Qatar’s fourth-quarter budget surplus equaled 9.3 per cent of gross domestic product, the Central Bank said today on its website. The surplus fell from 16.4 perc ent in the third quarter, it said.
Iraqi inflation slowed to 5 per cent in March from 5.9 per cent in the previous month, the Central Organisation for Statistics and Information Technology reported on its website today.
Ahli Bank of Oman posted a 4 million-rial first-quarter profit compared with 3.15m rials in the year-ago period, according to a statement to the Muscat bourse today.
Lebanese group Byblos Bank posted a 23 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit to $38.6 million.
Egypt has indicated it needs between $10 billion to $12bn to meet a funding gap but has yet to formally request a loan from the International Monetary Fund, an IMF official said on Wednesday.
Egypt's main share index dips 0.83 per cent as worries over ongoing legal challenges to state land sales dull investor appetite, traders say.
UAE markets end higher after a bout of strong first-quarter earnings boost investor sentiment and as traders continue to buy into the bourses' possible inclusion in the MSCI index.
Moody's Investors Service is maintaining a negative outlook on Japan's sovereign debt rating and watching developments, its senior vice-president Tom Byrne said on Wednesday.
The Philippines has increased its planned overseas debt sales this year to $3.25 billion from a previous $2.5bn after reducing its target on official development loans, Finance Undersecretary Rosalia
Petrochemicals lift Saudi Arabia's indexto a three-month high as sentiment is boosted by strong first-quarter earnings.
