News

At Conduit we keep abreast of the latest property and construction news and industry developments. The following news items contain articles written by us or provide links to other media publications.

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26th Feb 2009 No jobs but Sydney's hungry for extra offices

Business leaders have backed a State Government decision to approve a massive expansion of office space at East Darling Harbour despite demand for CBD office space falling to a five-year low.

The equivalent of six Chifley Square towers will built on the harbour's edge after the government signed off on a 30 per cent increase in commercial floor space at Barangaroo.

NSW Premier Nathan Rees said the extra 120,000 square metres of floor space would help "lure" big business to the former Hungry Mile site.

Mr Rees said the 22,000 people who will work and live at Barangaroo when construction is completed in 2020 will have access to the new CBD Metro and a ferry terminal situated in front of the new office towers.

A recent report by the Property Council of Australia revealed CBD office vacancy rates had risen from 4.3 per cent to 5.4 per cent over the previous six months as a consequence of the global financial crisis.

But the organisation's executive director, Ken Morrison, said that by the time Barangaroo is open for business, the economic climate would have changed.

"You need to look beyond the immediate consequence of the global financial crisis and look at the life of this project. Barangaroo is absolutely necessary," Mr Morrison said.

Sydney Chamber of Commerce executive director, Patricia Forsythe, welcomed the approval and Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said she was pleased with the Premier's commitment to public transport.

However, the architect who won the original design competition for the redevelopment of the former wharf, Philip Thalis, said the increased floor space would turn the site into a sterile business park.

"This approval risks reversing 20 years of success in city making with a plan that's wholly predicated on the narrow interests of commercial floor space to the exclusion of the public interest."

Jano Gibson is the Herald's Urban Affairs Reporter

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26th Feb 2009 Westfield posts $2.2bn loss after asset write-downs

Andrew Harrison | February 26, 2009
Article from: Dow Jones Newswires
WESTFIELD posted a full-year net loss of $2.2 billion after write-downs on asset values and adjustments to financial instruments.

The world’s largest shopping centre owner by market value had a net profit of $3.44 billion in 2007.

Westfield’s total sales of $4.35 billion in the year to December 31 were up 4.5 per cent from $4.17 billion in the previous year.

In the past year, retail sales at Westfield’s malls, which the company continually redevelops and expands to justify raising rents, have slowed, particularly in the US where the company has about half of its centres.

“The group continued to deliver strong underlying earnings in a challenging global environment,” said Peter Lowy and Steven Lowy, Westfield’s co-managing directors, in a statement, adding that a strong performance from its Australian portfolio had offset a deterioration in the US, UK and New Zealand.

Last year, the company’s comparable shopping centre net operating income grew 2.8 per cent, driven by growth in Australia and New Zealand of 4.7 per cent, growth in the US of 0.5 per cent and a decline of 1.8 per cent in the UK.

Westfield operates 119 shopping malls in Australia, the US, UK and New Zealand, with about half located in the US and mostly on the West coast.

Full-year operational earnings were $1.94 billion, up 9 per cent from $1.79 billion a year earlier, the company said.

In the second half, the company wrote down mark to market adjustments of financial instruments of $1.3 billion and asset revaluations of $3.3 billion, the latter principally due to an increase in capitalisation rates.

Westfield has seven projects under construction for a forecast investment of $4.7 billion, of which the company’s share is $4.6 billion, including Stratford, in London, and the recently commenced $860 million Sydney City project, which is expected to be completed in 2012.

The five smaller projects under construction, representing a group investment of $700 million, were expected to be completed during 2009 and 2010, it said.

Westfield said it wasn’t planning to start any large project this year.

Westfield reiterated its forecast of operational earnings and distribution for this year in the range of 94 cents to 97 cents a security.

Last month, Westfield said it would pay a final distribution of 53.35 cents, unchanged from a year earlier, bringing its full-year distribution to 106.5 cents, including 6.5 cents of associated income hedging.

