Business

BEIJING — China received critical support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Sunday for its goal of establishing a new Chinese-led multilateral lender, adding to a growing wave of endorsements that has worried the United States.

Leaders of the IMF and ADB, speaking at a conference in Beijing, said they were in talks with or happy to cooperate with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a $50 billion lender to be majority funded by China that is seen by some as a rival to these established international financial institutions.

The United States, concerned about China's growing diplomatic clout, has urged countries to think twice about signing up and questioned whether the AIIB will have sufficient standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards.

Some 27 countries have already signed up to participate in the AIIB, China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei told China National Radio on Saturday. It will provide project loans to developing countries and is slated to begin operations at the end of 2015.

The United States' key strategic allies in the region, Australia, Japan and South Korea, are also considering joining the proposed Beijing-based bank.

Early opposition to the AIIB from Western countries partially dissolved after Britain said this month it would join.

"We have decided to become the first major western nation to be a prospective founding member of the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, because we think you should be present at the creation of these new international institutions," British Finance Minister George Osborne, said in a pre-election budget speech to parliament last week after rebuffing a telephone plea from US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to hold off.

The move by Washington's close ally set off an avalanche. Irked that London had stolen a march, Germany, France and Italy announced that they too would participate. Luxembourg and Switzerland quickly followed suit.

Canberra could formally decide to sign up to the AIIB when the full Cabinet meets on Monday, Australian media have said.

At least eight more countries may join the lender by the March 31 deadline, Jin Liqun, secretary general of the interim secretariat that is establishing the AIIB, told a panel at the conference on Sunday.

The fund will have approval from its shareholders at the start to double its capitalisation to $100 billion, he said.

"China will follow the rules of the international community and will not bully other members but work together with them and try to reach consensus in all the decisions we make without brandishing the majority shareholder status," he added.

Bandwagon 

In an editorial published on the same day, China's official Xinhua news agency suggested that the United States might be embarrassed that many of its allies had not heeded its warnings.

"For decision makers in the United States, they really have to be reminded that if they do not jump on the bandwagon of change in time, they will soon be overrun by the bandwagon itself," it said.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that the fund would be "delighted" to cooperate with the AIIB.

China's Lou and ADB President Takehiko Nakao said at the conference they had held discussions on possible cooperation, with the Chinese finance minister adding that topics discussed included safeguard standards.

Lou has previously said AIIB would complement rather than compete with other institutions such as the ADB, the Manila-based multilateral lender dominated by Japan and the United States.

Jin said developing countries in Asia would receive the bulk of loans for infrastructure projects, which could be co-provided with commercial banks and pension funds.

Non-Asian countries would also only hold 25 per cent of the AIIB's shareholding, lower than their stakes at the founding of the ADB, he added.

The trail of transatlantic and intra-European diplomatic exchanges points to fumbling, mixed signals and tactical differences rather than to any grand plan by Europe to tilt to Asia.

That is nevertheless the way it is seen by some in Washington and Beijing.

As recounted to Reuters by officials in Europe, the United States and China who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, the episode reveals the paucity of strategic dialogue among what used to be called "the West".

It also highlights how the main European Union (EU) powers sideline their common foreign and security policy when national commercial interests are at stake.

China's official Xinhua news agency reflected Beijing's delight.

"The joining of Germany, France, Italy as well as Britain, the AIIB's maiden Group of 7 (G-7) member and a seasoned ally, has opened a decisive crack in the anti-AIIB front forged by America," it said in a commentary.

"Sour grapes over the AIIB makes America look isolated and hypocritical," it added.

"The Americans are starting to look very mean-spirited with their criticism", said a Beijing-based Asian diplomat. "This is not a battle they are winning. Even their closest allies in Asia are starting to fall in line," he added.

Anger at stalled IMF reform 

In Europe as in Washington, China's launch of a new institution to channel a fraction of its massive currency reserves into infrastructure investments in Asia posed a political conundrum and provoked turf disputes.

Western countries had long urged Beijing to recycle some of its trade surplus into building transport, energy and telecommunications networks in developing nations, but they wanted it to use the World Bank and the ADB.

China, angered that the US Congress has not ratified a 2010 agreement to increase its voting share and that of other emerging economies in theIMF, chose to go its own way instead.

With initial capital of $50 billion, the Beijing-based AIIB can offer at most a complement to the larger World Bank and ADB, but it is starting point for expanding Chinese influence.

Officially, the United States says it is concerned about whether the bank will uphold human rights, environment and labour standards and be open and transparent in its governance.

