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KUWAIT CITY — The Kuwaiti government agreed to compensate citizens for hiking petrol prices in a plan to “partially liberalise” the fuel subsidy, parliament speaker Marzouk Al Ghanem said on Wednesday.

Those holding driver’s licences would be compensated with a quantity of “free petrol” each month, Ghanem told reporters after a three-hour meeting between the government and a number of lawmakers.

Ghanem said the amount of free petrol that would be given was about 75 litres (20 gallons) a month per citizen.

The cost of petrol would be revised on a monthly basis, depending on the price of oil on international markets, he said, adding this represented a “partial liberalisation” of subsidies.

Kuwait fully liberalised the prices of diesel and kerosene at the start of 2015.

Foreigners, who make up almost 70 per cent of the oil-rich Gulf state’s 4.3 million population, still pay the full price.

The hike, ranging from about 40 to 80 per cent depending on the type of fuel, went into effect on September 1 as part of reform measures to plug a budget deficit resulting from low oil prices.

It was the first such increase since 1998.

But a number of MPs who attended the meeting rejected the deal as insufficient.

“This is not acceptable to us. We can not agree to a deal that harms Kuwaiti citizens’ income,” said MP Saad Al Khanfour.

“I plan to question ministers over this issue,” he told reporters.

MP Majed Musa said he and a group of lawmakers were working on a certain move against the government. He did not elaborate.

“Kuwaiti citizens are not beggars. Any measure that negatively affects citizens’ income is rejected,” Musa said.

The OPEC member recorded a budget shortfall of 4.6 billion dinars ($15.3 billion) in the fiscal year which ended on March 31, according to official figures.

It was the first shortfall since the fiscal year to March 1999.

Kuwait’s lower court last week ruled that the increase of petrol prices was unlawful because of procedural flaws.

The government has challenged the ruling before the appeals court defending its procedures.

AMMAN — Total real estate trading volume dropped at the end of September by 3 per cent to JD5.278 billion from JD5.464 billion at the end of the same period last year, according to figures of the Department of Land and Survey issued on Wednesday.

The department’s revenues went down by 12 per cent to JD248 million from JD281 million; the figure recorded at the end of the same period of 2015. Real estate registration departments of Amman, accounted for 72 per cent of the trading volume or JD3.805 billion at the end of September this year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

LONDON/DUBAI — Intensive care wards in Yemen's hospitals are filled with emaciated children hooked up to monitors and drips — victims of food shortages that could get even worse due to a reorganisation of the central bank that is worrying importers.

With food ships finding it hard to get into Yemen's ports due to a virtual blockade by the Saudi-led coalition that has backed the government during an 18-month civil war, over half the country's 28 million people already do not have enough to eat, according to the United Nations.

Yemen's exiled president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, last month ordered the central bank's headquarters to be moved from the capital Sanaa, controlled by Houthi rebels in the north, to the southern port of Aden, which is held by the government. He also appointed a new governor, a member of his government who has said the bank has no money.

Trade sources involved in importing food to the Arab peninsula's poorest country say this decision will leave them financially exposed and make it harder to bring in supplies.

Diplomats and aid officials believe the crisis surrounding the central bank could adversely affect ordinary Yemenis.

"The politicisation of the central bank and attempts by the parties in the conflict to use it as a tool to hurt one another ... threaten to push the poorest over the edge", said Richard Stanforth, humanitarian policy adviser with Oxfam.

"Everything is stacked against the people on the brink of starvation in Yemen."

The effects of food shortages can already be seen. At the children's emergency unit at the Thawra hospital in the port of Hodaida, tiny patients with skin sagging over their bones writhe in beds. Hallways and waiting rooms are crowded with parents seeking help for their hungry and dying children.

Salem Issa, 6, rests his stick-thin limbs on a hospital bed as his mother watches over him. "I have a sick child, I used to feed him biscuits, but he's sick, he won't eat," she said.

A nurse said the ward began taking in around 10 to 20 cases in April, but now struggles with 120 patients per month.

