1 week ago
The UAE’s foreign trade has soared to an unprecedented Dh3 trillion, marking a historic achievement by the end of 2024. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the record-breaking figures, underscoring the nation’s economic strength and global trade leadership. “The UAE’s foreign trade has reached a historic milestone, touching Dh3 trillion for the first time by the end of 2024. My brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, has spent years strengthening economic ties with nations worldwide… Today, we see the results. While global trade grew by just 2 per cent in 2024, the UAE’s foreign trade expanded at seven times that rate, achieving an impressive 14.6 per cent growth,” Sheikh Mohammed shared on his X account. “The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, Led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, added Dh135 billion to our non-oil trade with partner nations—an exceptional 42 per cent increase compared to the previous year. In 2021, we set a goal of reaching Dh4 trillion in annual foreign trade by 2031. By the end of 2024, we have already achieved 75 per cent of that target. At this pace, we will reach it […]
2 weeks ago
With Secretary of State Marco Rubio setting in El Salvador (perhaps the most bitcoin-friendly nation in the world currently), and President Trump’s crypto ‘tzar’ David Sacks’ recent comments on the importance of outpacing China on the tech (crypto and AI) front, one could be forgiven for anticipating something large coming very soon with regard the possibility of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. And sure enough, this morning, President Trump signed an executive action he said would direct officials to create a sovereign wealth fund for the US, following through on an idea he floated during the presidential campaign. “We have tremendous potential,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday as he announced the move. The president said the action would charge Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, the nominee for Commerce secretary, with spearheading the effort. Bessent, who joined Trump at the Oval Office, said the fund would be created in the next 12 months, calling it an issue “of great strategic importance.” Lutnick suggested the fund could be used to facilitate the sale of TikTok, which is currently operating in the US thanks to an extension signed by Trump prolonging the deadline for a forced sale or shutdown. While few details are known, we do […]
2 weeks ago
It’s long been anticipated and expected, but now it’s happening within just the first couple weeks of the new administration alongside Trump’s threat to strangle the Russian economy by orchestrating a global oil price collapse (perhaps a likely bluff meant to gain leverage at the negotiating table, however)… President Donald Trump will sign executive order on Tuesday restoring “maximum pressure” on Iran, Reuters is reporting, citing a US official. This is with the intended aim of thwarting all paths of the Islamic Republic toward a nuclear weapon. The US official also cited Iran’s “malign influence” in the Mideast region and de facto state of war with Israel, including support for regional militants who attack Israeli territory and interests. “The official told Reuters that Trump’s directive orders the US Treasury Secretary to impose ‘maximum economic pressure’ on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions. The directive is aimed at denying Iran ‘all paths to a nuclear weapon’ and countering ‘Iran’s malign influence’ according to the official.” Crucially, there’s this line in the breaking Reuters report: The US Secretary of State will modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers and cooperate with the treasury to implement a campaign “aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero,” the […]
2 weeks ago
The Saudi private sector closed 2024 with the best showing in 10 years – and will be looking more of the same in 2025. The performance came partially from the ‘fastest increase in total new orders since June 2011’, which in turn led to ‘rapid expansion in activity and stocks’. Stock levels maintained by non-oil businesses also rose at the second-fastest pace since the start of the monthly PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) score tracking. “Nearly 45% of firms observed higher sales volumes, attributing this growth to positive economic conditions and the acceleration of infrastructure projects,” said Naif Al-Ghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank. “The rise in export orders further complemented domestic demand, particularly from GCC countries, reflecting effective marketing and competitive pricing strategies.” Going forward, a lot of the business sentiments and new order intake will also depend on how well oil prices are faring. The commodity started the week on a positive trajectory, helped by the US tariff battles ringing in the background. What can Saudi businesses expect in 2025? Businesses expect ‘sustained demand growth and supportive market conditions’, said Al-Ghaith. “Employment trends underline this positive sentiment, as companies continued to expand their workforce to meet growing demand. “Supply […]
2 weeks ago
The meeting of the OPEC+ alliance ended on Monday with a decision to keep the current oil production policy unchanged. The OPEC+ members reaffirmed their commitment to production cuts aimed at ensuring the global oil market stability. The 58th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), held via videoconference, reviewed the crude oil production data for the months of November and December 2024 and noted the strong overall compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC). The improved compliance further reaffirms the DoC countries’ shared objectives of unity and cohesion, the alliance said in a statement after the meeting. The Committee welcomed the improved compliance of Kazakhstan and Iraq, including their additional voluntary production adjustments. The JMMC also welcomed renewed pledges by the overproducing countries to achieve full compliance and to resubmit their updated compensation schedules to the OPEC Secretariat for the overproduced volumes, for the period since Jan 2024, before the end of Feb 2025, as agreed in the 52nd Meeting of the JMMC. The Committee emphasized the critical importance of achieving full conformity and compensation, and reaffirmed that they will continue to monitor adherence to the production adjustments agreed upon at the 38th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM) held on Dec. 5, […]