In private, senior US officials acknowledge this is about power. One Obama administration member said congressional foot-dragging on IMF reform had "created an opportunity for China to assert itself".

Lew gave a blunt assessment last week, telling US lawmakers: "It's not an accident that emerging economies are looking at other places because they are frustrated that, frankly, the United States has stalled a very mild and reasonable set of reforms in the IMF."

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama acknowledged irritation about IMF voting rights may have been a factor.

"I think this could be an unfortunate event and it might be bigger than we understand today," he told the Brussels Forum, an annual transatlantic dialogue organised by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

In Washington, the issue resided between the State Department, the Treasury and the White House National Security Council, which may have muddied US communication with European allies, officials say.

"There just wasn't a clear and coherent and unified message on this from the beginning. It kind of languished for a while in a state of indecision and that produced the outcome that you've seen," said a Congressional source familiar with the discussions.

Within European governments there were debates about tactics and timing but the prevailing view was that it was better to try to influence the Chinese project from inside, several officials said.

"The debate mostly pitted national security advisers, who leaned towards hugging the Americans close ... against economic and Asia advisers, who argued that this big train was leaving the station and it was in our interest to jump aboard," a European diplomat involved in some of the discussions said.

In Berlin, the ministries of foreign affairs, finance and overseas development, run by rival wings of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, jostled for influence.

Merkel's office instructed the finance and foreign ministries to take charge. Given Germany's prioritising of Chinese trade, there was never much doubt Berlin would join the AIIB.

"It was a no brainer," a German aide said.

‘Eyes open’

British, German, French and Italian officials held several meetings to discuss a common approach then London leapt first, causing resentment if not surprise.

"We want to be a Chinese partner of choice in international finance," a British government source said.

Inconclusive talks were also held by officials of the G-7 economies, which includes the United States, Japan and Canada alongside the four European states.

"We knew the US was not in the same place as us on this, we went into it with our eyes open," the source said.

The Chinese invitation to join the AIIB was delivered to individual states. The issue was discussed only once in the EU's 28-nation Economic and Financial Committee, which prepares meetings of finance ministers.

It was never raised to EU ambassadorial level, let alone to ministers. The big four did not include the European Commission or smaller EU states in their deliberations.

A French government source said issues such as governance were unresolved. "But it was important for the Europeans to show an interest from the outset. We'll see how it goes."

In Italy, the decision took a single phone call from Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the European diplomat said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. Officials said the Netherlands was weighing whether to join but it may have missed the deadline to become a founder member.

Having failed to persuade European allies, US officials are looking to regain the initiative, but partisan battles on Capitol Hill may continue to stymie a response.

The administration is using the spat to press Congress to grant President Barack Obama fast-track powers so he can conclude a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact with 11 Asia-Pacific nations other than China, and to finally ratify the IMF reform.

"We are acting proactively with trade promotion authority and TPP because other countries are acting. We want to be on the field, defining the rules of the road," the Obama administration member said.

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) launched on March 15 the new real time gross settlement systems (RTGS) service, as of March 15.

In a statement, CBJ Governor Ziyad Fariz  said RTGS are funds transfer systems that will facilitate money transfer from one bank to another, adding that the step will boost economic and banking soundness and efficiency in the Kingdom.

It will ensure safe and efficient money transfer, which supports the financial policy and fosters financial stability in the Kingdom, he added. 

Settlement in "real time" means payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. 

DUBAI/KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia — As the global energy industry stares transfixed at a spectacular drop in US rigs, Saudi Arabia is ramping up the number of machines drilling for oil and gas despite a sharp fall in the price of crude.

Industry sources and analysts say the Organisation of Exporting Countries (OPEC) kingpin is looking beyond the halving of global oil prices since June 2014 to a time when crude could again be in short supply.

Riyadh is therefore keen to preserve what is known as its spare capacity, the kingdom's unique ability to raise oil output quickly at any given moment.

But to achieve that, Saudi Arabia has to drill much more than in the past, after boosting output to record levels to compensate for global supply outages in the past four years.

"The Saudis are probably worried about everyone else reducing capital expenditure as a result of low oil prices and about non-OPEC output falling off a cliff at some point. We all know that supply disruptions are unpredictable but they are certain," said Gary Ross, executive chairman of New York oil consultancy PIRA.

"The increase in Saudi rig numbers is like a signal to the industry — let's be rational. We will need supply growth in the future," he added.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco used a record-high 210 oil and gas rigs in 2014, up from around 150 in 2013, 140 in 2012 and some 100 in 2011, according to previous industry estimates.

