economic weight of the military, which produces everything from bottled water to macaroni, has long been a topic of speculation in Egypt but official comment on the scope of its economic activities is rare.

LONDON — Britain’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, revised official data showed Friday, indicating no impact yet from the nation’s looming exit from the European Union.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.6 per cent in the three months to the end of September, up from the previous estimate of 0.5 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Activity was greater than expected due to upward revisions on the output of the business services and finance industries, it added.

“Robust consumer demand continued to help the UK economy grow steadily in the third quarter of 2016,” noted Darren Morgan, the head of the GDP at the ONS.

“Growth was slightly stronger than first thought, though, due to greater output in the financial sector.

“New figures on services also suggest that growth in that predominant sector of the economy continued into October, helped in large part by another strong showing from the retailers.”

The ONS, meanwhile, revised down its growth estimates for the first and second quarters by 0.1 percentage points, to 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.

“The fundamentals of the UK economy are strong, but there remain challenges ahead,” a treasury spokesman said.

Economists point to an economy intact since the June 23 referendum in favour of Britain leaving the EU — but some also warn of looming trouble.

“The latest set of UK national accounts leave the economy looking even stronger after the referendum than previously estimated,” said economist Ruth Gregory at research consultancy Capital Economics.

AMMAN — Investors’ confidence decreased to 87.31 in September from 91.4 points in August, according to the monthly — published Jordan Investor Confidence Index. The index, published by the Jordan Strategy Forum, seeks to measure investors’ confidence, relying on three factors, in particular.

These are the strength of the Jordanian dinar and the monetary system, confidence in the real economy, and confidence in the Amman Stock Exchange.

Confidence in the monetary system fell by 0.75 points to 89.60 despite a minor increase in Central Bank of Jordan’s foreign reserves which reached JD 11,838 million in September 2016. Moreover, the number of registered companies decreased to 685 in September from 785 companies in the previous month.

This was accompanied by a decrease in the capital of these registered companies to JD 5.6 million in September from JD13.9 million in August, according to a statement of the forum. 

WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday put a division of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba back on a blacklist of "notorious markets" known for selling counterfeit goods and violating intellectual property rights.

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which removed Alibaba from its annual list four years ago, included the company's online platform Taobao in its latest release, saying it is not doing enough to curb sales of fake and pirated goods.

"The Taobao.com e-commerce platform is an important concern due to the large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available and the challenges right holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods," the agency said.

Although inclusion on the blacklist carries no penalties, it deals a blow to Alibaba's reputation after the company has struggled to improve its image and boost international sales.

China's largest online retailer said it is "disappointed" by the decision, saying it has improved policing of the goods for sale on its platforms.

"In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015," Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said in a statement. "The decision ignores the real work Alibaba has done to protect IP rights holders and assist law enforcement to bring counterfeiters to justice."

He suggested the "current political climate" in the United States may have more to do with USTR's decision.

In response to a question about the decision during regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she hoped that trade difficulties with the US can be solved "in a proper way through friendly consultations".

"The two countries should provide a fair and impartial trade environment for the activities of each other's companies," she added.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing intellectual property, part of what he calls the country's economic war against the United States.

Alibaba and its Taobao site have long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods.

Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition watchdog in May.

AMMAN — Six Jordanian companies have so far completed the procedures deemed necessary to start exporting their products to the European market under the Jordanian-EU agreement on simplified rules of origin, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah said on Monday, urging Jordanian businessmen to work further to maximise their benefit from the deal. 

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Jordan Europe Business Association (JEBA), he explained that the government has taken steps to assist the industrial sector, encouraging Syrian refugees to work at the developmental and industrial estates, covered by the deal, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Under the deal, Syrian refugees have been exempted from work permit fees and they will continue to have a refugee-status and receive aid from the UNHCR in the event of working in accordance with the law. 

The deal seeks to provide more job opportunities for Jordanians through the expansion of industrial projects and drawing new investments, the minister said, pointing out that only 15 per cent of factories’ workforce should be Syrians.

As more local products enter the European market, more jobs will be created, he reiterated, addressing the attendees.  

When the total number of Syrians with work permits reaches 200,000, all industrial estates will be able to benefit from the EU deal under the “relaxed” rules of origin.

