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SINGAPORE: Beijing has told China’s state refiners to consider pausing exports of gasoline and diesel in April as the Ukraine war sparks supply concerns, several sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
“This is to prevent a shortage as independent refiners are under big pressure to lower throughput in the face of soaring crude oil prices,” said one source with knowledge of the discussions.
RIYADH: Egypt is set to accelerate its initial public offering program, with plans to propose stakes in at least 10 state-owned companies next year, according to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
In a Facebook post, the Egyptian prime minister’s office said that some of the companies which will float its shares include Wataniya Co., Safi Co., Silo Food Co, and 580-megawatt wind farm Gabal El Zeit.
The PM office added that shares of state-owned Alexandria Bank and Banque du Caire will also be included in the upcoming offerings.
The announcement made by Madbouly indicates new efforts from the government to divest some of its assets to strengthen the country’s private sector and fiscal capabilities.
Earlier this month, Egypt’s United Bank completed the public and private offering of 330 million shares, representing 30 percent of its issued capital.
The United Bank offering raised a total of 4.57 billion Egyptian pounds ($90 million).
Other companies that will be listed in 2025 include CID Pharma, Misr Pharma, and Alamal Alsharif Plastics.
Regarding tourism growth, Madbouly said that Egypt had a succesful year despite regional crises and geopolitical tensions.
“This year, we will exceed 15 million tourists despite all the challenges that have affected the arrival of tourists in the region, but Egypt is on a good track in this area, and the numbers will be better next year,” said the prime minister.
He added: “We are working in the tourism sector strongly, and we are moving ahead to increase hotel rooms, and improve the tourist experience in Egypt.”
In the Facebook post, the PM’s office also highlighted the progress of the electricity connection project between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
He added that the work at the Badr converter station is 65 percent completed, with the first phase of the project’s wiring process expected to be completed before the next summer season.
The prime minister further said that Egypt’s inflation rate fell to 25.5 percent in November, a significant decrease in this index over the past two years.
In September 2023, the inflation rate in Egypt had increased to an all-time high of 38 percent.
Madbouly added that the country’s reserve cash index has also improved, reaching $47 billion in November.
Earlier this month, a report released by Fitch Ratings echoed the economic revival of Egypt. It highlighted that the general business and operating conditions for financial institutions in the country are expected to improve next year.
The US-based agency added that falling inflation, improved investor confidence, and healthy foreign currency liquidity conditions are some of the major factors that could strengthen the banking sector in Egypt in 2025.
RIYADH: Saudi banks’ money supply increased by 9.21 percent year on year in October, reaching SR2.94 trillion ($782.96 billion), according to the Kingdom’s central bank, also known as SAMA.
A significant portion of this growth was driven by term deposits, which surged by 15.34 percent to SR971.1 billion during the period.
Demand deposits, the largest component of the money supply, accounted for 48.55 percent, or SR1.42 trillion, but recorded a comparatively modest growth rate of 8.63 percent.
In contrast, other quasi-money deposits, which represent 10.64 percent of the money supply, declined by 4.27 percent, totaling SR312.51 billion.
Time and savings deposits accounted for 33.07 percent of Saudi Arabia’s money supply in October, marking their highest level in nearly 15 years.
This upward trend has gained momentum in recent years, largely due to SAMA’s alignment of its interest rate policy with the US Federal Reserve.
The Fed’s tightening cycle, which pushed interest rates to a peak of 6 percent in July 2022, incentivized depositors to shift toward interest-earning accounts to maximize returns during this period of elevated rates.
This mirrored policy, aimed at combating inflation, made interest-generating accounts increasingly attractive to Saudi depositors seeking higher returns.
A significant factor contributing to the growth of term deposits has been the influence of institutional deposits, particularly from government-related entities.
According to Fitch Ratings, these entities accounted for a substantial 70 percent of the total deposit inflows in 2023. This strategic channeling of funds into time deposits not only provided banks with much-needed liquidity but also highlighted the role of bulk deposit agreements with favorable terms as a growth driver for this category.
Despite the Federal Reserve shifting to a monetary easing stance — reducing rates by 50 basis points in September and an additional 25 basis points in November — term deposits in Saudi banks continue to gain traction.
Government-linked entities appear to maintain their preference for term deposits due to their stability and return potential.
Additionally, the predictability of these deposits aligns well with the broader macroeconomic environment, where banks rely on such inflows to manage liquidity pressures effectively and maintain operational stability.
Another contributing factor could be the interest rate lag, where the transmission of lower benchmark rates into domestic banking systems takes time. This lag keeps deposit rates relatively competitive, allowing time deposits to retain their appeal even as monetary policy shifts toward easing.
Time and savings accounts, while crucial for liquidity management, are generally considered a costlier funding source for banks due to the interest obligations they carry.
Saudi banks, however, have managed to maintain robust profitability metrics, with most reporting strong financial results in 2023 and through 2024.
Fitch Ratings projects this strength to persist throughout 2024, supported by favorable macroeconomic conditions and the Kingdom’s high operating environment score of bbb+ — the highest among Gulf Cooperation Council banking sectors and emerging markets globally.
KARACHI: Haleon Pakistan plans to start manufacturing multivitamin brand Centrum in the country for domestic sales and export, its CEO said, as it seeks to boost sales in the country amid lower inflation.