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23rd Feb 2009 600 jobs in $850m Hunter gas project

BY JULIEANNE STRACHAN
21/02/2009 4:00:00 AM

AN $850 million gas pipeline from Queensland to the Hunter has been approved by the NSW Government, paving the way for increased competition in the energy market.

The pipeline is expected to become operational in 2012-13 and create up to 600 jobs during construction and 25 permanent jobs on completion.

Queensland Hunter Gas Pipeline managing director Garbis Simonian said the approval could not have come at a better time.

"We have a serious situation at the moment in the supply of gas," he said.

"The existing Moomba pipeline [from South Australia] and the Eastern gas pipeline [from Victoria] are full. If you want to develop new industry and want gas to build a gas-fired power station the situation is there's no capacity.

"This will not only bring competition it will bring capacity.

"The other thing that's happened is the transmission price for gas has tripled from 75 cents to $2.25. We need more competition."

NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally signed off on the NSW component of the pipe this week and Queensland and federal authorities are understood to have already given approval.

The pipeline was expected to supply a new $750 million baseload power station near Muswellbrook, but the private company which planned to build it, the Queensland Gas Company scrapped those plans last month.

Pipeline general manager Bob Otjen said at the time that the company had been in talks with other potential customers and it would not harm the pipeline's future.

Minister for the Hunter Jodi McKay said yesterday the pipeline would undoubtedly help provide residents with reliable and constant supply.

The pipeline is the third major Hunter project Ms Keneally has approved in the past two weeks, following the Huntlee New Town development and rezoning of employment land at Williamtown.

Ms Keneally said she was confident of the gas pipeline's environmental credentials.

"The proponent was able to comprehensively address environmental impacts.

"It got through a rigorous environmental assessment so I have approved the project."

Mr Simonian said the gas pipeline also opened up other opportunities.

"The pipeline has the potential to enable the development of a NSW coal seam methane gas industry and provide gas for use in the Hunter Valley and Sydney regions as well as rural NSW," he said.

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19th Feb 2009 Obama approves £548bn kick-start for US economy

Package includes massive funding for infrastructure projects to boost employment

US president Barack Obama has signed an economic stimulus plan in Denver worth over £548bn in a bid to boost the ailing US economy.

Congress approved the package last week, which is aimed at rebuilding infrastructure and saving or creating 3.5 million jobs.

At the signing ceremony, Obama described it as the “the most sweeping recovery package in our history”.

The huge stimulus package will boost the flow of federal money in infrastructure projects, renewable energy development, healthcare and conservation programmes.

Republicans have criticised the measure, claiming the economy will be crippled with debt for years to come.

But Obama said the plan would enable Americans to work in crucial areas such as rail and roads infrastructure.

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19th Feb 2009 Westpac February Residential Property Monitor

Westpac Property is pleased to provide the latest edition of the Residential Property Monitor - February 2009.

This three page publication provides a one stop source of economic and market data relating to the residential markets around the country.

download document [95 KB]

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16th Feb 2009 Leighton boss says mining sector 'alive and well'

The head of construction company Leighton Holdings says he thinks any speculation about declines in the mining industry are "over-exaggerated".

Speaking on ABC1's Inside Business program on Sunday morning, Wal King said the sector in Australia is "alive and well".

"I think the comments about declining in mining are over-exaggerated," he said.

"One blowfly doesn't make a summer and one mine closure in central Queensland or cutbacks doesn't signal the end of the mining industry."

"In our overall mining business we see big expansions and today we were awarded $2.5 to $3 billion worth of projects in Mongolia and Indonesia in the mining business."

Mr King said he does not foresee struggle in the company's future, despite projects coming in irregularly.

"We're not selling ice-creams... [we are] very advanced on probably another $4 or $5 billion worth of projects," he said.

"But the way they come through the door and the way we burn it off, the work in hand might peak, it might go from $39 or $40 billion back to $36 billion but that's not the end of the world.

"If you look at the entire history of Leighton, when I started with Leighton's ... we were doing $17 million a year.