Amin Nasser, Aramco's senior vice-president for upstream operations, said this month his firm had yet to decide whether to increase the rig number in 2015 from the 212 currently in use.

But data shows the numbers are still rising.

Excluding non-US-registered rigs such as Chinese or Russian, February 2015 saw a total Saudi rig count of 155, up from 150 in January and 146 in December, according to data from OPEC and US oil services company Baker Hughes. Since 2010, the number of US-registered rigs has doubled from 67.

Sadad Al Husseini, a former senior executive at Aramco and now an energy consultant, said the rise in the Saudi oil rig count had been evolving over a long period.

"You need to drill more wells if you are producing 10 million barrels per day and maintaining your spare capacity," he said.

"It is also a natural phenomenon in the oil business, that the more you produce, the more you deplete your reserves and the more rapidly your field capacity declines. You need to drill more wells more frequently, simply to maintain production capacity," Husseini added.

Focus on gas 

Maintaining Saudi Arabia's spare-capacity cushion for oil is costly.

The country is effectively investing in something it cannot monetise immediately, but it sees the strategy as a pillar of its stature as the most important global oil player and a Group of 20 member.

In 2008, Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said production capacity would rise to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) from 12.5 million but the plan was put on hold after the global financial meltdown of late 2008 saw oil plunge below $40 a barrel.

Subsequent events such as Libya's 2011 civil war tested the Saudi ability to ramp up output to help soothe global supply outages and showed that spare capacity could not be eroded if Riyadh wanted to continue playing a key role.

Saudi Arabia's refusal to cut output last year has played a part in the most recent oil price slump, as Riyadh fights to maintain its market share against competing sources of crude.

The OPEC heavyweight has been pumping more than 9 million bpd since mid-2011, up from 8.1-8.3 million for most of 2009-2010.

To ease pressure on its ageing giant fields, Ghawar and Abqaiq, Aramco launched the Khurais and Manifa fields with total capacity of more than 2 million bpd.

It plans to increase output from onshore fields, Shaybah and Khurais, by 550,000 bpd by 2017. It has also been ramping up drilling in offshore fields such as Safaniyah.

The projects should allow Aramco to preserve the world's largest spare-capacity cushion at more than 2 million bpd.

For 2015, industry sources estimated Aramco would deploy at least the same number of rigs as in 2014. Aramco declined to comment for this report.

Over the past two years, Saudi production has sometimes exceeded 10 million bpd in summer months as crude is burnt locally for power generation and new refineries.

That forced Aramco to put more emphasis on gas exploration, as higher gas output would help preserve spare oil capacity.

"Aramco's focus now is more on gas, so they have been moving some of their oil rigs to gas rather than terminating the contract and paying a penalty," an oil industry executive in Saudi Arabia said.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Wednesday that it is in the early stages of studying claims that Gulf airlines have received market-distorting subsidies, a review involving uncharted territory for the US government.

No international trade rules or precedent by the United States exists for addressing airline subsidy claims, presenting a challenge for the administration as it determines how to proceed, a person familiar with the matter said. 

US airlines contend that Gulf carriers can lower prices and offer more amenities on newer planes because of state subsidies.

These issues do not fall under World Trade Organisation rules but rather under bilateral "Open Skies" agreements that authorise commercial flying between countries.

The agreements are silent on how to handle most subsidy claims, the source said. Yet alleged subsidies of more than $40 billion to Gulf airlines make the claim the largest that the administration has encountered and must be taken seriously, the source added.

Last week, the administration asked US airlines some 20 questions about the allegations.

"The [US government] interagency team did in fact ask the US airlines and their consultants several technical and clarifying questions about the data and information contained in their report," US Department of Transportation Press Secretary Ryan Daniels said in a statement, confirming a Reuters report.

"However, we are in the early stages of thoroughly reviewing this matter in close coordination with our interagency partners," he added.

The Obama administration has filed trade complaints on issues ranging from China's imposition of extra duties on American cars to India's ban on certain US agricultural goods to allegedly protect against avian influenza.

Aviation also has been at the centre of a decade-old dispute in which the WTO found that plane makers from the United States and the European Union had received illegal subsidies.

But Geneva-based watchdog's rules do not apply to air traffic rights or airline services, although it keeps these under review broadly.

Meanwhile, the dispute between US and Gulf airlines has escalated.

