Saudi banks protected against bad loans – c.bank
RIYADH, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Saudi banks have taken enough
measures against bad loans and are poised for growth as lending
in the world’s top oil exporter will accelerate this year, the
Gulf Arab kingdom’s central bank governor said on Wednesday.
Most banks in the biggest Arab economy have posted upbeat
fourth-quarter results, with several above analysts’ average
forecasts, after booking provisions in the third quarter.
However, credit growth in the kingdom remains in single digits.
Saudi banks sound bright note in Q4
RIYADH, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Three Saudi lenders including
Banque Saudi Fransi 1050.SE posted fourth-quarter earnings
above forecasts, kicking off the sector’s earnings season on a
bright note after uncertainty over provisions.
Provisions for bad loans to cover a fallout from family
firms hit the profits of lenders in the top oil exporter and
biggest Arab economy in previous quarters.
Saudi issues warrants for 47 al Qaeda militants
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has issued global arrest warrants for 47 suspected al Qaeda militants believed to be hiding in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq who it said had tried to build cells inside the top oil exporter.
Some of the 47 Saudis, whose pictures were shown and names read out on state television, hold senior functions inside al Qaeda, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia needs to boost its food reserves-chamber
RIYADH, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia needs to build up its
strategic food reserves as a buffer against rising global prices
for basic commodities, executives and chamber of commerce
officials said on Sunday.
Like other Gulf Arab states the kingdom and top OPEC oil
exporter had suffered when international food prices spiked in
2008, forcing up its import bill. It has since sought to lease
and buy farmland in developing nations to improve its security
of food supplies.
Travel Postcard: 48 hours in the Saudi capital Riyadh
By Ulf Laessing
RIYADH (Reuters Life!) – Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh is a growing city of over four million, combining the flair of a financial center with a traditional desert lifestyle as it is home to one of the biggest Arab camel markets.
The desert city is a showcase of the kingdom’s struggle to balance modernization while preserving its conservative Muslim traditions. Many elegant shopping malls and restaurants have sprung up but cinemas, bars and even water pipes are banned — and don’t even think about getting an alcoholic drink in Riyadh.
Saudi king leaves hospital, TV shows him walking
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has left a New York hospital in “good health” after a month of treatment, state media said on Wednesday, showing pictures of the elderly monarch walking down a corridor.
Media gave no date for when King Abdullah, who is around 87 and had arrived at the hospital in a wheelchair, might return home.
Saudi Shi’ites mark Ashura festival in anxious mood
(Photos above and below: Saudi Shi’ite Muslims mark Ashura in Qatif, December 16, 2010/Zaki Ghawas)
Like their Shi’ite brethren across the Middle East, Hussein and his Saudi friends marked the mourning day of Ashura on Thursday, their mood tinged with worry over their future in the strict Sunni Muslim kingdom. Hundreds of black-clad Shi’ites in the small Gulf town of Qatif, in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province, rose early to join once-forbidden processions to mark the slaying in 680 of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein.
Long viewed as heretics or even agents of Iran by the Saudi authorities and hardline Sunni clerics, Shi’ites have been testing pledges to let them practice their rites more freely. Now they fear a reversal in their long struggle for recognition. The freedom to mark Ashura relatively unhindered in Qatif and nearby villages is a fruit of changes launched by King Abdullah since he ascended the throne in 2005.
Analysis – Saudi Arabia plays Yemen double game – experts
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi funding of Yemeni tribes for help against al Qaeda risks undermining central authority in the kingdom’s poor neighbour at a moment when the government there needs all its clout to fight security threats.
The West relies heavily on the top oil exporter to help stabilise Yemen: Saudi Arabia is the largest financial donor, bankrolling the government of ally President Ali Saleh Abdullah, helping supplying Yemeni forces and building hospitals.
Saudi Arabia plays Yemen double game says experts
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi funding of Yemeni tribes for help against al Qaeda risk undermining central authority in the kingdom’s poor neighbor at a moment when the government there needs all its clout to fight security threats.
The West relies heavily on the top oil exporter to help stabilize Yemen: Saudi Arabia is the largest financial donor, bankrolling the government of ally President Ali Saleh Abdullah, helping supplying Yemeni forces and building hospitals.
Saudi king well after surgery in U.S.: royal court
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s elderly King Abdullah had a successful second operation in New York on Friday, the royal court said in a statement released by the kingdom’s state news agency.
Earlier on Friday, the court said the king, believed to be aged about 86 or 87, would have surgery to stabilize vertebrae in his spinal column.
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