Middle Eastern states took measures this week to weather the impact of a looming US-led war on Iraq on their economies
Published:
15 March 2003 y., Saturday
In Amman, Minister of Commerce and Industry Salah Bashir said Thursday Jordan was counting on increasing its exports to the United States to make up for lost revenue from a halt in sales to Iraq in the event of war.
Jordan is expected to suffer the most in the region for the duration of a war, as Iraq is its biggest export market, and Baghdad has been supplying it with crude oil at a highly preferential rates for Jordanian industry. Bashir also said Jordan was planning to continue using Israel’s port of Haifa to ship its exports to the United States, mostly goods produced in duty free zones that are exempted from US duties in line with a 1996 agreement.
In Egypt, interest rates on treasury bonds were hiked for the second week in a row, reaching more than 10 percent, and state imports were frozen for three months, in order to relieve pressure exerted on the local pound by the looming war. The Egyptian pound has lost more than 20 percent to the dollar since it was free-floated on Jan. 29. Analysts said dollar-holders are generally unwilling to sell over concern that a war on Iraq might tighten hard currency supply further by causing a slump in tourism and exports.
Egypt’s flag carrier EgyptAir said Sunday flights to some destinations will be re-routed to avoid dangerous skies, and some flights will be regrouped in order to cut costs, should a war break out. The company expects serious hardship due to its dependency on tourist traffic.
In Lebanon, the central bank’s foreign currency reserves have been boosted to about $10 billion following the disbursement of funds promised last November by international donors, its governor Riad Salameh said. Lebanon has already received $2.2 billion of the $4.4 billion in loans promised by the donors’ conference held in Paris.
Šaltinis:
arabnews.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Hunter Monroe of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department visited Dominica during January 18-28 for the annual Article IV discussions on economic developments and macroeconomic policies.
more »
Experts in agriculture and government authorities coincided in requesting new management mechanisms and market regulation to protect the farming sector from the price crisis and enable generational changeover in rural areas at the European Congress of Young Farmers, organised by the ASAJA-Seville agricultural organisation.
more »
Immediate action is required to solve Europe's skills deficiencies and give Europeans a better chance of labour market success in the future, says an independent expert report published by the European Commission today.
more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 15.5 million to upgrade water supply and wastewater treatment in the City of Mykolayiv (southern Ukraine) and EUR 100 million to finance small and medium-sized investments in the areas of SMEs, energy efficiency and the environment in Ukraine.
more »
The European Commission can confirm that on 20 January 2010 Commission officials carried out targeted inspections at the premises of producers of Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS).
more »
The European Commission has authorised today under the State aid rules a Lithuanian scheme worth LTL 10 million (approximately EUR 2.9 million) aimed at supporting farmers who encounter difficulties as a result of the current economic crisis.
more »
The effects of the global food, fuel and economic crisis would be felt by Africa’s people for some time yet and it was important to persist with efforts to protect the most vulnerable while laying the foundations for future productivity and growth, World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said Tuesday.
more »
Mongolia’s herders have learnt a hard lesson this winter; a lesson that can perhaps be applied to managing Mongolia’s economy.
more »
DnB NORD Bankas, the leader of the country’s in investment products market, raises initial margin ratio for repurchase deals for most actively traded Lithuanian and Estionian shares.
more »
With over 23 million unemployed in the Europe Union and the jobless figure having risen in every member state since last year, how Europe is coping with the crisis and the effect on pension systems were discussed on Thursday 28 January.
more »