Abu Dhabi made major advances this year in terms of government policy, structure and economic initiatives. Changes in 2007 were focused on the government's continued effort to diversify and build a sustainable economy bolstered by foreign direct investment in multiple industries. In the beginning of the year, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, revamped…
Ukraine's inflation continues to spiral out of control, becoming Ukraine's most urgent economic worry. Ukraine's inflation rate hit 26.2% year-on-year in March, up from 21.9% in February and 19.4% in January, according to official statistics. Ukrainian officials place much of the blame for the current spike in inflation on rising global food prices, higher charges for imported gas and an increse…
The IMF has approved a rescue package for Ukraine designed to "help the government strengthen confidence and restore economic stability," as the country's economy has been seriously hit by the global financial crisis, specifically by the credit crunch and falling commodity prices. On November 5, the IMF's executive board approved a $16.4bn loan to Ukraine, with much of the package going toward "pre-emptive"…
2008 was another impressive year for Abu Dhabi, as the emirate continued to make high profile global investments despite depressing economic statistics abroad. Additionally, diversification reforms focusing on the environment, capital markets, transport and tourism continued at a vigorous pace. During the opening ceremony of the World Future Energy Summit at the beginning of the year, Sheikh Mohamed…
Despite news that the Emirates' retail sector is continuing its rapid expansion - both in terms of physical size and profitability - there was a note of caution sounded this week. The warning, coming from a respected international retail analyst, said the sector should not be complacent, particularly when taking into account the rise of global retail rivals. Looming large on this horizon was the Far…
It has proved to be a rollercoaster summer for the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), after a major scandal in late August led to lingering questions over the regulators' ability to deal with the booming bourse. Yet such events had little impact on the market's trading activity, which continued to boom. The scandal, which involved allegations of share manipulation, dealt the DFM's reputation an embarrassing…
Dubai’s decision to invest billions in foreign aviation markets has come as a strong indicator that the emirate is refusing to back away from overseas ventures – despite the formidable difficulties DP World and others have recently been facing. On February 19, Dubai launched the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a holding company for six subsidiaries which aim to pour $15bn into the estimated…
With a good new crop of statistics in this week on the state of the nation's economy, there was also some focusing on the state of the nation's banks. This came in on the back of news of an important merger, and of some more worrying news from a previously welcomed share bid. First the statistics. Released end of March by the State Statistics Institute (DIE), these showed a higher-than-expected…
As loan activity increases in Ukraine, market insiders continue to point to the vast untapped potential of the financial services sector. While loan activity increased by roughly 20% in 2005, according to Standard & Poor's, and the Ukrainian government has actively created laws designed to improve access to credit, lending remains at a fraction of the market's true potential. Although high interest…
Although weighing in as a strong developing market with greater economic muscle than the previous year, Turkey was faced with a number of challenges in 2006, some predictable, others less so. The delay in the appointment of the new governor of the Central Bank caused uncertainty among local investors in March, reminding them of the conflicting forces that define Turkey's political landscape. The…
