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DAMASCUS — The Syrian government does not expect to import wheat this year because domestic grain supplies will be boosted by heavy rainfall and wider control over farmland, a minister said.

Hassan Safiyeh, the minister of internal trade and consumer protection, also told Reuters that a credit line extended by Iran to its Syrian ally had been unaffected by the collapse in world oil prices and fuel imports continued.

Safiyeh's ministry oversees the provision of heavily subsidised foodstuffs and fuel to Syrians in areas of government control, making it a vital arm of the state in a country about to enter its fifth year of conflict.

The state has lost control of oilfields and wide areas of agricultural land seized by insurgents during the conflict that has devastated the economy.

Sanctioned by the United States and some European governments that say President Bashar Al Assad should leave power, Damascus has received crucial backing from Iran and Russia.

Wide areas of the north and east, where much of Syria's grain is grown and its oil is extracted, have been seized by Daesh terror group.

Safiyeh said the state had won back farmland, and he expected a strong wheat harvest.

"We had acceptable output [last year], but this year output will be abundant, because this year the rains have been excellent, and the farmed lands are much wider. This year, there is no fear for wheat," Safiyeh indicated.

Last year, the government imported wheat from "friendly states", he added. "I expect that if the season is this good and this strong, God willing, in 2015 we will not need to import."

He declined to give any figures for Syria's wheat production or imports, saying these were strategically sensitive.

In the 2010/11 season, around the time the crisis began, Syria's wheat production was estimated at 3.3 — 3.6 million tonnes, according to a US Department of Agriculture report.

The government, operating according to a socialist-inspired economic system, provides staples including sugar, rice, bread and cooking oil at subsidised prices, in additional to fuel.

Bread is sold at about a quarter of what its real cost.

The state in January increased the price of a standard bundle of bread by 40 per cent to 35 lira [15 US cents]. Safiyeh said consumers had been protected from that increase by a 4,000 lira monthly allowance which Assad had ordered paid to state employees and retirees.

"Subsidising bread is a red line for the government," said Safiyeh, a lawyer from the coastal city of Latakia who assumed his post last August. 

When he was sworn in, Assad had told the government to secure the needs of the population "regardless of the circumstances", Safiyeh added.

Iranian credit continues

While the state has lost control large areas of Syria during the conflict estimated to have killed 200,000 people, the bulk of Syrians still live in areas under its control.

The conflict has created more than 3 million refugees and displaced more than 6.5 million within Syria, according to the UN refugee agency. The World Food Programme says it provided food to 3.8 million people in hard-to-reach areas of Syria in 2014.

Having lost control of its oil wells, Syria has been forced to import crude. Iranian support has remained solid, despite the decline in world oil prices which are around half the level they were at last June, said Safiyeh.

"The import of petroleum products did not stop because of the fall in the oil price. It continued, with the Iranian credit line, and continues until now," Safieh added. He did not give numbers.

"There is an Iranian credit line. The truth is there are excellent (credit) facilities, and also Russia stands with us and the BRICs are standing with us in any matters requiring the provision of necessary supplies," he continued. The BRICs nations are Brazil, Russia, India and China.

While the state has lost control of its oil fields, it is producing more than enough gas from fields, said Safiyeh. Syrian gas fields were currently producing the equivalent of 140,000 gas bottles a day, more than consumption of 120,000.

The state in January raised the price of subsidised diesel fuel in what Safiyeh described as an effort to stamp out a black market where it is sold for double or even more.

Explaining shortages, Safiyeh said cold weather and use of power generators had led to a surge in demand. The black market had not entirely been stamped out, he added.

He stressed that "despite four years of global war [against Syria] ... the government was still "ensuring food security". 

DUBAI — Yemen’s foreign exchange reserves have stabilised after a steep fall due to its political turmoil, but ballooning government debt issuance indicates the country may be moving closer to a fiscal crunch, central bank data showed on Friday.

