Category: Market

Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko called on Western allies to speed up the allocation to Ukraine of a $50 billion loan, arguing that delays in arms deliveries have led to a rising budget deficit.

The slow supply of weapons, especially from the United States, has led to an increase in military spending by $12 billion. This means that the country will see a deficit that other government officials believe will this year amount to a little below a quarter of GDP, nearly $43.5 billion, Marchenko said in an interview with the (Financial Times).

The $27 billion in direct US security assistance approved by Congress in April continues to flow slowly, Marchenko said as Ukraine is still experiencing a shortage of the required weapons and munitions.

According to the finance minister, this means that the country will not have enough money to pay allowances to its military. He added that aid delays meant salary packages reserved for the end of 2024 were utilized to procure the necessary arms and ammunition ear
lier this year.

Western allies do not directly finance the salaries of the Ukrainian Army but the dragging supplies of American weapons along with the simultaneous increase in own military spending means Kyiv will have to finance the war through expenditure cuts, state asset sales and tax hikes, the newspaper wrote.

Marchenko said that the risky financial situation underscores the need for the US and other countries to pledge more aid and pace up the provision of a $50 billion loan earlier vowed by G7 leaders.

The Group of Seven intends to complete the loan before year-end and have it paid back with proceeds from frozen Russian assets worth EUR 260 billion. Allies will decide how to spend the $50 billion, but Ukrainian government officials hope that at least part of it will be allocated for arms supplies.

Ukraine is in a really vulnerable position, Marchenko said, adding that the $50 billion loan is a ‘magical solution that would allow the nation to purchase military goods and prevent a financial collapse
that could be a concern to creditors such as the IMF.

With the US presidential election approaching, with Republican candidate Donald Trump threatening to put US aid to Ukraine to a halt, Marchenko expressed concern about delays following the summer vacation.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The general index of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) dropped 10.55 points, or 0.10%, at the beginning of trading on Monday, reaching 10,066 points, compared to yesterday’s closing.

QSE general index was weighed down by a decline in four sectors: Transportation by 0.20%; Industrials by 0.12%; Telecoms by 0.06% and Real Estate by 0.03%. On the other hand, the index saw a rise in Insurance by 1.57%; Consumer Goods and Services by 0.43%; and Banks and Financial Services by 0.11%.

By 10:00 am, 18.762 million shares were traded in 2,023 transactions valued QR 48.422 million.

Source: Qatar News Agency

South Korea and Turkiye have agreed to extend their currency swap deal by three years.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday that the three-year agreement, signed by the BOK and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkiye, allows for the exchange of local currencies between the two countries, South Korea’s News Agency (Yonhap) reported.

“This arrangement is designed to promote bilateral trade through a swap-financed trade settlement facility and financial cooperation between the two countries,” the two central banks said in a statement.

In 2021, the two countries signed their first three-year, 2.3 trillion-won (roughly $2 billion) currency swap agreement in a move to boost bilateral trade.

A currency swap is a tool for defending against financial turmoil by allowing a country beset by a liquidity crunch to borrow money from others with its own currency.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Oil prices rose for a fifth consecutive session on Monday, extending gains from last week’s more than 3% rise, as US recession fears eased while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East supported prices.

Brent crude futures climbed 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.88 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $77.20.

Brent ended last week up more than 3.5% on the week, while WTI gained more than 4%, on supportive economic data and increased hopes of a US interest rate cut.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Algeria’s Minister of Trade Tayeb Zitouni met Monday with his Niger’s counterpart Saidou Osman, who is currently visiting Algeria.

During the meeting, they discussed means to enhance economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, in addition to discussing the free trade zone project between Algeria and Niger.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Omani Minister of Heritage and Tourism Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi discussed on Sunday with Malaysias Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, who is visiting the Sultanate of Oman, aspects of cooperation in the fields of heritage and tourism between the two countries, enhancing mutual tourism, increasing the number of direct flights and expanding training programs in the field of tourism.

The meeting also included a review of the agreement on framing cooperation through the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries and the executive program that will contain limited areas and the accompanying timetable.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European stocks started trading higher on Monday as investors looked ahead to a week of important economic data from the US and Europe.

The STOXX Europe 600 index rose 0.4 percent.

The oil and gas sector rose about 1 percent as oil prices rose for a fifth straight session.

The financial sector index also rose about 1 percent, supported by Hannover Re, which jumped 6.2 percent after the German reinsurer unveiled first-half results.

