By Arab News
Published: 30 March, 2009

LONDON: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is a pioneer of Islamic finance, and is one of the largest Islamic banks in terms of capital, assets and balance sheet. KFH has subsidiaries in Turkey, Bahrain and Malaysia. It is a major player in the real estate sector financing pioneering portfolios in the UK, Sweden, the US, Johor Baru and Shenzhen. Here, Ali Al-Ghannam, head of International Real Estate, KFH, discusses the impact of the financial crisis on the real estate market and the prospects for Islamic banks in 2009. Read More...

Published: 20 March 2009

DUBAI - The UAE economy could shrink during the second half of the year if the global downturn intensifies, the Minister of Economy said on Thursday.

The outlook expressed by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri marked a turnaround from past statements by government officials. As recently as February, Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said he expected the UAE to see “low single-digit” growth in 2009.

Countries in the Gulf region have been reluctant to concede that their economies, which boomed during a six-year rally in crude oil prices, could contract as demand for petroleum slumps. The UAE is the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of oil and last year generated 48 per cent of its gross domestic product from shipments of crude. Read More...

By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
Published: 12 February, 2009

Riyadh: Bahrain has become the first GCC state to launch a bank for extending micro-credit facilities for the poor.

The Ibda'a (Creativity) Bank was launched jointly by Shaikha Sabeeka Bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, King Hamad's wife and chairwoman of Bahrain's Supreme Council for Women, and Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, president of the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisation in Manama on Wednesday evening. Read More...

Dubai: Private equity companies based in the region were on Tuesday warned against the pitfalls of relying on easy capital and excessive debt for transactions in light of the global financial turmoil, which has exposed the risks of doing business in that manner. Read More...

Born in 1940 in the seaport city of Chittagong, Professor Yunus studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, then received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and the following year became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. Returning to Bangladesh, Yunus headed the economics department at Chittagong University. Read More...