Shiite Muslim Houthi rebels completed a takeover of the capital Sanaa last month while in the south, forces loyal to former president Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi still appear in charge. 

Tribal conflicts and Al Qaeda insurgency are also disrupting Yemen’s oil and gas exports and other parts of the economy.

Gross foreign reserves, which had sunk to $4.65 billion in November from $5.35 billion at the end of 2013, recovered slightly in December to $4.67 billion, equivalent to 4.6 months of the country’s imports, the central bank figures showed.

This suggests that for now at least, Yemen can avoid a collapse of its external payments position. But a sharp rise of domestic borrowing by the government shows it is being forced to borrow heavily from local banks to stay afloat.

The government issued a record 77.2 billion riyals ($359 million) of domestic bonds in December, up 18 per cent from a year earlier, while outstanding treasury bill issuance climbed 9 per cent to 1.55 trillion riyals.

In addition to the political turmoil, the plunge of oil prices has slashed the government’s energy income; the value of oil exports fell to $1.67 billion last year from $2.66 billion in 2013, the central bank data showed.

That makes foreign aid more critical, but the political instability has called aid into question; Saudi Arabia has suspended most of its financial aid to Yemen, worried that the rebels will gain access to it, Yemeni and Western sources said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed in July to provide a $553 million loan to Yemen over the next three years after the government pledged economic reforms, including a cut of about 50 per cent in fuel subsidies and higher tax revenues.

So far, the IMF deal is holding together, officials on both sides told Reuters.

An official in Yemen’s planning ministry, declining to be named, said the IMF had not made any decision to suspend the loan, and that the future of the deal would depend on a solution to the political crisis.

A senior IMF official said his organisation was maintaining regular contacts with Yemeni officials and continuing to provide them with technical analysis.

“What I’m in a way pleasantly surprised by is that despite all this, at the working level, at the policy level, even the ministers are continuing to engage on the policy discussion, on the agenda,” the IMF official said.

“I could have imagined everything would come to a halt right now. And yet they’re very keen to keep at it. And also, they keep saying that they’re pursuing the things they committed to do, so they would like the IMF-supported programme to continue. So I hope that will be the case,” he added.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Saturday began a broad sales pitch to the US public about the merits of free trade deals, an area in which he faces stiff resistance from many in his own Democratic party.

Obama has said he wants to work with Congressional Republicans to finalise the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, an agreement that would stretch from Japan to Chile, covering 40 per cent of the world economy.

“I’m the first to admit that past trade deals haven’t always lived up to the hype,” Obama said in his weekly address. “But that doesn’t mean we should close ourselves off from new opportunities.”

The first step in working with other nations to finalise the TPP deal is to pass “fast track” legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through Congress.

Polling data from the Pew Research Centre shows Americans from both parties are skeptical about trade. Only one in five Americans think trade creates jobs, and only 17 per cent believe trade leads to higher wages.

Congressional Republicans have been supportive of trade deals. Senator Orrin Hatch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has said he hopes to introduce a “fast track” bill in February.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement that Obama needed to “continue what must be a sustained effort to move his own party forward” on working on trade legislation.

Labour and environmental groups allied with Democrats have been pushing hard against the idea. Even among the Obama-friendly crowd at the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, several people wore “Stop Fast Track” stickers.

Obama said fast track authority would protect workers and promote businesses, noting that exporting companies pay higher wages.

He cast it as a way to push back against the exporting powerhouse of China.

“As we speak, China is trying to write the rules for trade in the 21st century,” Obama said. “We can’t let that happen. We should write those rules.”

Separately, US Senator Bernie Sanders lashed out last week at widespread use of offshore tax havens by US companies, and the liberal independent targeted a group that represents chief executive officers (CEOs) of big corporations and wants corporate taxes lowered.

Sanders, top opposition member on the US Senate Budget Committee, released a report decrying what he called “legalised tax fraud”. It showed that 111 of the 201 member companies of the Business Roundtable are sheltering more than $1 trillion in profits overseas, where they are not subject to US taxes.

