Standard Chartered remains committed to Islamic banking and expects growth in its core markets, a spokesman for the lender said on Sunday, after the head of its Islamic arm departed.
Middle East
Iraqi bank to open five more branches in bet on future
An Iraqi bank controlled by Jordanian interests plans to open five more branches in Iraq by the end of this year, a sign that there is still money to be made in much of the country despite civil war and low oil prices.
Iran says OPEC unlikely to change output ceiling: Mehr news agency
OPEC is unlikely to change its production ceiling when the group meets in June, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Gulf states agree to push value-added tax project with oil low
Officials of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council agreed at the weekend to keep working toward the introduction of a value-added tax around the region, in a sign that low oil prices may be strengthening support for the idea.
World Bank plans help for regions in Iraq recaptured from Islamic State
The World Bank is seeking to finance development projects in areas in Iraq that the government has recaptured from Islamic State militants, its regional vice president said.
Latest News
OPEC will not take sole responsibility for propping up the oil price, Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Sunday, signaling the world's top petroleum exporter is determined to ride out a market slump that has roughly halved prices since last June.
HSBC Global Asset Management, an arm of HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L), is buying bonds of commodity exporting countries because their valuations have dropped so far with the plunge of oil prices, an executive said.
Saudi Arabia's OPEC governor Mohammed al-Madi said on Sunday that he believed it would be difficult for oil to reach a price range of $100-120 per barrel again.
An upset victory by Israel's centre-left opposition in Tuesday's election could be a welcome change for a business and corporate sector eager for the "peace dividend" that might come with a government willing to talk with the Palestinians.
Oil prices have started to stabilize around $60 a barrel in past weeks and will continue to firm up, while crude demand will grow stronger, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Sunday.
Dubai's Emirates Airline [EMIRA.UL] expects lower oil prices to translate into fuel savings in the financial year ending this month but is braced for foreign exchange hits in markets such as Europe, India and Russia, its chief operating officer said.
Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world's biggest weapons importer in 2014, a year when global defense trade rose for the sixth straight year to a record $64.4 billion, research company IHS said on Sunday.
Online payments company PayPal, a unit of eBay (EBAY.O), will buy Israeli cyber security company CyActive for $60 million, Israeli media reported.
Iran said oil prices would not rise above $60 a barrel until 2016 and that it would increase crude exports if Western sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Friday.