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and their unions on Wednesday called on the administration to request a freeze on additional Gulf-airline flight departures to the United States.

On Tuesday, Emirates airline President Tim Clark promised to rebut the allegations, while Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said the company received loans, not subsidies, from its government shareholder. Both had arranged meetings with Obama administration officials.

Hogan described the United Arab emirates (UAE) carrier as a "David" battling the US "Goliaths".

Hogan told an aviation industry summit in Washington that airlines everywhere benefit from state support, dismissing the claims of unfair competition by Gulf carriers in a report released by the top three US airlines.

As a battle heats up between Gulf airlines and rivals in Europe and the US, he accused American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines of themselves hiding behind protection.

"The world's two largest airline markets, the United States and the European Union, are closed, giving their own airlines a huge advantage in scale and scope," he told the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 14th Annual Aviation Summit.

Hogan said established aviation giants were built on various kinds of state support, including preferential market access, infrastructure and airports, hardly different from what Gulf carriers Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are accused of.

He also cited the government-backed bailouts of US carriers when they failed.

"Many, many airlines, including many in this room, have benefitted from years of government bailouts, write-offs and loans, everything from bankruptcy protection to covering pension fund obligations, to straight-out financial payments," he  indicated.

"Etihad is a David who's been facing Goliaths since 2003," he argued. "The three biggest US airlines working together carry 34 times more passengers”.

In early March, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, along with US airline labour groups, accused the Gulf three of enjoying interest-free loans, subsidised airport charges, government protection on fuel losses, and below-market labour costs that are considered unfair subsidies by the WTO.

Claiming $42 billion in "unfair" subsidies to wrest business away from competitors, they called on the US government to open new talks over bilateral air agreements to address what they said are violations of those pacts, giving the Gulf carriers unfair competitive advantage. 

These "multi-billion dollar subsidies" had distorted the marketplace, "to the severe detriment of US employment", the American carriers claimed.

Qatar Airways Chief Akbar Al Baker said on Monday the problem was that the US carriers do not differentiate between what is a subsidy and what is the "legitimate" equity that a state-owned carrier gets.

Delta anyway flies "crap airplanes that are 35 years old," he added.

Noting that any money his airline receives from the state is in the form of "legitimate" equity, Al Baker indicated that his company's fleet of aircraft were much cleaner for the environment in comparison to Delta.

"The unfortunate thing is that because they are so inefficient they want to blame us, whilst we are very efficient, for their failures and drawbacks," he said.  "The issue is that they cannot stand the progress the Gulf carriers are making."

UAE Economy Minister Sultan Al Mansouri was quoted as calling them "false and unacceptable" by the Emarat Al Youm newspaper.

However, European carriers have also joined the argument.

Last week, French and German transport ministers called on the European Commission to tackle the issue of subsidies to Gulf carriers.

The French transport minister, Alain Vidalies, said the Gulf airlines were benefitting from "unfair competitive practices".

DUBAI — US shale drilling may be slowing, but not fast enough for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to change policy at its June meeting or to prevent oil prices maybe falling more, in the view of the group's Gulf members.

Actual oil output from the United States could prove harder to beat back, sources in the Gulf say after poring over the latest data with top consultants.

The message is, do not underestimate the ability of the oil industry to adapt: there can be cost cuts, restructuring and consolidation and that would take time, the sources said.

"These two years, 2015-16, are still a discovery, everybody is talking about the economics of tight oil but nobody is talking with certainty... you have to wait and see," said a source from a Gulf OPEC producer.

At its last meeting in November, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia persuaded fellow members to keep production unchanged, accelerating the sharp oil price drop to a low around $45.

Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi has made it clear Riyadh will not cut output to prop up oil markets at the cost of market share.

OPEC will have no choice but to hold its course, Kuwait's oil minister said on Thursday, reiterating the view from the Gulf Arab state that the group is likely to keep things as they are in June.

The number of drilling rigs in the United States has fallen steeply in recent months and production growth slowed, although many US producers argue that lower prices will bring efficiency gains and output will not fall so steeply.

The Gulf OPEC side believes the wait may stretch into 2016, but analysts say low prices are a potent force.

"Lower prices work. They undermine supply growth and spur demand. Yes, year-on-year there is still a lot of growth in US oil output but month-on-month it has stopped," said Gary Ross, executive chairman and founder of New York oil consultancy PIRA.

"You have got to give it time and I believe the Saudis will be prepared to wait until the price magic works. And it will work," he added. 