In cooperation with concerned bodies, the industry and trade ministry has drawn up a plan to promote the local products that are meant to be exported to the European markets, Qudah noted.

At a meeting for Jordanian businessmen with their EU counterparts, scheduled for January 25, industrialists will have a chance to meet with importers and discuss deals, he said, calling again on Jordanian industrialists to benefit from the Jordanian-EU agreement. 

During the meeting, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Shamali briefed the attendees on the agreement.

The Kingdom’s exports to the EU totalled JD144 million in 2002 and rose to JD206 million in 2014, but dropped to JD123 million in 2015, while its imports from the EU rose to JD3.1 billion in 2015 from JD1 billion in 2002, according to Petra. 

According to JEBA President Jamal Fariz, who attended the meeting, the exporting process to the EU can still be improved.  

However, failure to promote local products as much as needed, in addition to excluding agricultural and food products from the deal, will pose challenges for the private sector when exporting to Europe, he noted.

RIYADH — A senior Saudi cleric and a health ministry official said women should be allowed to work as paramedics and opticians, Saudi newspapers reported on Monday, part of a push to relax strict labour codes in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The government announced an economic reform plan in June that aims to increase the number of women as a proportion of the workforce to 28 per cent from 23 per cent by 2020, and to quadruple the number of women in senior civil service roles to 5 per cent.

Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are forbidden to drive, making it harder for them to get to work. Regulations also bar them from certain professions, while rules on gender mixing in shops and businesses further limit job opportunities.

"It's fine [for a woman] to work as a paramedic, provided she's decent and in the lawful attire," a senior member of the state-appointed body of clerics, the Ulama, Sheikh Abdullah Al Manea told the Okaz daily.

Women are already allowed to work as doctors and have volunteered as medics in Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage for the past few years, with similar requirements for modest dress.

Mohammad Bajbair, a senior health official in the Red Sea commercial hub of Jeddah, told the Saudi Gazette that women could work in opticians' shops as long as they do not mix with men.

"If a complaint is received by the health affairs department about the mixed environment then the shop might be closed down," said Bajbair.

Out of 144 nations, only Iran, Yemen and Syria place lower than Saudi Arabia in a gender equality ranking compiled by the World Economic Forum.

Saudi Arabia's economic plan envisages weaning the economy off its high dependence on oil and increasing the range of jobs available to citizens.

It does not specifically mandate more open social mores in Saudi Arabia, the land where Islam was born, but it challenges decades of ultra-conservative practice by seeking to open theme parks and cinemas to boost the entertainment sector.

The plan provided few concrete details on how to boost female employment but said the government aims to spend 2.78 billion riyals ($741.19 million) to improve transport options for working women.

The government's newly refashioned sovereign wealth fund has also invested $3.5 billion in US ride-hailing service Uber, a popular tool for transportation among Saudi women. 

AMMAN —The Arab Potash Company (APC) and Sinochem Group signed an agreement on Sunday to regulate exporting potash to China for three years, from 2017 through 2019. 

Prime Minister Hani Mulki who attended the signing ceremony expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached, which comes in follow up of a previous one on potash supply, signed in China in 2013, in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

APC Chairman Jamal Sarayrah said the company has fostered its ties with Chinese partners, noting that APC has clinched several deals to improve the Jordanian potash share in the Chinese market. Since 2013, the company’s annual potash exports to China have doubled from around 300,000 tonnes ten years ago to around 600,000 tonnes, he indicated. 

Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang said his country is committed to increasing its cooperation with the Kingdom, mainly in railway and renewable energy projects.

APC produces 2.35 million tonnes of potash annually, which makes it the eighth largest potash producer worldwide in terms of its production volume. More than 90 per cent of its products are exported to more than 30 countries, spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, according to APC’s website.

SINGAPORE/BEIJING — Iraq is selling more crude oil to its biggest customer, China's Unipec, people familiar with the matter say, digging a deeper foothold in the global supply market just before production cuts agreed with OPEC and other producers are scheduled to kick in.

With new deals with Indian and US refiners also coming on stream, the expanded contract with the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec means Baghdad will have to reduce supply to other clients to honour its commitment to cut output by 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 2017.