Using the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and other tax havens, these companies have saved more than $280 billion in tax liabilities, Sanders concluded in the report.

Sanders noted that Business Roundtable companies account for roughly half of an estimated $2 trillion in profits held overseas by US companies under a loophole that lets them defer taxation on profits from overseas subsidiaries.

The “last thing” Congress should do is provide more tax breaks to such profitable businesses, Sanders said.

“Instead of sheltering profits in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens, the largest corporations in this country must pay their fair share of taxes so that our country has the revenue we need to rebuild America and reduce the deficit,” Sanders added in a statement.

Many business groups have sought a “repatriation holiday” that would allow them to bring home overseas profits at a reduced tax rate.

The senator’s report relies heavily on data compiled in June 2014 by Citizens for Tax Justice, a left-leaning activist group, and US Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group that says it “stands up to powerful special interests”.

The report said the data come from Securities and Exchange Commission filings compared with offshore subsidiaries listed in a 2008 Government Accountability Office report on tax havens.

Among Business Roundtable members listed in the report with large amounts of profits held abroad were General Electric Co.  with $110 billion, Pfizer Inc. with $69 billion and IBM Corp. with $52.3 billion.

A spokeswoman for the Business Roundtable said the group was studying the report and could not immediately comment on it.

ATHENS — Greece's radical government on Wednesday offered debt forgiveness to thousands of individuals and companies that owe the state money, hoping to secure a fraction of arrears.

Junior finance minister, Nadia Valavani, said debtors offering to pay a minimum of 200 euros upfront could see a haircut of up to 50 per cent on the rest of their debt.

Valavani told a news conference that debts to the Greek state had ballooned to 76 billion euros ($86 billion) in unpaid taxes and social insurance contributions.

But realistically, just 9 billion euros from that total can be recovered, she added.

"The money that can be demanded and recovered is just nine billion euros, or just 11.6 per cent of the total," Valavani said.

Greece's own debt to private bondholders and the three institutions supporting the country financially since 2010 — the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank — is around 320 billion euros.

Valavani said the radical left Syriza government that came to power last month needs money for its plans to help thousands of Greeks left destitute by the economic crisis and austerity cuts.

"Without income, the required social policy cannot be promoted," she said.

The government has pledged to spend 2 billion euros on immediate poverty relief, and is in critical talks this week with the EU for temporary loan assistance.

Greece's creditors had already raised objections to debt relief measures submitted by the conservative government that was in power before January's elections.

They have since warned the new government to refrain from unilateral acts that run contrary to the strict fiscal revenue terms of the country's multibillion-euro bailout.

But Valavani on Wednesday insisted the debt breaks were cost-neutral, as the state was earning hardly any money from the current debtor framework.

"We are helping people by allowing them to pay at least 20 euros a month. The result can only be positive," she said.

Until now, the minister said, the state chased down impoverished debtors owing a few hundred euros and turned a blind eye to others owing millions.

"This behaviour will now be reversed," she said.

"Those who have debts of 200-300 euros will have them erased... . We are setting our sights on larger debts," Valavani added.

ATHENS/BRUSSELS — Greece formally requested a six-month extension to its eurozone loan agreement on Thursday, offering major concessions as it raced to avoid running out of cash within weeks and overcome resistance from sceptical partners led by Germany.

With its European Union (EU) /International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme due to expire in little more than a week, the government of leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urgently needs to secure a financial lifeline to keep the country afloat beyond late March.

Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Friday afternoon in Brussels to consider the request, the chairman of their Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said in a tweet.

That raised hopes of a deal to avert possible bankruptcy and a Greek exit from the 19-nation currency area.

A government official told Reuters that Athens had asked for an extension to its "Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement" with the eurozone. However, he insisted the government was proposing different terms from its current bailout obligations.

