അടുത്ത ദശകത്തോടെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ സ്വര്‍ണവിപണി 33% വളര്‍ച്ച നേടുമെന്ന്‌ വിദഗ്‌ധസമിതി

കൊച്ചി: 2020 ആവുമ്പോഴേക്കും ഇന്ത്യയിലെ സ്വര്‍ണ ഉപഭോഗം 1200 ടണ്ണായി ഉയരുമെന്ന്‌ വേള്‍ഡ്‌ ഗോള്‍ഡ്‌ കൗണ്‍സില്‍ നിയോഗിച്ച വിദഗ്‌ധ സമിതി നടത്തിയ പഠനം വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നു.

MUSCAT – Oman has dismantled an Emirati spy ring that was targeting the government and the military in the Gulf sultanate, a security official said Sunday in a report quickly denied by the United Arab Emirates.

“Security forces (of Oman) were able to discover a spy ring belonging to the state security forces of the United Arab Emirates targeting the regime in Oman and the mechanism of governmental and military work there,” said the official, quoted by the official ONA news agency.

The cell was uncovered five months ago, before it was watched and dismantled by Omani security services, an official close to the case told AFP.

The cell “gathered information on the Sultanate’s military, security and economy, in return for large sums of money from Emirati security services,” the same official added requesting anonymity.

The cell “was interested in the issue of the succession of Sultan Qaboos, in the absence of an heir to the throne,” a security official said.

Succession could pose a problem in Oman, as the 70-year-old sultan, who overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1970, does not have children.

Qaboos was briefly married in 1976 to his cousin Kamila, the daughter of his paternal uncle Tariq bin Taymur.

The basic law of Oman, adopted in 1996, stipulates that the ruling family meets in the case of a vacuum in power to choose a successor to the sultan within three days.

If they fail to reach an agreement, the Council of Oman, which consists of the Council of State and Majlis ash-Shura (the Consultative Council), appoints the person named in a will left by the sultan.

“The accused will be presented for trial,” the official cited by ONA said.

Reacting, the UAE said it “has received with shock and surprise the information reported by” ONA, adding in a foreign ministry statement carried by state news agency WAM, that it “denies any knowledge of or link to such an alleged network.”

The UAE in the statement declared its “readiness to put all the capabilities and information that will help serve (Oman’s) investigations… and discover those who tried to harm” relations between the two Gulf neighbours.

The dismantling of the spy ring could strain relations between the two countries that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

In July 2008, Oman and the UAE completed the delineation of their 1,000-kilometre (625-mile) shared borders, in line with a June 2002 accord.

The two neighbours differ in politics.

Oman has very good relations with Iran, while the UAE is a staunch ally of the United States. The UAE also has a long-lasting dispute with Tehran over three Iran-controlled islands in the Gulf.

Qaboos, known for rarely travelling out of Oman, was the first foreign leader to travel to Iran since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a disputed 2009 vote.

Oman has always had close relations with Iran and remained neutral during the war between the Islamic Republic and Iraq that lasted from 1980 to 1988, unlike most of its Arab neighbours who had supported the regime of the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

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Forex: EUR/USD hits new low at 1.3180

EUR/USD trades below 1.3200
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) – Amid poor liquidity, the Euro was further punished by Asian investors, losing ground quite aggressively after a short-lived rebound on Irish bail-out details. EUR/USD was able to trade above 1.3300 in the interbank trading, to be exacts 1.3345 was the highest level posted.

However, at the Tokyo opening, risk sentiment worsened quite dramatically, with the USD and CHF – best performing currencies last week – gaining ground against its main rivals. EUR/USD went on a rampage from 1.3290 at 23:00 GMT to hit its new lowest level for 9 weeks at 1.3180 by 2:00 GMT.

European growth loses momentum in third quarter

The European economy lost momentum during the third quarter as global demand slowed and governments cut spending, data released on Friday show.

The gross domestic product of the 16-member eurozone expanded by 0.4 per cent in the three months to the end of September, after growing a solid 1 per cent during the second quarter, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office.

Indian rupee, Sterling and Australian dollar decline

The Indian rupee on Monday snapped a three-day winning streak

Sterling

Sterling fell to session lows against the dollar and euro on Tuesday after a lower-than-expected reading in UK factory orders. The Confederation of British Industry survey’s total order book balance dropped to -28 this month from -17 in September, below expectations for a reading of -19. Sterling fell more than 30 pips to a session low of $1.5773. The euro extended gains to hit the day’s high of 88.25 pence.

