ArchivesTag : obg
Cash Flowing Freely
While inflation in the kingdom is relatively low, near record levels of money flowing through the Bahraini economy have sparked concerns of a possible inflationary breakout and have prompted moves by the kingdom’s central bank to take some of the heat out of the situation. On May 4, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) released [...]
Full StoryAnti-piracy Campaign Intensifies
Over the past couple of months, authorities across the Gulf have stepped up their attack on software pirates.
Full StoryLand Law Delays
A hole in Bahrain’s laws is being blamed for delays to a number of major infrastructure and development projects, with the state no longer empowered to acquire private land needed for work deemed in the public interest. Last year, Bahrain’s constitutional court handed down a landmark ruling, removing from the statute books a decree that [...]
Full StoryStart Your Engines
There is no telling who will take the checkered flag in this year’s Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix but one sure winner will be the kingdom’s economy, which will benefit from an injection of cash and international promotion. This year’s race, to be run over the weekend of April 4 to 6, is set to [...]
Full StoryBuilding on Success
After a record-breaking year in 2007, Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) is now looking to build on last year’s success, unveiling a series of new projects over the past few weeks. Having announced year-end results in January showing net profits of $340m for last year, a 61% increase over 2006, on February 17 the bank [...]
Full StoryLabour Arguments
Work has resumed at one of Bahrain’s biggest construction projects, after six days of strike action led by foreign labourers seeking better pay and conditions. On February 14, workers at the Durrat Al Bahrain construction site, a $6bn tourism and recreation development, ended a nearly week-long strike, after receiving a verbal agreement from management to [...]
Full StoryBanking Still In Its Prime
Bahrain looks set to avoid most of the direct fallout from the current international financial crisis caused by the near collapse of the US sub-prime market, though a global economic slowdown will leave its mark. The greatest bulwark the kingdom’s financial sector has against the effects of the sub-prime crisis is the rising tide of [...]
Full StoryRevival of an Old Mainstay
Bahrain is moving quickly to clear the way for energy exploration to begin on three blocks off the kingdom’s coast, with the Shura Council giving its approval to two tenders, which were ratified by the parliament in mid-January. The council, the upper house of the National Assembly, on January 28 gave its approval to the [...]
Full StoryChanging Climate
While Bahrain’s business and investment climate is widely considered to be among the best in the Gulf region, praised for its openness and accountability, the kingdom’s natural environment is becoming an increasing cause for long-term concern. According to Rehan Ahmed, an environment specialist with Bahrain’s Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and [...]
Full StoryDevelopments Afield
Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) will ring in the new year in style, putting the final touches to two multi-billion dollar deals in mid-December that will lock the company into major developments in North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. On December 17, GFH unveiled plans for a new financial centre to be built in Tunisia, [...]
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