2 weeks ago
Cryptocurrency traders in India may face significant tax penalties on previously undisclosed profits under new amendments to the country’s tax laws. Cryptocurrencies will be included under Section 158B of the Income Tax Act, which reports undisclosed income, according to Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2025 announcement. The amendment allows cryptocurrency gains to be subject to block assessments if not reported, placing them under the same tax treatment as traditional assets like money, jewelry and bullion. Crypto will fall under the definition of Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), according to the new amendment, which states: “Crypto asset has been defined in section 2(47A) of the Act under the existing definition of Virtual Digital Asset[…] A reporting entity, as may be prescribed under section 285BAA of the Act, will be required to furnish information of crypto asset.” The new crypto tax proposition will be retrospectively applicable from Feb. 1, 2025. At the end of December 2024, India’s Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said the government had found 824 crore Indian rupees ($97 million) in unpaid goods and service taxes (GST) by several crypto exchanges. The report came a few months after Indian law enforcement agencies demanded 722 crore Indian rupees ($85 million) in unpaid […]
2 weeks ago
Stablecoins, which play a major role in the global cryptocurrency ecosystem, saw massive adoption in 2024, with their transfer volumes beating those of Visa and Mastercard combined. The annual stablecoin transfer volume reached $27.6 trillion last year, surpassing the combined volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%, according to a Jan. 31 report by crypto exchange CEX.io. As CoinTelegraph’s Helen Partz reports below, one of the major catalysts amplifying stablecoin transfer volume has been the increased use of bots, especially on Solana and Base, CEX.io lead analyst Illia Otychenko said. Tether’s USDt, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, accounted for 79.7% of stablecoin trading volume on average, strengthening its position amid surging stablecoin reserves on centralized exchanges. Stablecoins beat Visa and Mastercard despite losing share in the market Stablecoin supply saw a significant surge of 59% in 2024, reaching 1% of the US dollar supply. Despite beating Visa and Mastercard in volumes, stablecoins lost 13.5% in share within the total market cap, CEX.io noted. The market share drop mainly occurred in the third quarter of 2024 amid decreased activity in the broader crypto market. Regarding their overall growth, CEX.io’s Otychenko said: “Stablecoins experienced a surge in both supply and volume following the post-election […]
2 weeks ago
Trump at Davos: “I’m going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil (…) If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately. Right now, the price is high enough that that war will continue (…) With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And, likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us.” Quite predictably, OPEC+ – basically run by Saudi Arabia and Russia – said Nyet. Apart from the fact they don’t care much about interest rates, on the energy front they’ll keep doing what they have planned to do, including soon decreasing production, but at acceptable levels. Standard Chartered, a major player, noted that OPEC has limited power to end the war immediately by reducing the oil price, with OPEC ministers considering this attempt at “strategy” as very inefficient and costly. So much for imperial diktats. The Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan As highlighted before, the U.S. – via fracking – has enough gas for domestic consumption, but not enough to export en masse to the EU, because of liquification problems. That explains why even buying more American energy for exorbitant prices, the EU de facto remains largely dependent on […]
2 weeks ago
Well, well, well – DOGE moves into the Treasury, triggering their longest-serving, highest-ranked career official to quit in a huff, and they find that department has essentially been auto-paying everyone, according to Elon Musk. “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” said Musk in a Friday night tweet. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.” The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official quit after a clash with aides of Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to the Washington Post, citing (of course), three anonymous sources. David A. Lebryk, a decades-long Treasury official who President Trump named as acting secretary upon taking office last week, announced his retirement in a Friday email to colleagues. According to the report, Lebryk had a dispute with Musk surrogates over access to the US government’s payment system used to disburse trillions of dollars every year. [Imagine Musk and team uncover decades of improper payments and shady dealings?] The Musk surrogates are affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and have been asking since the election for access to the system, according to the report. The requests were […]
2 weeks ago
Just hours after Trump unveiled double-digit tariffs on the three largest US trading partners, Canada and Mexico announced their own plans for retaliatory tariffs on the US. Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late on Saturday that Canada will respond by placing 25% counter-tariffs on C$155 billion ($107 billion) worth of American-made products, with items including beer, wine, bourbon, fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, clothes, perfume, household appliances, plastic, and lumber subject to tariffs. Hilariously, Canada is going especially hard after alcohol produced in Republican states… … although at least for now they haven’t gone ape with the previously suggested 100% tariffs on Teslas. Meanwhile, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she also instructed the economy minister to kick off a response plan that includes retaliatory tariffs against the levies. But since Trump’s orders also included retaliation clauses that would increase US tariffs if the countries respond in kind, that means we are now locked in tit-for-tat escalating prisoner’s dilemma, one where it progressively gets worse before it gets much worse. The new measures will be on top of existing trade levies on those countries. Click here to read more…