Greece had committed to maintain fiscal balance during the interim period, take immediate reforms to fight tax evasion and corruption, and measures to deal with what Athens calls its "humanitarian crisis" and kick-start economic growth, he said.

In the document seen by Reuters, Greece pledged to meet its financial obligations to all creditors, recognise the existing EU/IMF programme as the legally binding framework and refrain from unilateral action that would undermine the fiscal targets.

Crucially, it accepted that the extension would be monitored by the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF, a climbdown by Tsipras who had vowed to end cooperation with "troika" inspectors accused of inflicting deep economic and social damage on Greece.

The six month interim period would be used to negotiate a long-term deal for recovery and growth incorporating further debt relief measures promised by the Eurogroup in 2012.

Eurozone partners have so far insisted that Athens must comply with the terms of the current bailout, which require it to run a 3 per cent primary budget surplus this year, before debt service payments.

Senior eurozone officials were due to hold a teleconference later on Thursday to discuss the Greek application.

The wording chosen could help to satisfy at least some of the concerns that have held up agreement over the past two weeks, allowing Athens to avoid saying it is extending the current programme that it opposes while creditors can avoid accepting a "loan agreement" without strings attached.

Crucial details remain to be clarified on the fiscal targets, labour market reforms, privatisations and other measures due to be implemented under the existing programme.

Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis dismissed a German newspaper report that Athens was under pressure to impose capital controls on Greeks pulling their money out of local banks, telling Reuters that such a scenario "had no bearing on reality".

An ECB spokeswoman also denied the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung report, saying there had been no discussion of capital controls at a meeting of the central bank's Governing Council on Wednesday, which slightly raised the limit on emergency lending to Greek banks.

Greek stocks rose on Thursday's developments, with the benchmark Athens stock index up 2 per cent while banks gained 9 per cent.

"We are doing everything to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Our aim is to conclude this agreement soon," Sakellaridis told Skai TV earlier on Thursday. "We are trying to find common points."

German compromise? 

EU paymaster Germany and fellow eurozone governments have so far insisted no loan deal without the full bailout conditions is on the table. Tsipras promised to ditch austerity measures imposed by the lenders when he was elected last month.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has poured scorn on suggestions that Athens could negotiate an extension of eurozone funding without making any promises to push on with budget cuts and economic reforms.

But on Wednesday he remarked that there may be some possibility of a compromise. "Our room for manoeuvre is limited," he said during a debate in Berlin, adding: "We must keep in mind that we have a huge responsibility to keep Europe stable."

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis expressed confidence on Wednesday that eurozone finance ministers would approve the Athens government's proposal on Friday. 

"The application will be written in such a way so that it will satisfy both the Greek side and the president of the Eurogroup," he said.

Greece's finances are in peril. It is burning through its cash reserves and could run out of money by the end of March without fresh funds, a person familiar with the figures said.

Likewise, its banks are dependent on the emergency funding controlled by the ECB in order to pay out depositors who have been withdrawing their cash. 

The ECB agreed on Wednesday to raise a cap on funding available under its Emergency Liquidity Assistance scheme to 68.3 billion euros ($78 billion), a person familiar with the ECB talks said.

That was a rise of just 3.3 billion euros, less than Greece had requested. The modest increase raises the pressure for a compromise at the Eurogroup. 

One senior banker said it would be enough to keep Greek banks afloat only for another week if present outflow trends persist.

Eurozone finance ministers rejected Greek proposals to avoid the bailout conditions at a meeting on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear on Wednesday that Athens would have to give as well as take in negotiations.

"If countries are in trouble, we show solidarity," she said in a speech to conservative supporters, naming Greece and other eurozone countries that had to take bailouts during the debt crisis. 

But she added, "Solidarity is not a one-way street. Solidarity and efforts by the countries themselves are two sides of the same coin. And this won't change".

LOS ANGELES — Two US Cabinet secretaries joined congressional leaders, three governors and a big-city mayor on Wednesday in pushing shipping lines and the dockworkers' union to settle a contract dispute that has led to months of turmoil and cargo backups at 29 West Coast ports.

Labour Secretary Tom Perez and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker weighed in as emissaries of President Barack Obama, who has come under rising political pressure to intervene in a conflict that has reverberated through the trans-pacific commercial supply chain and could, by some estimates, cost the US economy billions of dollars.

Worsening cargo congestion that the union and shippers blame on each other has slowed freight traffic since October at the ports, which handle nearly half of all US maritime trade and more than 70 per cent of the country's imports from Asia.

More recently, the shipping companies have sharply curtailed operations at the terminals, suspending the loading and unloading of cargo vessels for night shifts, holidays and weekends at the five busiest ports.

Work has continued around the clock in the dockyards, rail yards and terminal gates for most of the ports. Some smaller ports remained open to nighttime vessel operations as well.

The union and shipping companies each accuse the other side of instigating the disruptions to gain leverage in contract negotiations that have dragged on for nine months, appearing to hit a roadblock in the last two weeks.

Arbitration cited in snagged talks

The bargaining agent for the shippers and terminal operators, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), has said talks hit a snag over a union demand for changes in the system of binding arbitration of contract disputes.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing 20,000 dockworkers, has insisted that an accord was near in the negotiations, which a federal mediator was assigned to oversee last month.

Perez joined the San Francisco talks for the first time on Tuesday, according to his spokeswoman, Xochitl Hinojosa, urging the parties to "come to an immediate agreement to prevent further damage to our economy".

He was joined for another round of talks on Wednesday, she said, by Pritzker and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose city encompasses the nation's busiest cargo port and lies adjacent to the No. 2 cargo hub at Long Beach.

Sources familiar with the situation said Perez huddled with each party separately, then briefly together on Tuesday, and met with both sides again on Wednesday as negotiations and "sidebars" stretched into the evening.

Meanwhile, the governors of the three West Coast states, California, Oregon and Washington, all Democrats, issued a statement on Wednesday welcoming Perez' involvement and calling for a quick resolution to the dispute.

Separately, eight congressional Republicans who chair House or Senate panels with jurisdiction over transportation and labour sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday urging him to take further  unspecified action if a settlement is not reached by March 2, two months from the date the federal mediator was appointed.

A Senate Commerce Committee spokeswoman, Lauren Hammond, said the letter's reference to "exercising additional leadership to resolve the situation" could be interpreted to mean invoking the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.

Under that law, a president can seek a federal court order compelling the end to a work stoppage in a labour dispute if it poses a national emergency. But labour law experts have said it would be difficult to make such a case to a judge under current circumstances.

The union and the PMA have declined public comment since a federal mediator called for a news blackout last Friday.

The last time contract talks led to a full shutdown of the West Coast ports was in 2002, when the companies imposed a lockout that was lifted 10 days later under a court order sought by president George W. Bush under Taft-Hartley.

The labour dispute is disrupting supply chains across the Pacific, forcing some Asian exporters to resort to costly airfreight and pushing up shipping rates as more freighters are caught up in long lines to dock.

Japan's Honda Motor Co. said on Sunday it would slow production for a week at plants in Ohio, Indiana and Ontario, Canada, as parts it ships from Asia have been held up by the dispute, affecting models including the Civic, CR-V and Accord.

"We do not have a sufficient supply of several critical parts to keep the production lines running smoothly and efficiently," spokesman Mark Morrison said.

Honda and other carmakers have already started using airfreighters to transport some crucial parts from Asia to their US factories.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., maker of Subaru cars, said it would continue flying parts to its US factory beyond an initial arrangement through the end of February, which it previously said would cost an extra 7 billion yen ($59 million) a month.

Toyota Motor Corp., which built about 2 million vehicles in North America last year, said it has reduced overtime at some factories as a result, while Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. said it had been slightly affected.

Rates rising 

With dozens of ships caught up in lines for miles, many for more than a week, the rates to charter container ships have begun to climb.

