Facts, News, Trends, Analysis
The Lebanese economy is booming in light of the global economic crisis, reports BBC News. Lebanon, a country known for its political turmoil and wars, appears to be thriving in the new economic climate. Banks have been reporting record deposit numbers and their vaults are full of cash.
According the a Lebanese banking official, this is [...]
The World Food Program made a statement that it will be giving an additional $20 million towards the support of Yemen and its refugee situation. The amount will go up from 30 million to 50 million dollars for the next two years. The money will be going to the poor communities in Yemen that are [...]
President Ahmadinejad has publicly conceded that the continued drop in oil prices is hurting the economy. This admission comes at a difficult time–close to next year’s election, and when his approval ratings have already declined. Oil prices have plummeted and the effect this has had on Iran, whose main export is oil, is a serious [...]
The Jordanian Central Bank’s 0.5 percentage point cut in key lending rates went into effect Tuesday, as indications mounted that the cash-strapped Arab kingdom was being hard hit by the global financial crisis. The Central Bank had last week lowered the discount rate to 6.25 percent and the repo rate to 6 percent. It also [...]
The global financial crisis has not directly affected Israeli banks, but some are beginning to worry about the country’s biggest tycoons as financial markets fail ahead of parliamentary elections.
Israel is largely an export-oriented economy and is bracing for a blow as international demand is expected to drop. Companies across Israel have announced plans to cut [...]
More than 10,000 people lost their jobs in one month, as companies begin to cut their work forces amid the financial uncertainties of the globe. With the global slowdown in full swing, the Turkish economy began to feel the global financial crisis as growth slowed down and the dollar roses sharply. The job losses have [...]
The Hurriyet Daily News reported that all thirty countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are now in a full-blown recession. Turkey’s exporters are growing increasingly panicked, because their main client, Germany, has fallen on hard economic times. Asa result, Turkish imports could fall by 20%. There is speculation that the economy [...]
European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, along with the EU Presidency, began negotiations on the EU-Libyan Framework Agreement on November 13. She met with with Libyan representatives led by Abdulati Elobeidi, Secretary for European Affairs, and Mohamed Tahar Siala, Deputy Secretary at the General People Committee for Foreign Liaison and [...]
Dr. Mohammad al-Hussein, Syria’s Minister of Finance has said that the effects of the global financial crisis have been minimal and they are doing their best to minimize them, pointing towards lessened state involvement in the financial sector as the main cause.
Syria has made significant steps in recent years, according to their state news service. [...]
On November 8, a Yemeni delegation traveled to London to participate in the World Tourism Fair, which will take place November 10-13, 2008.
Yemen’s Tourism Minister Nabil al-Faqi stated the necessity of Yemen’s participation, particularly in the face of tourism rates significantly declining since the attacks on the US Embassy in Sana’a. Al-Faqi explained Yemen’s hope [...]