US dollar

The US dollar index firmed 0.3 percent to 77.281. Technical charts suggest that it needs to extend above its Oct. 12 high of 77.93 to signal a short-term bottom is in place after Friday’s 10-month trough of 76.144. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner gave a brief fillip to the dollar after he said the United States would not engage in dollar devaluation and also needed to work hard to preserve confidence in a strong dollar. The comment had little lasting impact beyond being a reassurance from the U.S. for investors to maintain confidence in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, after the greenback’s fall of the past few months, and as tensions stir ahead of meetings of the G20 on talk of competitive devaluations.

Indian rupee

The Indian rupee on Monday snapped a three-day winning streak as the dollar’s gains versus major units overseas weighed, but hopes for capital inflows stayed firm with the launch of the country’s largest-ever share sale. The partially convertible rupee closed at 44.36/37 per dollar, 0.6 percent below 44.10/11 at close on Friday, when the rupee rose as high as 43.95, its highest since Aug. 29, 2008. The rupee traded in a band of 44.1800-44.4150 during the day. On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao said the central bank will intervene in the forex market if inflows turn lumpy.

Dubai at 16-mth low as Gulf markets fall

DUBAI – Middle East markets extended losses on Wednesday, with Dubai falling to a 16-month low as overnight losses on U.S. bourses pushed regional investors to sell.

Saudi and Omani stocks fell for the sixth session in seven, Kuwaiti shares for the fifth in six and the Egyptian market extended its losing streak to seven trading days.

“It’s still too early to position for Q2 numbers, especially with the inherent volatility,” said Julian Bruce, EFG-Hermes director of institutional equity sales.

Dubai’s index fell 1.4 percent to 1,462 points, its lowest close since Feb. 9, 2009. Arabtec dipped 2.8 percent and Dubai Financial Market lost 2.1 percent.

“Today was a reaction to the aggressive sell-off on international markets following disappointing economic numbers from China and there’s a lack of interest locally in our markets so they are moving lower,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Alternative Investments.

“China and Asia had been expected to lead growth in 2010, while the Europe and the U.S. were facing problems.”

On Tuesday, a Chinese economic indicator was revised downwards, hitting global sentiment.

Dubai investment bank Shuaa Capital fell 6.3 percent to a 13-month low after the chief executive of its brokerage arm resigned.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark also declined, falling 0.7 percent as Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate lost 3.5 and 4.9 percent respectively.

U.S. poverty rate hits 15-year high

The U.S. poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent in 2009 from 13.2 percent the year before, bringing the percentage of the population living in poverty to the highest level since 1994, as the economic downturn took its toll on jobs, the U.S. government said on Thursday. The U.S. Census Bureau said 43.6 million people, or one in seven Americans, lived in poverty last year, up from 39.8 million in 2008. The data paints a picture of rising hardship and declining incomes for many living in the United States and hands more bad economic news to Democrats ahead of Nov. 2 congressional elections. “Our economy plunged into recession almost three years ago on the heels of a financial meltdown…

Targeting Islamic finance – Gulf News

Following a story about the ‘flop’ of Islamic banking in the UK, Reuters has followed up with an interesting article about the problems of Egypt’s Islamic finance sector. The story highlights a combination of 1980s-style corruption scandals (Ponzi schemes), the lack of political will (level regulatory playing field) and growing consumer demand (an 80 million population), which has stunted the potential for Islamic finance in Egypt despite an interest in the country by Gulf-based Islamic banks.

In the article, a professor is quoted as saying Egypt is reluctant to encourage Islamic finance as it may result in political gain for the opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, yet in offering it, it may attract more Islamic groups.

Question: Does the Egyptian ‘anti-Islamist’ situation resonate in the US?

The Egyptian government seems to be concerned about the potential consequences if it levelled the playing field for Islamic finance, and a US anti-Sharia movement is concerned about consequences of Sharia finance in America.

Let us take a step back for a deeper dive.

To my knowledge, a platform of Islamic finance has never been outcome determinative in any modern elections. It is more complicated, as Islamic finance has reached less than 2 per cent of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the 40 years of its existence. In fact, the Halal food industry has greater penetration in Muslim and non-Muslim countries than Islamic finance. Maybe the anti-Sharia movement needs to scrutinise the Halal food industry/consumption in US, as it may result in the end of baconburgers.

No backdoor creeping

Which Muslim majority country, ie, an Islamic Republic, has truly ‘Islamicised’ their economy, meaning Islamic capital markets, companies and banks, and de-linked from interest-bearing instruments? Not Pakistan, Iran, Sudan nor any of the 57 Muslim-majority countries have Islamicised the economy since the birth of Islamic finance in the 1970s. For example, in Malaysia — where Islamic finance can be said to have started holistically in 1983 — only about 20 per cent of all banking operate under Islamic tenets.

