Bahraini.TV

Gulf nations may opt first for dollar in currency union

Four Gulf nations entering the Middle East’s first monetary union pact are expected to peg their single currency to the US dollar in the first phase of the historic project but might opt for a basket later, according to analysts.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, members of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), have kept [...]

Welcome Ya Sheikh! Kill the endangered bird

KARACHI: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given permission to 27 dignitaries of the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to set up hunting camps in 63 districts of all four provinces and hunt the protected and endangered bird, the houbara bustard.
Last month, 10 licences were issued to Arab princes and sheikhs allowing them to [...]

UAE-Bahraini joint committee meeting concluded

The UAE-Bahrain joint committee’s 6th meeting concluded today as UAE side was led by Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, while his Bahraini counterpart H.E. Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa led his country’s side.
In the meeting’s concluding speech, Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the two countries’ willingness to step up cooperation [...]

Gulf petro-powers to launch currency in latest threat to dollar hegemony

The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate.

“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a [...]

Gulf states to launch their own petrodollar, the ‘gulfo’

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union.
”The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said the Kuwaiti Finance Minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council summit meeting in Kuwait City. The [...]

GCC Approves Bahraini Candidate as Secretary General

The Gulf Cooperation Council endorsed the appointment of Bahrain’s candidate as secretary general of the six-nation organization.
Mohammed Al Mutawa, cultural affairs adviser to the Bahraini premier, was the Bahraini candidate. The new secretary general will replace Qatar’s Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah in 2011, when Attiyah’s term ends, according to the communiqué released today at the end [...]

GCC to create rapid reaction force; Gulf against military action on Iran

Arab states in the Gulf are opposed to any military action against neighbouring Muslim Iran over its nuclear programme, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah said Tuesday. “We do not accept any military action against Iran,” Sheikh Mohammad said at the end of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council. “Any tension in the region [...]

Gulf monetary union agreement enacted, Kuwait says

Gulf Arab countries enacted a monetary union agreement on Tuesday despite the absence of major player the United Arab Emirates and fellow oil producer Oman.
The central bankers from four states in the union — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain — will now set a timetable for the creation of a joint central bank, Kuwait’s [...]

Dubai receives a $10bn bailout from Abu Dhabi

• Surprise lifeline helps Dubai avoid defaulting on $4.1bn bond
• In London FTSE 100 rises by 69 points following gains in Asia
Dubai has received a crucial $10bn (£6bn) bailout from Abu Dhabi, news which sent shares in the Gulf region soaring this morning.
The surprise lifeline means the troubled emirate will avoid defaulting on its $4.1bn [...]

Dubai woes loom as Gulf leaders prepare to meet

Ongoing concerns about Dubai’s financial woes could overshadow efforts to more closely align Gulf Arab nations’ economies when the region’s leaders meet Monday in Kuwait.
The annual gathering of top officials from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council economic bloc begins on the same day a closely watched $3.52 billion pile of Dubai debt comes due.
Investors are [...]

GCC states closer to achieving one currency

Gulf Arab oil exporters will move closer to a unified currency when their rulers meet on Monday in Kuwait, which promised to seek the return of the United Arab Emirates and Oman to the monetary union plan.
The UAE, the second largest Arab economy, dealt a serious blow to the union by pulling out in May [...]

Sectarian divide ‘not behind Yemen fighting’

BAHRAIN’S Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa last night played down suggestions that fighting in Yemen was an extension of a broader Sunni-Shi’ite conflict.
He said poverty, and a lack of resources and development were at the root of the dispute, which has once again pitched Houthi rebels against the Yemeni government.
The conflict is [...]

Bahrain’s King Approves Gulf Monetary Union Pact

Bahrain’s king Hamad bin Issa al Khalifa approved a monetary union agreement that will pave the way for the launch of a single currency among four Gulf Arab states, state-run Bahrain News Agency, or BNA, reported Thursday.
King Khalifa issued a decree on the union, after it was ratified by the Council of Representatives and the [...]

Son of late Abu Dhabi ruler put on trial

Abu Dhabi authorities have put on trial Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the ruling family caught on tape apparently torturing an Afghan business associate, the Financial Times can reveal.
Sheikh Issa, one of 19 sons of Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s late ruler, is charged [...]

Dubai shares hit 38-week low as Gulf stocks slump

Dubai’s index fell to a 38-week low yesterday, weighing on other Gulf markets, while the cost of insuring the emirate’s debt soared as investors grew increasingly nervous about Dubai World’s $26bn restructuring.
Dubai’s measure fell 6.4% to 1,533 points. Abu Dhabi’s index dropped 2.8% to 2,467 points.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark fell 2.4% to 5,954 points. Kuwait’s index [...]