BT Group jumped 6.6 percent after India’s Bharti Enterprises agreed to buy about 24.5 percent of Altice UK, the telecoms company’s biggest shareholder.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Omani Minister of Heritage and Tourism Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi discussed on Sunday with Malaysias Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, who is visiting the Sultanate of Oman, aspects of cooperation in the fields of heritage and tourism between the two countries, enhancing mutual tourism, increasing the number of direct flights and expanding training programs in the field of tourism.

The meeting also included a review of the agreement on framing cooperation through the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries and the executive program that will contain limited areas and the accompanying timetable.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The US Treasury Department has announced that the government recorded a budget deficit on an annual basis of $244 billion last July, an increase of 10 percent compared to the same month last year.

The Department explained, in a statement Monday, that the budget deficit increased last month by $23 billion from a deficit of $221 billion in July 2023.

In the first ten months of fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1, the deficit in the United States decreased by 6 percent to $1.517 trillion, compared to $1.614 trillion in the same period of fiscal year 2023.

The interest burden on outstanding US debt remained the biggest obstacle to the budget, as interest costs in the first ten months of the current fiscal year amounted to $956 billion, an increase of 32 percent over 2023.

The campaign to raise interest rates launched by the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), which aims to curb inflation, has made issuing debt for the federal government more expensive.

The weighted average interest rate on outstand
ing government debt was about 3.33 percent at the end of last July, the highest since January 2010, and an increase of about half a percentage point from last year.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The volume of real estate trading in sale contracts registered with the Real Estate Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice in July 2024, amounted to QR 1,105,135,825.

The data of the real estate analytical bulletin issued by the Ministry of Justice revealed that 246 real estate transactions were recorded during the month, as the number of properties sold index recorded an increase of 26 percent.

Doha, Al Rayyan, and Al Wakrah municipalities topped the most active transactions in terms of financial value in June, according to the real estate market index, followed by Al Dhaayen, Umm Salal, Al Khor and Al Dhakira, and Al Shamal.

The real estate market index for July 2024, revealed that the financial value of Doha municipality’s transactions amounted to QR 501,422,408. The financial value of Al Rayyan municipality’s transactions amounted to QR 284,996,956, while the financial value of Al Dhaayen municipality’s transactions amounted to QR 95,205,566. The financial value of Um Salal municipali
ty’s transactions amounted to QR 80,367,157. The financial value of Al Khor and Al Dhakira municipality’s transactions amounted to QR 23,668,952, while Al Shamal municipality recorded transactions with a value of QR 9,647,598 million.

In terms of the traded space index, indicators revealed that Doha, Al Rayyan, and Al Wakrah municipalities recorded the most active municipalities, in terms of traded real estate spaces during July 2024, with 30 percent for Doha municipality, followed by Al Rayyan municipality with 26 percent, and Al Wakrah with 16 percent. Al Dhaayen municipality recorded tradings with 14 percent, Um Salal with 9 percent, Al Khor and Al Dhakira recorded 3 percent, while Al Shamal municipality recorded 2 percent of the total traded spaces.

Concerning the index of the number of real estate transactions (sold properties), trading indices revealed that the most active municipalities during July were Doha with 29 percent, followed by Al Rayyan with 24 percent, then Al Wakrah with 19 percent. Al Dh
aayen recorded traded transactions with 13 percent, Um Salal with 7 percent, Al Khor and Al Dhakira with 5 percent, and Al Shamal with 3 percent of the total real estate transactions.

An average per square foot prices for July ranged between (384-834) in Doha, (258-417) in Al Wakrah, (335-455) in Al Rayyan, (258-483) in Umm Salal, (271-456) in Al Dhaayen, (233-338) in Al Khor and Al Dhakira, and (141-297) in Al Shamal.

The trading volume revealed the highest value of 10 properties sold in July with Doha recording 5 properties, three properties in Al Rayyan, and one property in Umm Salal and Al Dhaayen.

As for the volume of mortgage transactions in July, the number of transactions amounted to 193 transactions, with a total value of QR 6,537,798,004.

Doha recorded the highest number of mortgage transactions with 122 transactions, equivalent to 63.2 percent of the total number of mortgaged properties, followed by Al Rayyan with 37 transactions, equivalent to 19.2 percent of the total number of mortgaged prop
erties, followed by Um Salal with 13 transactions equivalent to 6.7 percent of the total number of mortgaged properties, then Al Wakrah with 9 transactions, equivalent to 4.7 percent, Al Dhaayen with 8 transactions, equivalent to 4.1 percent, along with Al Khor and Al Dhakira with 4 transactions, equivalent to 2.1 percent of the total number of mortgaged properties during July.

As to the value of mortgages, the municipality of Doha came in the lead with a value of QR 5,673,519,368, with Al Khor and Al Dhakira recording the lowest value of QR 9,629,453.

Source: Qatar News Agency