Three people with knowledge of the matter said the Unipec contract was signed just before the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Iraq is a member, agreed with other producers led by Russia to cut output by as much as 1.8 million bpd in an effort to reduce a global fuel supply overhang and prop up prices.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media, the people said Iraq's Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) has boosted Basra crude forward export sales to Unipec by 3 per cent to a total of 40 million-60 million barrels each quarter — 435,000-652,000 bpd -—for 2017.

"If Iraq increases its sales to China while others have to cut back or just hold their volumes steady, Iraq will inevitably gain market share in what is arguably the most important oil market," said a trader who specialises in sending crude to China but is not allowed to speak publicly.

Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest producer behind Saudi Arabia and now ranks third among crude suppliers to China — after Russia and Saudi Arabia — having recorded a 15 per cent year-on-year jump to about 723,000 bpd between January and October.

As part of the expanded Chinese deal, one of the people said, Unipec is expected to load 2 million barrels of Basra Heavy crude every quarter.

"Basra is now an established grade with stable quality and reliable supplies," said another trader, who buys Iraqi crude but isn't authorised to speak to the media.

Unipec said it doesn't comment on specific deals.

SOMO will also supply Basra Heavy crude under new term contracts to Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp. and Indian refiner Essar Oil for 2017, according to a person close to the matter and a preliminary January loading schedule for the oil.

The contracts contribute to an expected jump in Basra exports to 3.53 million bpd in January 2017, the highest volume since June, the loading schedule showed.

SOMO did not reply to an e-mail from Reuters seeking comment. Exxon and Chevron said they don't comment on operational matters, and Essar declined to comment.

In India, crude imports from Iraq rose 24 per cent in the first 10 months this year to 784,000 bpd, making Iraq the second-largest crude supplier after Saudi Arabia.

Iraqi crude exports to the United States have more than doubled in the first nine months of 2016 from the same period a year ago to nearly 350,000 bpd as Venezuelan supplies declined, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of State for Investment Affairs Jawad Anani and Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) President Hamdi Tabbaa examined on Saturday ways to boost the country’s economic cooperation with Oman, according to a JBA statement.

At a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of Oman Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al Said in Muscat, the two sides called for further joint investment projects and commercial exchange.

The meeting was held on the sideline of the participation of a Jordanian delegation in the 5th Arab-Indian Partnership Conference that was held in Muscat in the presence of around 350 Arab and Indian businessmen, in addition to many officials and ambassadors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Tabbaa, who is also president of the Federation of Arab Businessmen, headed the Jordanian delegation of business people to the conference. At the opening session, Tabbaa underscored the current  importance of India as a major investor in the Arab region as well as a commercial partner. 

Yahoo Inc. shares fell almost 5 per cent on Thursday after the technology company disclosed a second massive data breach that raised fears Verizon might kill a deal to buy its core Internet business.

Silicon Valley-based Yahoo said late on Wednesday that it had uncovered a 2013 cyber attack that compromised data of more than 1 billion user accounts, the largest breach in history.

That followed Yahoo's disclosure in September of a separate breach that affected over 500 million accounts, which the company said it believed was launched by different hackers.

Yahoo shares were down 4.8 per cent at $38.93 in midday trade as the latest revelation cast new doubt on whether Verizon Communications Inc. would proceed with a $4.83 billion agreement to buy Yahoo's core Internet business, struck in July.

Verizon is now seeking to persuade Yahoo to amend the terms of the acquisition agreement to reflect the economic impact of the data breaches, according to people familiar with the matter.

The telecommunications giant has threatened to go to court to get out of the deal, citing a material adverse effect if the deal does not reprice, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.

Verizon had already said in October it was reviewing the deal after September's breach disclosure. Late on Wednesday, it publicly said it would "review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions" about whether to proceed.

The company declined to comment beyond that statement on Thursday.

Verizon shares rose 0.6 per cent to $51.95, in line with the performance of the S&P 500 Index.

The latest breach attack has drawn widespread criticism of Yahoo from security experts, several of whom have advised consumers to close their Yahoo accounts.

"Yahoo has fallen down on security in so many ways I have to recommend that if you have an active Yahoo e-mail account, either direct with Yahoo of via a partner like AT&T, get rid of it," Stu Sjouwerman, chief executive of cyber security firm KnowBe4 Inc., said in a broadly distributed e-mail.