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TOKYO – Japan policymakers fired off a volley of comments on Thursday to curb yen strength and the central bank checked rates with banks as officials stepped up efforts to prevent the currency from harming a fragile economic recovery.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, however, Group of Seven countries have no plans to hold a conference call about currencies, sparking a brief yen rally as traders interpreted the remarks to mean currency intervention was unlikely for now.

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JEDDAH – Gulf businesses continue to face tough financing conditions, Credit Agricole said in its report furnished to Saudi Gazette on Monday.

Annual credit growth among Gulf banking systems tumbled from double-digit levels of 20-60 percent in 2008 to near-zero loan expansion last year – and the momentum in lending has been very slow to resume a modest recovery pace.

UAE banks are contending with non-performing loans related to a property market slide in Dubai and a corrective mode in Abu Dhabi property. Local banks in Saudi Arabia have been slow to speed up credit extensions as they approach family conglomerates with greater caution, demand remains more subdued than expected and international financing remains slower than anticipated.

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JEDDAH – The World Gold Council (WGC) expects that demand for gold will be strong during 2010, driven by growing demand for jewelry in China and India as well as an increase in European and US investment in the context of continued economic instability, sovereign risk and the threat of a double dip recession.

According to WGCs Gold Demand Trends report, published today, demand in India and China will continue to grow, driven by jewelry demand, in spite of high local currency gold prices. In Q1 2010, India was the strongest performing market as total consumer demand surged 698 billion to 193.5 tons.

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JEDDAH – The Gulf is for the most part insulated from the Greek crisis, but the UAE does exhibit some vulnerability due to the debt troubles facing the emirate of Dubai, contending with debt exceeding $100 billion, including $25 billion under negotiation for restructuring, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank said on Friday.

In its “Emerging Market Focus” report, it noted that an escalation of troubles in Europe will only raise the burden on Dubai, which – like Greece – relies heavily on the support of its wealthier neighbor, Abu Dhabi, to bail it out of tight spots in exchange for adopting greater austerity measures.

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MANAMA – Saudi-owned Gulf International Bank (GIB) plans a SR3 billion ($800 million) bond issue in April to fund its growth in the kingdom, a banking source said, adding to a flurry of issues from Saudi lenders.

“Its a five-year deal on a floating note basis,” the banking source, who has direct knowledge of the deal, told Reuters.

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BRUSSELS – European leaders clinched a deal to rescue Greece from its debt crisis, with a standby package of loans backed by the International Monetary Fund halting the euros slide on Friday.

The historic pact – which re-writes the euro zone rule-book for all – was designed to “reassure all holders of Greek bonds” that European partners “will never abandon Greece,” according to European Union president Herman Van Rompuy at a European Union summit in Brussels.

In Paris, the interest rate which Greece has to pay to borrow money fell sharply on Friday after an EU safety net was agreed for the country and a helping hand came from the European Central Bank, traders said.

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NEW YORK – Heightened fears over the debt crisis engulfing Greece and Portugal drove oil prices lower on Wednesday as traders eyed the dollars surge against the euro.

New Yorks main contract, light sweet crude for May delivery, dropped $1.30 to $80.61 a barrel.

“The correlation between oil and the dollar has strengthened over the past few weeks,” said ANZ bank analyst Serene Lim.

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MUMBAI – Indias largest telecommunications operator, Bharti Airtel Ltd., has finalized $8.3 billion in financing needed for its proposed acquisition of the Africa assets of Kuwaits Zain, Bharti said Sunday.

“The financing was oversubscribed, with major international banks committing to underwrite the total amount,” Bharti said in a statement.

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LONDON – World stocks slipped Thursday while the euro held above a recent 9-month low against the dollar as the European Central Bank prepared to announce next steps in stimulus withdrawal after its policy meeting.

The premium investors demand for holding Greek government bonds rather than those of Germany rose while Greek bank shares also rose after Greece announced it had mandated banks for a long-awaited 10-year bond issue.

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HONG KONG – The European Unions muted summit response to the Greek debt crisis depressed the euro in Asian trading Friday as speculators bet on worse to come for the common currency.

EU leaders stopped short late Thursday of offering bailout funds to rescue Greece, a eurozone member whose tattered government finances have highlighted the parlous debt of other crisis-hit countries such as Spain and Portugal.

The unions 27 leaders vowed “determined and coordinated action if needed to safeguard the financial stability in the euro area as a whole” – a statement that Credit Agricole analyst Mitul Kotecha called a “disappointment”.

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