UAE Announces Tax Change on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages …

UAE News:

UAE’s Ministry of Finance launched its 2027-2029 budget cycle, projected to reach AED 900bn (same as the previous four consecutive cycles); it will integrate AI into the process and highlight a performance-based approach. Also disclosed was that public debt levels were stable at AED 62.1bn in June 2025 and federal government assets had risen to around AED 464.4bn by the end of 2024.

UAE MoF and FTA announced a change to excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages – from the current flat rate, it will be revised to a higher tax per litre if the sugar content per 100 ml is higher. This will be applicable from the beginning of next year.

A consortium of Turkish and Chinese firms developing the AED 20.5bn Dubai Metro Blue Line project has secured green financing from Emirates NBD (under the “clean transportation” category). No further details were provided.

Business licenses issued by the DED in Ras Al Khaimah grew by 17.6% YoY to 1,219 in H1 2025, with industrial licenses growing the fastest (111%), followed by professional licenses (20%) and commercial licenses (12.6%).

Dubai climbed five places to the seventh most expensive city globally, as per the Swiss Wealth Manager-Julius Baer Group, largely a result of higher prices of high-end cars (12.5%) and luxury property (17%+). The list was topped by Singapore, London and Hong Kong.

UAE-based Wizz Air announced that it would cease operations from September 1st. This was partly due to challenges with the flights geared turbofan (GTF) engines that resulted in the grounding of almost one-fifth of the fleet.

Adnoc Gas signed an agreement with Germany’s Securing Energy for Europe (Sefe) to supply LNG for three years. Sefe has the discretion to decide on its delivery destinations.

MENA News:

Bahrain plans to invest more than USD 17bn in the US, including the purchase of 12 Boeing aircrafts (with an option for 6 more) and 36 GE engines for Gulf Air. US officials also stated that deals were also expected with Oracle and Cisco. Furthermore, an interim agreement was signed to cooperate on the development of civil nuclear energy.

Egypt granted golden licenses for three strategic projects: one of the projects is Masdar IPH Wind Energy LLC’s 200 MW wind energy project, which is estimated to begin operations by end-May 2027.

VAT on alcohol and cigarettes was hiked in Egypt and taking effect from November. VAT on cigarettes will rise each year by 12% while VAT on alcohol will be raised by 15% annually for the next three years and then the increase will fall back to 12%.

Iraq’s government inaugurated the rebuilt Mosul International Airport: it took almost five years to rebuild, and the airport will begin operations “within two months after a specialised company is selected to operate and manage it” according to the PM.

The CEO of the Kuwait Stock Exchange disclosed that the exchange will restart listing of ETFs, sukuk and bonds in 2025, after having completed the required IT infrastructure and testing to enable such trading.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued 9,881 new company licenses in Q1 2025, up 9.4% YoY. Micro and freelance licenses jumped to 1,453 from 1,000 in Q1 2024.

Lebanon is facing a water crisis. A decline in rainfall and pressure on groundwater has led to historic low water levels at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River, reported Reuters. Water levels fell to 45mn cubic meters during the wet season this year, and pales in comparison to last year’s 230mn and annual average of 350mn cubic metres. This will affect negatively agricultural production, domestic water supplies and hydroelectricity.

Syria announced an overhaul of its tax reforms in a bid to raise fiscal revenues, boost transparency and attract foreign investment. As per the new draft (under consultation till July 30th), individuals earning less than USD 12k annually will be fully exempt from income tax, and corporate tax rates will be tailored according to the sector of operation; in addition, digital systems will be introduced to reduce tax evasion and increase compliance.

US Treasury holdings by Saudi Arabia declined by 4.6% MoM and 6.3% YoY to USD 127.7bn in May, though it remained the 17th largest global investor. UAE holdings declined by 8.24% mom to USD 103.6bn but remained the 19th largest holder of US Treasuries (however, in YoY terms, UAE holdings were up by 46.3%). Kuwait gained by 5.2% MoM & 23.4% YoY to a new record high USD 57.02bn in May (previous high: USD 54.2bn April 2025).

Saudi Arabia announced a new low-cost airline with a fleet of 45 planes – to be ready by 2030. The flights will operate from and to the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam (catering to 24 domestic destinations and 57 international destinations).

Saudi Arabia attracted USD 32bn in mining investments – for projects in iron, phosphate, aluminium, and copper – almost one-third of the aim is to attract USD 100bn into the sector by 2030. The vice minister of industry and mineral resources also stated that the number of exploration firms rose to 132 (60% SMEs and up from just six in 2019) and that mineral exploration spending had quadrupled since 2018, reaching USD 100 per square km, with an annual growth rate of 32%.

Saudi Sport Clubs Company’s retail IPO was 534% oversubscribed: 259,690 retail investors placed orders of SAR 248mn at the final offer price of SAR7.5 per share.

Feasibility studies for a direct shipping line between Saudi Arabia and Morocco are expected to be completed by end-2025. The line will reduce transit time to four days from four weeks. Bilateral trade clocked in USD 2.9bn in 2024, and Saudi exports to Morocco were USD 2.7bn.

Aramco is in talks with a group led by BlackRock regarding a Jafurah investment deal: this is to invest USD 10bn in a pipeline and gas-fired power plants and is expected to be similar to the two “lease and lease-back” deals signed by Aramco in 2021.

Bloomberg reported that Musk’s xAI was in discussions to lease data centre capacity in Saudi Arabia. One of the firms it is in discussion with is developing a 200MW facility.

Global News:

Most major markets posted gains last week, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and MSCI All Country indices touching record highs last Friday, partly due to the strong earnings reporting season and despite threats by President Trump of firing Fed Chairman Powell. FTSE100 reached 9000 points for the first time on Tuesday and Stoxx ended the week roughly flat. Regional markets were mixed, with many gaining on a boost from earnings while Saudi Arabia declined by 2.4% and the UAE markets (that were open on Friday) closed much higher on higher oil prices and EU sanctions on Russia (Abu Dhabi and Dubai up by 2.0% and 4.1% respectively). Among currencies, the Japanese yen fell to its weakest vis-à-vis the USD (down to the weakest since April 2) and the euro ended lower after news that Trump is considering a minimum tariff of 15-20% on the EU. Oil prices, both Brent and WTI, slipped by about two percent from the week before. Gold price weakened from the week earlier, on a stronger dollar and attractive equity markets.

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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates