North Africa/Middle East

An oil trader sued the United Arab Emirates for $2.8 billion over allegations the state directed a smear campaign that pushed his company into bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The complaint, based on more than 8,000 hacked documents, shines a spotlight on the shadowy world of private intelligence agencies for hire. Oil trader Hazim Nada alleges that his company Lord Energy SA was targeted by a campaign of misinformation orchestrated by Swiss firm Alp Services SA, and ultimately directed by the UAE and its president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

The Israeli securities watchdog's new chairman, Seffy Zinger, heads to the United States next week to woo U.S. investors and reassure them that it is business as usual despite Israel's three-month war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, Reuters reported. The past year was for Israeli markets, with the main Tel Aviv 125 index dropping 15% following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group which led to the war in Gaza. The index subsequently rebounded to end 2023 up 4% but still significantly lagged U.S. indices. It is now trading at pre-war levels.

The Bank of Israel lowered short-term borrowing rates for the first time in nearly four years on Monday, becoming the first developed country to ease policy, while urging lawmakers to rein in spending that has soared during Israel's war with Hamas, Reuters reported. In reducing interest rates for the first time since April 2020, the central bank cited a stabilisation of financial markets since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7, declining inflation and weaker economic growth.

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are attempting to navigate Dubai’s red-hot housing market, which has outperformed most others around the world this year, Bloomberg News reported. Tenants, property analysts and developers are trying to predict whether the market is finally starting to turn as a slew of new properties are delivered and global economic uncertainty catches up with the emirate. So far, the boom has been underpinned by an influx of wealthy investors such as Russians seeking to shield their assets, crypto millionaires and rich Indians seeking second homes.

Egypt held interest rates after inflation kept slowing from a record while the government eyes an expanded International Monetary Fund loan and speculation swirls over the timing of a much-awaited currency devaluation, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank left the deposit rate at 19.25% and the lending rate at 20.25%, its Monetary Policy Committee said Thursday. Nine of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg correctly predicted the decision, which maintains the benchmark at its highest level in data that stretches back to 2006.

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron urged government leaders and lawmakers to maintain responsible fiscal policies during the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to boost defense spending, Reuters reported. Speaking on Sunday at an inauguration for his second five-year term as central bank chief, Yaron said that Israel needs to adapt its economic policy to the war since investors, ratings agencies, financial markets and the public "are currently keeping a close eye on policy in Israel".

The International Monetary Fund said it is in ongoing discussions with Egypt's government on additional financing as part of a current program, the Fund´s spokesperson Julie Kozack said in a press conference on Thursday, Reuters reported. "The exact size of financing is part of the ongoing discussions that IMF staff is having with the Egyptian authorities," Kozack added.

Israel's jobless rate surged to near 10% in October, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, after the outbreak of war with Palestinian Hamas militants led to tens of thousands of displaced citizens who had lived near the Gaza border, Reuters reported. The main unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% last month. But when taking into account what is expected to be a temporary loss of work, the rate reached 9.6% in October as 428,400 people were jobless versus 163,600 in September, prior to the Oct. 7 attack when Hamas gunmen rampaged though Israeli border towns.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters on Friday the Fund was "seriously considering" a possible augmentation of Egypt's $3 billion loan program due to economic difficulties posed by the Israel-Hamas war, Reuters reported.

The European Union is trying to speed up efforts to deepen its relationship with Egypt and help the country address the growing fallout from the Israel-Hamas conflict on its border, Bloomberg News reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planning to visit Cairo soon to advance efforts to support Egypt’s economic development and cushion the impact of the ongoing crisis, people familiar with the matter said.