The World Food Programme says half Yemen's children under five are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age because of chronic malnutrition.

Importers struggling

In July, Reuters reported that importers were already struggling to buy food from abroad because $260 million worth of their funds were frozen in Yemeni banks, while Western banks had cut credit lines.

Since then, importers have guaranteed much of the risk of financing shipments themselves.

The decision to move the central bank, seen as the last impartial bastion of the country's financial system which has helped keep the economy afloat in wartime, is viewed as a major blow for suppliers who are mistrustful of the decision and expect even more chaos ahead. Foreign exchange is already scarce and the sources do not have confidence in the new governor.

All of this will lead to further food disruptions and more hardship for Yemenis already facing impending famine, according to the trade sources.

"We have begun to cancel our forward contracts — it's just impossible to trade when there is no financial system in place. There is no coverage from the central bank where we can trust them or know them," said one source.

"This leaves anyone bringing in cargoes completely exposed," added the source, who declined to be identified due to the worsening security situation and fear of reprisals.

Shipping data showed at least nine vessels carrying supplies such as wheat and sugar were on the way to the Yemeni ports of Hodaida and Salif, but the source said there were worries for forward shipments for late October and November.

A second trade source also active in Yemen confirmed the growing difficulties.

"Western banks are not willing to process payments and the whole system is freezing up. It is an ever growing struggle to do anything commercial," the second source said.

"Obtaining foreign exchange has to be done through currency smuggling. Yemen is like a country of smugglers now — this is unacceptable."

Dwindling reserves

The old central bank in the capital Sanaa used Yemen's dwindling foreign exchange reserves to guarantee shipments into a country which imports 90 per cent of its food.

But Hadi disliked the bank paying salaries to his foes in the army and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement opposed to his internationally recognised government.

Struggling to advance on the battlefield and keen to undermine the Houthis, Hadi dismissed the bank's governor, Mohamed Bin Humam, named Finance Minister Monasser Al Quaiti in his place and decreed the bank be moved to Aden.

It was a sudden decision that aroused suspicion among traders.

"The governor Humam enjoyed the confidence of all parties since he was clearly independent and working in the best interests of Yemen. To now appoint a minister of finance of the government is a retrograde step and none of the traders have any confidence in him or in the bank in Aden," the first trade source said.

The new governor of the central bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Quaiti told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat newspaper on Thursday he had inherited a bank with no money, but he pledged to keep it independent.

Ibrahim Mahmoud, of Yemen's Social Development Fund, said only an improvement in the country's financial system and an emergency aid effort could stop the spread of hunger.

"If there is no direct and immediate intervention on behalf of the international community and state organisations, we could be threatened by famine and a humanitarian catastrophe."

Even though moving the central bank seemed to be aimed at hurting the Houthis, Yemeni economic officials and diplomats say the group has its own financial resources.

Losing out on $100 million in salaries to its fighters as suggested by the new bank governor may hurt the Houthis, but the bank's closure in Sanaa is likely to hurt ordinary people already suffering from a collapse in the economy due to the war.

"It risks leaving the salaries of more than a million Yemenis unpaid. There may be a long-term effect on the Houthis, but the immediate effect will be on normal people trying to put food on the table", Yemeni economic analyst Amal Nasser said.

AMMAN — Senator and Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) President Issa Murad on Tuesday applauded the Cabinet’s decision to reduce the electricity tariff for various economic sectors. In an ACC statement, he commended the government’s positive response to the demands of the private sector that always stressed the need to reconsider the electricity tariff.

On Monday, the Cabinet reduced the tariff for various industrial sectors including mining, and telecom companies by 27 fils/kilowatt hour. The decision covers trade sector outlets, including malls, small shops and restaurants as well as hotels and large industries. 

AMMAN — Royal Jordanian (RJ) operated an additional 149 flights during September to cater to pilgrims and tourists, the airline announced on Tuesday. The Hajj pilgrimage, Eid Al Adha and “a remarkable growth of tourism traffic” led to increased demand for flights, RJ said in a statement, adding that aircraft utilisation rose to 13 hours per day, above the annual average of 11.7 hours daily.

