UAE has no plans to start taxing personal income + Aramco rides the oil boom
A tax on the incomes of people living in the UAE “is not at the table at all now,” Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told Bloomberg yesterday. His reassurance comes a few weeks after the UAE said it would introduce a 9% federal corporate tax from June 2023, ending the country’s tax-free status for the first time. Companies have received the new levy in a “positive manner,” said the minister. Dubai is already considering cutting fees for businesses in a bid to soften the impact of the new tax.
Aramco shares hit all-time high on signs of swelling demand: Saudi Aramco shares surged following bullish remarks on oil demand from the company’s CEO, Bloomberg reports. Aramco shares rose 4.1% for a record close yesterday, pushing the company’s market valuation up by USD 83 bn to hit USD 2.1 tn. “With the global recovery we’re seeing today, there is more demand for products and we see that from different enclaves, especially in Asia,” CEO Amin Nasser said earlier in the day during a speech in Riyadh.
The price of Brent has risen around 20% so far in 2022 to USD 95.39 per barrel as post-lockdown demand continues to pick up and key producers find it difficult to increase supply. Many are forecasting oil prices to breach USD 100 in the near future, a view that is prompting frackers to get back into the game at some of their most challenging sights. Still, the US is bracing for the end of the industry.
And OPEC+ probably isn’t changing tack: The energy ministers of the cartel’s four biggest producers have indicated that monthly production hikes should not be increased faster when it next meets on 2 March, Bloomberg reports. OPEC+ has in recent months stuck to its strategy of gradual monthly production hikes, despite calls to up supplies more rapidly amid spiraling prices.
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EGX30 |
11,502 |
+1.2% (YTD: -3.7%) |
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USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
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USD at CIB |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
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Interest rates CBE |
8.25% deposit |
9.25% lending |
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Tadawul |
12,562 |
+0.8% (YTD: +11.3%) |
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ADX |
9,045 |
-1.2% (YTD: +6.6%) |
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DFM |
3,311 |
-0.5% (YTD: +3.6%) |
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S&P 500 |
4,349 |
-0.7% (YTD: -8.8%) |
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FTSE 100 |
7,484 |
-0.4% (YTD: +1.4%) |
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Brent crude |
USD 95.39 |
+2% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 4.77 |
+7.6% |
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Gold |
USD 1,912 |
+0.6% |
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BTC |
USD 37,561 |
-3.4% (as of midnight) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 rose 1.2% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 625 mn (39% below the 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is down 3.7% YTD.
In the green: Ezz Steel (+7.6%), Credit Agricole (+4.8%) and Fawry (+3.7%).
In the red: Mopco (-2.3%), Ibnsina Pharma (-2.2%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (-2.1%).