"There's a lot of delays, and this is pushing up panamax [container] rates as fewer ships are available for new orders," a leading Singapore-based broker said.

A Shanghai index for US West Coast (USWC) freight rates rose 23 points last week to 2,265, and brokers said quotes had risen a further five points on Monday.

The dispute is also affecting volumes. Singapore-listed Neptune Orient Lines' container shipping unit  reported an 8 per cent decline in the fourth quarter, partly because of fewer trans-pacific sailings as a result of the congestion.

Roberto Giannetta, secretary of the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, said the effects were being felt across the industry, as shippers looked for ways around the delays.

"All shipping lines are affected, and all shipping lines are making alternative arrangements one way or another, by... reallocating assets to the trans-pacific or redirecting cargo via the East Coast," he indicated.

Even if the dispute is resolved, there could be long-term consequences for the ports and the communities that depend on them.

"Trust in West Coast ports is at an all-time low, and the perception of supply chain risk is at an all-time high," said Peter Tirschwell, chief maritime analyst at the JOC Group, a supplier of US seaborne trade data. "We are entering another period of fundamental supply chain re-evaluation that is already leading some shippers to permanently abandon the West Coast."

For airfreighters, however, the crisis is an opportunity.

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.  reported on Monday that combined cargo and mail traffic figures for Cathay Pacific and its Dragonair subsidiary rose 12.5 per cent in January, outpacing a 2.7 per cent increase in passenger numbers, thanks to increased North American traffic.

"We saw a pickup in demand as January progressed, and by the end of the month we were operating close to a full freighter schedule," said Mark Sutch, its cargo sales and marketing manager.

AMMAN — Oxford Business Group (OBG) announced Wednesday in a press statement that Jordan’s efforts to enhance its investment environment through new legislation will be given wide-ranging coverage in a forthcoming report.

"The Report: Jordan 2015 will look in detail at the kingdom’s newly-implemented investment law which should support the kingdom’s drive to attract foreign investment," the press release said.

"The publication will also consider the key role earmarked for the recently-established Jordan Investment Commission (JIC), which is expected to be instrumental in boosting and facilitating foreign direct investment inflows by bringing several organisations involved in attracting capital inflows under one roof,"  it added.

JIC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on research with OBG for its forthcoming report on the Kingdom’s economy. Under the MoU, the JIC will collaborate with OBG as the official research partner for Jordan: The Report 2015.

OBG’s managing director for the Middle East, Jana Treeck, said that despite a challenging regional backdrop, Jordan’s reputation as a haven of stability, combined with its commitment to reform, sends a strong signal to foreign investors that the country remained open for business.

AMMAN — The Business Development Centre (BDC) announced on Wednesday in a press statement that a memorandum of understanding was signed this week between BDC and the Prince’s Trust International in order to implement the “Get Into” pilot programme that aims at addressing the skills and experience gaps, which prevents unemployed young people from entering the job market, with a focus on community college students.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, announced the launch of the “Prince’s Trust Get Into Programme” in Jordan that will be implemented by the Prince’s Trust International in partnership with BDC, King Abdullah II Fund for Development and Injaz, where youth will receive intensive training on employability skills and hands on field experience in the private sector.

Peter Millett, British Ambassador to Jordan, re-iterated the commitment of the UKAid and Prince Charles’ Trust in supporting skills for employability and entrepreneurship training programmes in Jordan. 

AMMAN – Arab banks should extend a wider share of their credit facilities  to small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to their role in improving socio-economic development, banking experts said Wednesday. 

Speaking at the Arab Banking Forum, they stressed the importance of finance diversification to cover economic and social sustainable development schemes.

The forum, organised by the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) in cooperation with the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ) and the World Union of Arab Bankers, focused on the precautionary measures and good practices in crisis management.

CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz acknowledged  that Arab central banks are "aware of the importance of increasing credits to SMEs due to their role in capital investment, providing work opportunities and contributing to the overall economic growth". 