RJ ran 34 extra flights for Jordanian pilgrims travelling to Medina and Jeddah to perform Hajj, as well as flights for pilgrims from other RJ routes transiting through Amman. The airline also operated 63 charter flights to tourist sites in Turkey, Egypt and Greece for Jordanians taking advantage of the Eid Al Adha holiday to travel.  A further 52 additional flights were scheduled to Europe, the UAE and Saudi Arabia to accommodate Jordanian expatriats returning abroad after holidays in the Kingdom, RJ said. 

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's government has transferred delayed funds to construction giant Saudi Binladin Group so it can pay back-wages to its remaining employees, the company said on Monday.

The firm "received some payment in the last couple of weeks", Yaseen Alattas, Saudi Binladin Group's chief communications officer, told AFP.

He declined to comment on the amount.

Delayed receipts from the government, whose oil revenues have dropped significantly over the past two years, have left tens of thousands of employees of the kingdom's construction firms struggling while they wait for salaries.

Alattas said Saudi Binladin Group has already finished payments to around 70,000 laid-off workers.

"They got paid completely with all their due salaries and their final indemnities," he said, adding that the expatriates among them have gone home.

Some workers still with the company have also received their delayed wages, "based on the payments that are coming now from the government", whose business is the foundation of Saudi construction contracts.

Alattas said those payments will continue "based proportionately to the payments as they come from the government".

He was not specific about how many employees remain with the company, but said it is a "floating number" based on projects.

Alattas has previously said the number of laid-off workers was a fraction of manpower at the group which built some of the kingdom's landmarks.

The Wall Street Journal, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported Sunday that the government paid Saudi Binladin Group between $800 million and $1.1 billion in September to cover unpaid wages.

Alattas told AFP in May that there had been "multiple reasons" for the wage delays, but one was related to "cash flow".

The firm was also suspended for several months from new government projects after a deadly crane accident in September last year at Mecca's Grand Mosque.

Saudi Binladin Group was founded more than 80 years ago by the father of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, who was killed five years ago by US Navy SEALs.

Tens of thousands of employees of once-mighty construction firm Saudi Oger are also suffering. Many have gone unpaid for up to nine months.

AMMAN — Royal Jordanian (RJ) on Monday launched a new promotional campaign, which reflects RJ’s customers’ vision of their upcoming trips. The campaign’s aspects reveal that when traveling RJ, there is more than getting from one point to another.

The airline’s brand inspires its passengers to create stories, and that there is more to be experienced, seen, sensed and lived. The “Brand Destinations” campaign is slated to convey the non-typical qualities that travelling with RJ brings to light. It shows that RJ understands the minds of travellers and that they look for the stories behind the destinations.

The campaign also encourages passengers to detail their travel experience as an event stimulating body and soul, narrate the details of their flight and share its excitement with family and friends, according to an RJ statement. 

BRUSSELS — Financial leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies sit down this week to discuss the main risks to global economic growth, and how to clamp down the secretive ownership of companies that allows for tax avoidance and money laundering.

The venue will be a working dinner in Washington on October 6 for G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors before the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

In a paper prepared for participants, China, which holds the rotating presidency of the G-20 this year, notes that global financial markets have recovered from the fallout of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, but that uncertainties remained.

“Financial volatility picked up recently, partly reflecting market sentiment for the recent release of monetary policy stance by the central banks of key advanced economies,” said the note, seen by Reuters.

“Downside risks remain heightened. Changing expectations regarding the pace of US monetary policy normalisation could have significant repercussions for capital flows and financial market volatilities,” it said.

“The uncertainties from the progress of Brexit would also add to instability risks, while concerns about bank profitability amid extraordinarily low/negative interest rates still persist,” it said.