The Pakistan unit of British consumer health care firm Haleon plans to expand its pain management offerings next year by adding the Panadol range for menstrual pain and migraines, CEO Farhan Muhammad Haroon told Reuters in an interview.
“Pakistan has a 24 billion rupee ($86.30 million) Vitamin Mineral Supplement market. This does not include the grey market. We already make up 7.5 billion rupees ($26.97 million) of the market through our (vitamin) products CAC-1000 Plus and Qalsium-D,” said Haroon.
“With the launch of Centrum, we plan to capture 7 to 8 percent of the remaining market immediately, which is a sizeable portion of the category.”
Haroon said the company plans to sell Centrum in smaller bottles so customers do not have to worry about high upfront costs, as purchasing power has diminished in the country after inflation hit a multidecade high of around 40 percent last year. In November, Pakistan’s consumer price index inflation slowed to 4.9 percent.
Haroon said in the first stage of the Centrum launch, expected in the first quarter of 2025, the product will be imported, and in the second stage it will be made locally with market specific variants to suit needs of Pakistanis and other export markets.
“We already export our calcium and vitamin D supplement CAC-1000 Plus and topical pain relief product Voltral Emulgel to Vietnam and Philippines, we will be ready to export to 19 countries in the next 1-1.5 years,” he said.
Haleon Pakistan sees at least 10 percent of its sales coming from exports in the next two years, up from 5 percent-6 percent during its peak in 2022, Haroon said, adding that it had invested $10 million last year to enhance local production capabilities.
LONDON: Oil prices were little changed in Asian trade on Thursday as forecasts of weak demand and a higher-than-expected rise in US gasoline and distillate inventories stemmed gains from an additional round of EU sanctions threatening Russian oil flows.
Brent crude futures were up 14 cents at $73.66 a barrel at 8:19 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 6 cents to $70.35. Both benchmarks rose over $1 each on Wednesday.
OPEC cut its demand growth forecasts for 2025 for the fifth straight month on Wednesday and by the largest amount yet.
“Investors will be closely monitoring the IEA’s market balance estimates for 2025, which will reflect OPEC’s recent announcement,” analysts at ANZ said in a note on Thursday.
In the world’s top oil consumer, the US gasoline and distillate inventories rose by more than expected last week, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
Weak demand, particularly in top importer China, and non-OPEC+ supply growth were two factors behind the move. However, investors anticipate a rise in Chinese demand, after Beijing unveiled plans this week to adopt an “appropriately loose” monetary policy in 2025, which could spur oil demand.
Global oil demand rose at a slower-than-expected rate this month, but has remained resilient, analysts at JPMorgan said in a note on Thursday.
“Growth (in oil demand) over the past week has been tempered by a slight reduction in jet fuel consumption across much of the world,” the note read.
Chinese crude imports also grew annually for the first time in seven months in November, up more than 14 percent from a year earlier.
The market will now watch for cues on interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve next week.
Prices rose on Wednesday after EU ambassadors agreed to a 15th package of sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine. They targeted the “shadow fleet” of ships that has aided Russia in bypassing the $60 per barrel price cap imposed by the G7 on Russian seaborne crude oil in 2022, and has helped keep Russian oil flowing.
The Kremlin said that reports of a possible tightening of US sanctions on Russian oil suggested the administration of President Joe Biden wants to leave a difficult legacy for US-Russia relations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that the US is continuing to look for creative ways to reduce Russia’s oil revenue, adding that lower global demand for oil created an opportunity for more sanctions.
ISLAMABAD: A Chinese delegation that called on President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed interest in investing $1 billion to establish a medical city in Pakistan, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Thursday.
Longtime ally China has invested heavily in Pakistan through the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that encompasses infrastructure, energy and other projects and is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
But ties have frayed in recent months as Beijing has publicly voiced concerns about the security of its workers and projects in Pakistan amid a rise in attacks by militants on Chinese nationals and projects. Media reports in recent weeks have also widely speculated that China has said it will not continue with CPEC projects unless Pakistan can guarantee security.
“The Chinese delegation expressed interest to invest one billion dollar to establish a medical city in Pakistan to advance the country’s health care sector,” Radio Pakistan reported after a Chinese delegation led by the consul general in Karachi, Yang Yundong, called on Zardari on Wednesday evening.
“The delegation also expressed interest to invest in diverse sectors of Pakistan’s economy, especially agriculture, livestock, energy, transport, and manufacturing.”
“Pakistan is committed to facilitating and supporting Chinese investors in every possible way,” the report quoted the president as telling the delegation. “He emphasized the need for enhanced interaction between the people of the two countries, especially between the investors and businesses, to increase bilateral trade and economic relations.”
Zardari also spoke about the southwestern deep-sea port of Gwadar that China is developing under CPEC, saying it would soon become a “regional trade and economic hub that would not only improve regional connectivity but would also boost regional trade and economic cooperation.”
Gwadar is on the Arabian Sea in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, a mineral-rich region plagued by a decades-long separatist insurgency. China has invested heavily in the province, including by developing Gwadar, which is key to CPEC.
The China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), which operationally handles Gwadar, plans to eventually expand the port’s capacity to up to 400 million tons of cargo per year. Long term plans for the port require a total of 100 berths to be developed by 2045. For now, Gwadar is underutilized for commercial import and export due to reasons such as distance from the marketplaces of the country, security and services availability.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered that 50 percent of all public sector cargo be brought to Pakistan through Gwadar. The instructions subsequently received cabinet approval in September.