He said that world economic and financial crises and political unrest pose huge challenges on the Arab banking industry, adding that impediments should be addressed through enhancing the capabilities of banks to deal with risks and shocks.

Fariz added that CBJ established a financial stability department in 2013 to draw up monetary policies in order to maintain financial stability in the Kingdom. 

In addition, the bank formed a committee last year to draw up a comprehensive and effective plan to manage banking crises, which aims to prevent the impact of any financial crisis on the national economy, according to the CBJ governor. 

Noting that the bank's risk management instructions are in line with the principles of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the governor said the CBJ continues to ensure the effectiveness in improving the financial institutions' crisis management and governance skills.

 ABJ Chairman Basim Salem noted that the global financial downturn has exposed organisational shortcomings in the world financial system, indicating that the CBJ along with other Arab central banks have took a series of measures to cope with the developments on international practices governing risk management.

UAB Secretary General Wissam Fattouh descibed the performance of the Arab banking sector in 2014 as "distinctive" compared to 2013, pointing out that the Arab banks' assets grew up by 10 per cent last year, reaching $3.1 trillion. 

He indicated  that customers' deposits in Arab banks stood at $2 trillion in 2014, while facilities provided to different economic activities amounted to $1.7 trillion, nearly 60 per cent of the Arab gross domestic product. 

On the other hand, Fattouh said the lack of economic and political will in some Arab countries, especially in relation to financing SMEs and combating unemployment is a major concern.

"The share of finacing for SMEs does not exceed 10 per cent of the total facilities provided by the Arab banking institutions," he said.

LONDON — The oil sector is restructuring after the collapse of oil prices and opportunities may emerge for larger players wishing to snap up distressed companies and expand into crisis-hit producer countries, according to key industry players.

An oversupply of oil in the market, caused by the boom in crude extracted from US shale rock, has contributed heavily to crude prices crashing 60 per cent in value in the six months to January.

In response, the oil sector has begun to reorganise, as it has done every ten years on average. Big oil companies have begun to slash capital spending for the coming year. French multinational Total recently revealed a 30 per cent cut in its exploration budget.

But the current environment still provides a chance for them to possibly buy smaller struggling rivals at bargain prices, suggested participants at the recent International Petroleum Week in London.

'Vultures gathering' 

In the United States, small producers have been hit particularly hard.

"There is an enormous [cash] liquidity squeeze in the US as we speak and it will come to a crescendo in the middle of this year," indicated Anthony Hayward, chief executive of Anglo-Turkish producer Genel Energy.

This will mean "a lot of distress" among small operators in US shale, but will create growth opportunities for those with capital and capacity, said Hayward. "The vultures are gathering." 

Opportunities are also emerging globally, including in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) producers Iraq and Venezuela, which will need funding to bridge the shortfall in their revenues from collapsing oil prices.

"For the major companies, this is now a great time of opportunities, those who are brave will seize the moment and will be able to acquire very good assets at knocked down prices," Hayward added.

Norwegian oil major Statoil also sees the drop in oil as a source of opportunity, particularly on the trading side.

"I think it is challenging for an upstream company like Statoil to cope with these changes," said Rune Bjornson, senior vice president at the company.

"But at the same time, especially on the market and trading side which is becoming more and more important, it gives the market new opportunities," he added.

For Ian Taylor, head of oil trading giant Vitol, the oil sector may be overlooking the demand side of the story.

"We had an incredible year of growth last year, a two million barrel per day (bpd) of non-OPEC increase in production... and we are all forecasting we are going to get another million barrels per day of growth this year," Taylor said.

"However the real story that we are not talking about very much in the industry is the other side of the equation: demand," he added.

Taylor is unsure whether demand will rise to meet soaring production levels. He was not convinced by analysts' predictions of growth in demand by a million bpd or more this year, after forecasts for 2014 proved too high.

"We are all trying to work out when the US production is going to slow down," he said.