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AMMAN: Arab stock markets reflected mixed performance last week mainly in response to retreats at global markets, but financial analysts said yesterday they expected regional bourses to rally this week, drawing momentum from rapidly rising oil prices and the improving indicators of the world economy.

I believe Arab markets, particularly in the Gulf region, will receive an impetus from climbing crude prices and latest rallies on world bourses, Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Arab News.

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DUBAI: Gulf investors are launching a new $10 billion Islamic bank and plan a $3 billion initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter to tap growing interest in Shariah-compliant institutions, bank executives said yesterday.

Adnan Ahmed Yousif, chairman of the Union of Arab Banks and chief executive of AlBaraka Banking Group told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference in Dubai the bank was in the final stages of establishing its founding shareholders. By the end of the year, you will have a private placement and an IPO, Yousif said. The IPO will be about $3 billion and will be listed in Bahrain and Dubai, he said, adding it would be listed on NASDAQ Dubai and would take place in the fourth quarter.

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AMMAN: The Central Bank of Jordan yesterday cut basic interest rates by half percentage points in the third such move since the advent of the global financial crisis in September.

The CBJ trimmed the rediscount rate to 5.25 percent from 5.75 percent and the repurchase rate (repo) to 5.00 percent from 5.50 percent.

In an attempt to ease credit squeeze, the CBJ also cut the compulsory reserves deposited with the central bank by commercial banks by 1 percentage point to 7 percent from 8 percent. The step, which has been prompted by the declining inflation rate, has the aim of spurring the countrys growth, the CBJ Gov. Umayya Touqan said. The measures has been taken in the light of the deepening world recession and the receding inflationary pressures on the national and regional economies, Touqan added.

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AMMAN: Chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) Jassem Mannai told a gathering of Arab finance ministers, central bank governors and heads of Pan-Arab lending agencies that the impact of the world economic crisis on the Arab world was limited compared with other countries and regions of the world.

Economic indicators show that the effect of the crisis on the Arab world has been limited, the worst is over and we are recovering, Mannai said at the meeting which concluded yesterday at the Dead Sea resort.

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AMMAN: Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf yesterday underlined the importance of boosting cooperation among Arab countries at this juncture so that they be able to address the spillovers of the world financial crisis on Arab economies.

We are urged to take the suitable steps for shoring up the potential of our financial institutions and for developing our supervision on financial sectors, Al-Assaf said in an address at the meeting of the pan-Arab economic institutions and lending agencies that kicked off at the Dead Sea resort yesterday.

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JEDDAH, 27 May 2008 The Council of Ministers yesterday welcomed the election of Michel Suleiman as the new president of Lebanon and expressed hopes that his election would bring about a new era, strengthening the countrys unity and independence. In a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the Kingdom emphasized the need for protecting Lebanon from internal violence and foreign interference.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who attended Suleimans election in Beirut on Sunday, hoped the Doha Accord between the Lebanese groups would boost the countrys stability and prosperity. King Abdullah insisted that Saudi Arabia participate in this historic event after our Lebanese brethren reached an agreement in Doha, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the foreign minister as saying. The Doha Accord shows that it is possible for Arabs to solve their conflicts within the framework of the Arab house and this is the most successful way as it protects Arab interests rather than realizing foreign objectives.

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