There are more Islamic finance hubs in non-Muslim countries — like the UK, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Australia — than in declared Muslim countries like Bahrain, Dubai and Malaysia. Islamic finance has been in the UK since the 1980s, and, now with five FSA-sanctioned Islamic banks since 2004. Despite that, there has been no backdoor creeping in of Sharia.

In most cross-border Islamic finance contracts, the typical governing clause refers to the laws of a Common Law jurisdiction such as England and Wales, rather than Islamic laws or jurisdiction. Thus, contracting parties realise that Islamic law in resolving commercial disputes is fragmented at best (with diversified interpretations) or uncertain in outcome, at worst.

In the last few years, we have heard (in the US) an anti-Sharia movement’s interpretation and position on Sharia (or Islamic) finance, and it can best be summarised as follows: if Islamic finance is officially sanctioned in US, then it will be on slippery slope to wholesale adoption of Sharia in a secular country, meaning cutting limbs, stoning, revoking women’s rights, etc, is just around the corner. Its difficult to fathom strong personalities like Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, a champion of women’s issues globally, would be silent on such issues in her own backyard.

Furthermore, to say Islamic finance is the slippery slope to wholesale adoption [of their] interpretation of ‘Sharia’ is not only insulting to the US and its population of 300 million but questions the strength of the US Constitution. To have the IRS issue a favourable ruling on the tax deductibility of ‘profit share’ payment on Islamic mortgages (nearly $2 billion in a multi-trillion dollar mortgage market) or making Islamic funds available on a funds supermarket platform (of nearly $3 billion in a multi-trillion dollar industry) only means there is a market for true asset-backed financing and screened investments.

For example, screened companies in an Islamic fund include Microsoft, Pfizer, P&G, Yahoo etc, where the screening results in a bias towards health care, technology, and energy. Islamic investing can be best described as “low-debt, non-financial, social ethical investing”.

Fair and equitable

The US has overcome past political scare mongering, be it communist take-over or Japanese wholesale acquisition of America’s trophy assets etc, and it will overcome today’s anti-Sharia fear mongering in the same manner by asking for proof over propaganda. However, to be fair and equitable, we need to provide a platform for all airing their opinion on Islamic finance. The industry needs to hear and read the anti-Sharia movement’s well-researched insights on Islamic finance. Hence, they should be encouraged to take their interpretations and comments to an international stage, as Islamic finance is a global phenomenon. It is no different than, say going to the World Economic Forum (Davos), and hearing a good debate on issues impacting finance, health, companies, and economies.

Thus, the Islamic finance conference organisers, Euromoney, IIR Middle East, CERT (Malaysia) etc, are encouraged invite the head of the anti-Sharia movement to make a keynote presentation and submit research papers in Muslim country Islamic finance hubs like Malaysia and the UAE, and non-Muslim country hubs like the UK, Singapore, Australia, etc. At such events they would have access to Sharia scholars and to ask first-hand questions on their qualifications and roles as advisers, and the concept of Zakat (almsgiving), which they have misunderstood.

The writer is Global Head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters. Views expressed here are his own and do not reflect that of his organisation or of Gulf News.

UAE freezes 41 U.N.-banned Iran accounts

UAE freezes 41 U.N.-banned Iran accounts
Published: 6/28/2010 8:36:00 AM

By Maktoob Business
DUBAI – The central bank of the United Arab Emirates has ordered that 41 bank accounts targeted by the new UN sanctions against Iran be frozen, a local daily newspaper reported on Monday.

In a circular sent to all banks, moneychangers, investment and finance companies operating in the UAE, the central bank also ordered the freezing of remittances to entities and individuals listed by the June 9 UN resolution, Emirates Business daily said.

This move was to conform with the resolution “regarding non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the circular said.

However, the notice also warned against targeting accounts and remittances by entities or individuals whose names are not listed by the resolution.

The move comes a week after Dubai, home to a large Iranian community, reportedly closed 40 international and local firms in a crackdown on companies violating UN sanctions on Iran.

For years, the Islamic republic has had active trade relations with Dubai, one of seven emirates making up the UAE, with the trade volume estimated at around 10 billion dollars a year, mostly in Iranian imports.

On June 9, the UN Security Council slapped a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear drive, this time tightening the noose on military and financial transactions.

The resolution bans the sale to Tehran of eight new types of heavy weapons and also applies new restrictions on Iranian investments abroad.

The fresh UN and US sanctions were imposed after a defiant Tehran pressed ahead with its programme of uranium enrichment that Iran insists is peaceful but which the West and others suspect is aimed at making an atomic bomb.