Business FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016

SaudiGulf Airlines granted license for Saudi flights

RIYADH: has granted Civil Aviation (GACA) on June 9 and was Saudi Arabia, but not within the country. September and expects to start internation- SaudiGulf Airlines a license to operate granted its air operator certificate in a for- The Saudi authorities began accepting al flights to Dubai by the end of the year. domestic flights within the kingdom, the mal ceremony in on Wednesday applications to allow other airlines to oper- Representatives of SaudiGulf were not first such award in a long-planned liberal- night. Previously, only national carrier ate internal flights in 2012 and SaudiGulf, available for immediate comment yester- ization of the aviation market, state news Saudi Arabian Airlines and budget opera- owned by the Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani & day. Qatar Airways, through its subsidiary agency SPA reported. tor National Air Services were allowed to Sons group, had initially planned to start for the Saudi market, , also SaudiGulf, based in the eastern city of serve a domestic market of about 27 mil- operating internal flights in 2014. received an initial carrier license in 2012 but , received regulatory approvals lion people. The “Arab News” website reported that has yet to be given final approval to oper- from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Foreign carriers could fly in and out of SaudiGulf will begin domestic flights in ate flights in the kingdom. — Reuters News In Brief

Kuwait oil price up 51 cents to $44.96pb KUWAIT: The price of Kuwait oil went up by 51 cents to reach $44.96 per barrel Wednesday after being at $44.45 pb the day before, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday. At the world level, the price of oil increased Wednesday due to US energy expectation regarding the decrease in American crude reserves last week by 5.2 million barrels. The price of future contracts of the American crude went up by 46 cents to reach $50.31 per barrel, the same case occurred with the Brent mix which went up by 33 cents to $50.31 pb.

US dollar down to KD 0.300 KUWAIT: The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar went down to KD 0.300, while the euro went up to reach KD 0.341 yesterday, compared to Wednesday’s rates, said the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The CBK said in its daily bulletin that the exchange rate of the Sterling Pound increased to stand at KD 0.443, while the Swiss Franc stabilized at KD 0. 313. The Japanese Yen was unchanged at KD 0.002. Weakness appears in the dol- lar continued after the Federal Reserve meeting which saw installation of monetary policy and interest rates JAKARTA: An Indonesian woman purchases cookies at a street stall in Jakarta yesterday. The weakening global economy unchanged. The euro rose for the second day in a row in has directly affected the economy and Indonesia must rely on domestic economic growth sources this year, the minister the light of the high demand for major currencies in finan- of finance Bambang Brodjonegoro said earlier this week. — AFP cial markets amid voting in a historic referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union or leave. to offer 4G licenses

KSE main indices edge lower on closing in international auction KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange closed yesterday’s ses- sion with fall of the three main indices, with the price index losing 1.18 points reaching 5,407 points. The 4G part of plan to reform telecoms sector, end monopoly weighted index lost 0.06 points and Kuwait-15, 2.73.Value of traded shares reached upon closing KD 8,989 million : Egypt said yesterday it will offer Egypt but hopes to offer mobile phone fied license will put all four telecoms com- and volume of traded stocks was some 66,885 million, fourth-generation mobile licenses in an services itself following the introduction of panies on an equal footing and end a done in 1,858 deals. international auction if they are not taken high-speed 4G technology. monopoly, it also hopes to collect a total up by carriers already operating in the Telecom Egypt said earlier this week it of 22.3 billion Egyptian pounds from country. The sale of 4G licenses is part of a was studying the terms in detail ahead of licence fees, which will be collected in a Oman’s Jan-March budget long-awaited plan to reform Egyptian tele- applying for the 4G license. Egypt said in lump sum and not over instalments, Kadi deficit swells to $4.3bn coms and the regulator has approached 2014 when it laid out the 4G plan that said. All four companies have to sub- MUSCAT: Oman’s government posted a budget deficit the three companies currently offering Telecom Egypt would be allowed to offer mit applications for the license by the of 1.64 billion rials ($4.3 billion) in the first three months mobile services - Orange Egypt, Vodafone mobile services if it paid 2.5 billion first week of August. The mobile oper- of 2016 compared with a 545 million rial deficit a year Egypt, and Etisalat about buying them. Egyptian pounds ($282 million) and sold ators will also be able to apply for earlier, as low oil export prices slashed its revenues, pro- Egypt’s government will finalize techni- its Vodafone stake within a year of offering landline and international gateway visional Finance Ministry data showed yesterday. Oman’s cal negotiations with telecoms groups the services. The government says a uni- licenses. — Reuters statistics office stopped publishing monthly public over the licenses next week and start finance data in December last year, and resumed doing financial negotiations the week after, CBD closes in on up to $500m loan so with figures for January-March 2016. It gave no expla- Communications and Information nation for the interruption of data. The government’s Technology Minister Yasser Al-Kadi told DUBAI: Commercial Bank of Dubai to 10 banks are providing the CBD original 2016 budget plan envisaged state expenditure Reuters. “If any of the companies say they (CBD) is expected to sign a three-year loan including Citigroup, National of 11.9 billion rials and revenues at 8.6 billion rials. don’t want the 4G license we will offer it in loan in the next few days worth up to Bank of Abu Dhabi, Commerzbank Officials said their 2016 economic plans assumed an an international auction,” he said. The $500 million to refinance existing and Standard Chartered, two of the average oil price of $45 a barrel. reforms will enable landline monopoly debt, sources familiar with the matter sources said. Commerzbank was coor- Telecom Egypt to enter the mobile phone told Reuters yesterday. Gulf banks are dinating the loan, they said. market directly, while allowing the mobile keen to raise funds as liquidity comes The loan carried all-in pricing, Egypt sugar production operators to offer fixed line services, end- under pressure from lower oil prices which is inclusive of margin and fees, reaches 2.2 million tons ing Telecom Egypt’s domination of the and before possible further hikes in of 155 basis points over the London ABU DHABI: Egypt’s local production of sugar has exceeded sector. Telecom Egypt will not be required borrowing costs later in the year if the interbank offered rate (Libor), the 2.2 million tons this year, Agriculture Minister Essam Fayed to sell its stake in Vodafone Egypt but will US Federal Reserve raises interest sources said. said yesterday, meaning the country has reached 77 percent eventually dispose of it when it gets a rates again. Two of the sources said CBD was self-sufficiency. Fayed said in a statement that local consump- good offer, telecommunication sources Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, looking for $500 million but might tion is usually around 3.1 million tons meaning there is a con- told Reuters. The state-owned company was due to sign a three-year loan of as have to settle for $450 million if it could sumption deficit of 900,000 tons. owns a 45 percent stake in Vodafone much as $1.5 billion this week. Eight not get sufficient uptake. — Reuters