Following up on a long-standing drive to curb tax avoidance and money laundering as well as terrorist financing, the ministers will discuss a stronger push to share information on who owns companies, in what is known as “beneficial ownership”.

Anonymous companies, also called phantom firms or shell companies, are entities that are used to disguise the identity of their true owner, who ultimately controls or profits from the company. Such owners are also known as the “beneficial owners”.

The ministers will discuss proposals on sharing “beneficial ownership” information prepared for the meeting by the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental policy-making body set up to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

“These proposals include the possibility of making the ‘availability’ of beneficial ownership information a key focus area,” the Chinese presidency note said, also mentioning the possibility of improving the “quality” of such information.

European delegations to the G-20 meeting will push for establishing registers of beneficial ownership that would at least be shared by public authorities, if not made fully public.

European officials said the push for more transparency in company ownership information has been made more politically attractive to G-20 members by the so-called Panama and Bahama papers —millions of leaked legal documents illustrating how wealthy individuals and public officials are able to keep personal financial information private.

BIRMINGHAM, England — Agreeing Britain's post-Brexit membership terms with the World Trade Organisation will not be simple but should be done in a way that causes minimal disruption to global trade, trade minister Liam Fox said on Sunday.

Fox, a leading Brexit campaigner ahead of the June 23 referendum, said Britain did not need to re-apply to join the international trade body when it leaves the European Union as it was already "a full and founding member".

But as Britain is currently a member of the WTO through the EU, it will need to agree new membership terms, or schedules of tariffs, following Brexit and those terms will have to be agreed by all other WTO members.

"What we do need to have are the schedules, which are effectively our license to trade. That's what we are discussing at the present time," Fox said in an interview with The Huffington Post on the sidelines of the Conservative Party's annual conference in Birmingham, central England.

"We will want to see a position on WTO schedules adopted in a way that causes minimal disruption. That is not an entirely simple process, and we would never pretend that it is, but neither is it an insoluble riddle."

Before the referendum, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said renegotiating Britain's relationship with the rest of the WTO could take years or decades.

The chief executive of Nissan earlier this week said the Japanese automaker could scrap a potential new investment in Britain's biggest car plant if the country did not pledge compensation for any tax barriers resulting from Brexit.

Asked about threats to withdraw investment, Fox said Britain's strong legal base offered companies certainty.

"Investment is a balance of risks when you come to look at it, and I think that the UK remains the number one destination for safe investment," he said.

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday Britain will trigger the formal divorce procedure by the end of March, but Fox said the government would not rush the process.

"What we want is the best exit for the United Kingdom, not the quickest, and what we need to concentrate on is the quality of the relationship we will have afterwards," he said when asked if Britain would have left the EU by 2020.

Fox said levels of protectionism globally were on the rise. While declining to comment specifically on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has been accused of promoting isolationist policies, he said the US election debate was lacking in arguments for free trade.

"There is a temptation for politicians to pander to the short-term view that protectionism will be the answer but it never really is," he said. "The debate in the United States at the moment in particular, you are getting much less of a free trade flavour than I have ever known in any election."

AMMAN — In cooperation with USAID, the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) is working to draw the private sector to implement the investment-promotion strategy for the next three years, JIC chief Thabet Elwir said on Sunday. 

The strategy seeks to draw and promote local and foreign investment projects, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

As part of its goals, the strategy also seeks to create a database for domestic and foreign investors in order to be able to reach and contact them, in cooperation with the Kingdom’s embassies abroad, and then acquaint them with the investment opportunities available in the country, Elwir told the news agency.  

USAID will float a tender that will determine the company which will be tasked with implementing it in the coming three years, he said.

The sum of JD3.3 million has been allocated for this purpose and future investment promotion plans are scheduled to focus on new markets of several countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Japan.

During the first quarter of 2016, foreign direct investments channeled into the country rose by 3 per cent or by JD120 million, in comparison with the figure recorded during the first quarter of 2015, Petra indicated. 

Net foreign investment rose to JD345 million in this year’s first quarter from JD225 million in the first quarter of last year.