Resilient shale 

OPEC has said it believes global oversupply amounting to as much as 1.5 million barrels per day will evaporate as demand picks up and US production could start to take a hit by late 2015.

However, should US oil producers prove more resilient, oversupply could persist and even grow more if Western powers and Tehran reach a nuclear deal this year that may eventually allow Iran to increase its oil exports.

Despite the reduction in oil-directed rigs by over 40 per cent since hitting a record high of 1,609 in October, there are few signs US production has slowed.

"Despite the big drop in the rig count, we should continue to see US supply growth for another few months," said Yasser Elguindi from economic consultants Medley Global Advisors.

"Many companies have began to reposition rigs away from higher cost, less productive areas, into areas where they know they will have lower costs and higher productivity. Not everyone has that option, but those that can, are doing this," he added.

The rig count is an indicator but it is not a decisive one, said another Gulf OPEC delegate: "We thought that there will be a lot of impact on the shale but it seems that the companies are still managing."

On Friday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said steep drops in the US rig count have been a key driver of the recent price rebound, which saw Brent crude rising to $60 per barrel.

But the IEA said the United States may soon run out of spare capacity to store crude, which would put additional downward pressure on prices and that US supply "continues to defy expectations".

Gulf OPEC members were caught out by the scale of the oil price collapse.

They thought that prices would fall to $70 or even $60 a barrel and that alone was enough to slow production of high cost producers and gradually push prices higher in the second half of 2015, OPEC delegates and watchers say.

But some OPEC sources remain doubtful. They say that prices may have to drop to $40 a barrel and stay there for as long as three years to have a real impact on the unconventional oil production from North America and absorb the oversupply in the market.

"It is not because prices went down for a month or two that we will see an impact on tight oil. We are still in the same swing, up and down," said another OPEC source.

TEHRAN — Iran has approved its budget for the next fiscal year with oil accounting for just a quarter of revenue after a global fall in crude prices, local media said Tuesday.

The text was approved Monday by the Guardians Council and sent to parliament, just days before the March 21 deadline, the Iranian New Year. The final budget is around 8,500 trillion riyals ($297 billion, 280 billion euros) according to Tasnim news agency, which published the outline of the text without providing details on oil revenues.

"The weight of oil in the budget has dropped significantly and now reaches 25 per cent while it was 50 per cent over the last three years," parliament speaker Ali Larijani indicated Monday.

He added that the budget was "disconnected" to oil prices. Larijani noted that the oil price per barrel was calculated at a minimum of $40, against a government forecast in December of $72 per barrel.

If prices rise above $40 per barrel in the second half of the year, the surplus revenue would be invested in infrastructure projects, he said. Iran's oil ministry said crude has averaged $44 a barrel since the start of the year.

KUWAIT CITY — Corporate earnings in the energy-rich Gulf states rose 10 per cent last year, for the first time surpassing their highest level before the global financial crisis, a report said on Tuesday.

Net profits of the 658 listed companies on the seven bourses of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states reached $68 billion in 2014 compared with $61.7 billion the previous year, investment firm Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) said in a report.

It was the first time Gulf corporate earnings had surpassed $63.2 billion, which was recorded in 2007 a year before the financial crisis hit. The six-nation GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Markaz projected that GCC companies' earnings will rise by 5.5 per cent to $71.2 billion in 2015. Banks, financial services and real estate sectors accounted for most of the increase in profits which were dragged down by a 10 per cent decline in the telecommunications sector's earnings, Markaz said.

The UAE led with the highest growth in corporate profits, recording a 32 per cent rise, followed by Bahrain with 11 per cent and Kuwait at 8 per cent. 

PARIS — Cheap oil and money have lifted the eurozone out of lethargy, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday, but it warned investment was lacking to achieve rapid world growth and expressed concerns about China.

“Growth prospects in the major economies look slightly better” than when it made its previous forecasts in November, the OECD said.

It raised its forecast for global growth this year by a tenth of a percentage point to 4 per cent and its outlook for 2016 by two tenths of a percentage point to 4.3 per cent.

Nevertheless, the OECD indicated that “the near-term outlook remains for moderate, rather than rapid, world gross domestic product growth”, pointing out that “real investment remains sluggish, and labour is not yet fully engaged”.

The OECD, a policy analysis body made up of 34 countries with advanced economies, said the effects of “lower oil prices and the effects of monetary policy easing are driving the overall improvement in the outlook”.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the eurozone, where the OECD raised its 2015 growth forecast by 0.3 points to 1.4 per cent this year and by the same magnitude to 2 per cent in 2016.

