Saudi's Misk to offer 15 MENA start-ups up to $1m …

UAE News:
The Dubai Economy Tracker index edged down to 58.4 in June (May: 58.5), with the employment sub-index remaining flat at 49.4. Interestingly, while growth in the wholesale and retail sector’s business conditions slowed for the first time this year (59.9 in June), the construction sector posted the best performance since November 2018 (57).
Banking reserves at the UAE central bank increased by over AED 5bn from end-2018 to AED 298bn (USD 81.1bn) by end-May.
Abu Dhabi plans to launch a new industrial fund by the end of 2019, according to a senior official at the Industrial Development Bureau.
As per an administrative resolution issued by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, licensed industrial companies in the emirate can add commercial and service activities to their existing licenses.
UAE will construct a USD 900mn desalination plant in the northern emirate of Umm al Quwain: the project, to be undertaken by the Federal Electricity and Water Authority along with ACWA Power and MDC Power Holding Company, will see construction begin in H2 this year with initial water production scheduled in 2021.
UAE will impose a daily maximum of AED 7,000 for cash refunds of VAT for tourists applying through the Tax Refunds for Tourists Scheme. Tourists can recover an unlimited amount of taxes incurred if the amount is transferred to their card (instead of cash).
Average Dubai property prices are now 29.3% lower than their peak in mid-2014, according to the Q2 ValuStrat Price Index. Residential rentals have also shown a decline of 26.1% since mid-2014, dropping 3.4% quarterly and 10.7% annually.

MENA News:
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s non-profit Misk Foundation is offering 15 tech MENA start-ups the chance to participate in the Misk Growth Accelerator program and receive $100,000-$1 million of investment each.
The mean temperature in Bahrain was 36.3 degree Celsius in June this year – 3.9 degrees above the long-term June normal – making it the hottest June since 1902.
FDI into Jordan dropped by 33mn to USD 251mn in Q1, largely due to a dip in investments in the energy sector.
Saudi Arabia is planning to build 11 desalination plants under its privatisation programme with a total capacity of 4.3mn cubic metres a day.
The GCC attracted USD 51.6bn in FDI last year, according to the “Investment Climate Report 2019” published by the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation. Oman received the maximum (USD 19.6bn), followed by Saudi Arabia (USD 15.5bn) and UAE (USD 14.1). Overall investments were made in 635 new projects in the GCC, led by 528 companies, providing 60k new jobs.

Global News:
On rising market expectations of a rate cut as early as July, US equity markets had a record-setting week while the US yield curve steepened by the most in 3 years. European equities – ahead of the Q2 earnings season – took solace from some reassuring economic data while in Asia, markets dipped towards the end of the week following Trump’s Twitter comment that China was “letting us down” by not buying agricultural products. The dollar weakened on dovish Fed statements, the pound continues to be battered, sinking to a more than 2-year low last week while most Asian currencies strengthened. Oil prices picked up on Middle East tensions while gold prices nudged higher.

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SOURCES:
Nasser Saidi & Associates
Arabian Business