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) launching of a 1.14 euro ($1.2 billion) bond buying programme this month was the main reason for the improvement in the outlook in the eurozone, it said.

The OECD noted that monetary conditions have been eased in recent months in countries accounting for roughly half of the global economy, which it said has helped improve financial conditions.

With the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting on Wednesday and economists on the lookout for signals that it could begin raising interest rates within months, the OECD said it should wait. 

“Lower oil prices and the appreciation of the dollar make it appropriate for the Federal Reserve to wait longer to raise policy interest rates,” said the OECD.

The dollar has been quickly rising in value as the Fed nears raising interest rates and the ECB has eased monetary policy, which could slow US exports and growth. 

The OECD held its forecasts for US growth steady at 3.1 per cent this year and 3 per cent in 2016.

India heads the pack 

Meanwhile, growth is “getting back on track” in Japan, said the OECD, which lifted its 2015 forecast by 0.2 points to 1 per cent growth and the 2016 outlook by 0.4 points to 1.4 per cent.

While lower fuel prices mean it will take longer to return to safe inflation levels, it will support demand, added the OECD as it pointed to higher wages as being a key part to a sustainable recovery.

“A key requirement for reaching a new equilibrium with satisfactory demand growth and inflation close to the official target is a significant rise in average nominal wages, making the upcoming annual wage bargaining round a critical period,” indicated the OECD, which also urged further structural reforms.

The OECD said China’s growth is slowing to the government’s target of 7 per cent, as it trimmed its forecast by 0.1 point to that level while the 2016 outlook was left untouched.

“Policy makers face a significant challenge between meeting growth targets while also pursuing the stated goal of rebalancing the economy toward domestic demand and at the same time ensuring that financial risks are managed,” it warned.

Meanwhile, the OECD now expects India to overtake China as the fastest-growing major economy, hiking its forecast by 1.7 points to 7.7 per cent growth in 2015, although part of the change was due to new data. The 2016 forecast was raised to 8 per cent.

Commodity exporters, like Canada and Brazil, saw their growth outlooks cut as oil prices have fallen. 

Brazil’s forecast was chopped by 2 points to a contraction of 0.5 per cent this year, as a tight monetary policy has also crimped growth.

Despite growing risks of ultra-low interest rates laying the groundwork for a new crisis, the OECD said central banks should continue their easy money policies although governments need to act to ensure the recoveries are balanced and create jobs.

“... the failure of monetary easing alone to spur strong growth in fixed investment, with instead booms in financial investments, imply that policy makers cannot rely exclusively on monetary policy,” the OECD concluded.

AQABA — Saraya Aqaba Real Estate Development Company announced in a press statement this week that, during an extraordinary general assembly meeting, shareholders approved restructuring the board of directors by reducing the number from nine to five; three of whom representing Saraya Jordan, one representing the Social Security Corporation, and one representing Aqaba Development Corporation.

“Accordingly, Saraya Aqaba’s Chairman Ali Hassan Kolaghassi and the board members announced their resignations paving the way for the appointment of a new board of directors,” the press release said.

Kolaghassi confirmed his continued support to Saraya Aqaba as a founding shareholder and the vice chairman for Saraya Holdings, the owner of Saraya Jordan and the biggest shareholder at Saraya Aqaba.

Highlighting Saraya Aqaba’s unique status as a debt-free company since its establishment, he noted that Saraya Aqaba increased its capital from JD100,000 in 2005 to JD797,266,780 in 2015.

Kolaghassi also mentioned signing a $629 million contract with a joint venture to complete the first phase of the remaining works, which includes four international hotels in addition to Souk Saraya, a beach club, offices, conferencecentre, Wild Wadi Water Park, part of the residential units, infrastructure works, services building and staff residences.

AMMAN — A delegation from the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) has recently concluded a working visit to Oman, during which the delegates held talks to enhance economic and commercial relations between the two countries, JBA announced Tuesday.

The delegation, headed by JBA President Hamdi Tabbaa, met with Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry Undersecretary Ahmad Mimani and Chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Said Kiyumi and discussed ways to increase trade exchange volume.

Tabbaa also called on Omani businessmen to benefit from Jordan’s geographical location to enter North African markets, adding that Oman is also a gateway for Jordanian exports to enter countries in the Indian Ocean region.

On the sidelines of the visit, JBA and the Omani chamber of commerce and industry signed a memorandum of understanding to further boost relations between the two institutions and enhance economic and commercial relations.