"This year, we will do 19 billion ... and we believe we will grow into the mid-20 billions, so the company will continue to grow."

He said despite much of the world economy being in recession, he is not anticipating a drop in forward orders.

"[It] is a big anomaly that we see a big momentum in our business and either, our business is built from the bottom up on opportunities, assessments and so on and so forth, and all of that comes together with showing more opportunities not less opportunities," he said.

"Now either that is wildly wrong and it's looked at every three months.

"This is not a process where we stick our head out the window, see whether it's raining and go to sleep for 12 months."

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11th Feb 2009 QSs losing jobs faster than any other profession

Numbers from the profession joining dole queue quintupled from a year ago

Quantity surveyors are joining the dole queue faster than any other profession, according to government figures.

Members of the profession on benefit soared to 590 by December 2008, almost five times more than a year previously.

Architects came a close second, with the number out of work and claiming job-seekers' allowance up 432% on 2007 to 1,490.

Construction managers also fared poorly. More than 4,000 were on the dole by the end of last year, up from 785 in late 2007.

More than 1.1m people were out of work and claiming benefits by the start of December last year. Unlike previous recessions, middle class professionals are thought to be among the groups hardest hit by job losses.

Unemployment figures out on Thursday are expected to show the number of people claiming benefits rose by a further 89,000 during December.

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11th Feb 2009 Stockland slides on earnings outlook

STOCKLAND posted today a first-half net loss of $726.9 million after write-downs on property asset values and said it was unlikely to meet its full-year earnings per share forecast.

The result compared with a net profit of $672.5 million a year earlier, Australia's largest residential property developer said.

Sales in the six months ended December 31 were $803.8 million, down 49 per cent from $1.58 billion in the same period in fiscal year 2007-2008.

Stockland, which in December cut its full-year earnings guidance by 25 per cent from a previous forecast of nominal growth, and its peers have been reeling from sluggish home sales arising from the shrinking access to credit and a global downturn in the property market.

The company said its earnings per share guidance of 35 cents for the year ending June 30 "is unlikely to be met given the downside risk from super lot sales, with a potential impact of up to 3.2 cents".

Securities of Stockland were down 7.1 per cent at $2.69 by late morning, outpacing the fall in the broader market. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was 1.7 per cent lower.

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10th Feb 2009 In defence of Dubai

All the reports coming out of Dubai in the past few months have been about job losses and ailing developers. The harshest have been in condescending tones, saying that it was all bound to end in tears. This has revealed the price that Dubai pays for its extraordinary energy and success - it gathers many secret admirers, but true friends are a bit thin on the ground.

Naturally, the developers suffering most in the region are those involved in residential property, where financing was required from advance sales, off plan. The buyers are simply no longer there - for a year or two. The pace at which this market has collapsed is astonishing.

Global recessions are clearly very difficult for those who get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether they lose their jobs, make heavy losses or get saddled with negative equity. However, in the longer term, recessions might be regarded as a much-needed regulator, particularly in the property and construction industry.

I have personally witnessed some excellent service in the region, but equally I have seen firms that have been aloof and arrogant, working only on a time-charge basis at inflated rates, “throwing people” at the job and still failing to provide a good-quality service. Clearly, that era has come to an end and Dubai will be the better for it.

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10th Feb 2009 Quantity surveyors swamping dole offices

Quantity surveyors and architects are among the professions joining the dole queue at the fastest rate according to latest government figures.

The number of QSs out of work and claiming benefits has risen nearly six fold in a year, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics seen by the Sunday Times.

The analysis shows that the number of quantity surveyors on benefit increased more rapidly than any other profession, rising from 100 to 590 during 2008. The number of architects out of work and claiming job-seekers’ allowance rose by 432% to 1,490.

More than 1.1m people were out of work and claiming benefits by the start of December – up from 787,000 the previous year.

On Thursday, official unemployment data is expected to show that the number of claimants rose by a further 89,000 during December.

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5th Feb 2009 Eight building firms going bust every day

Latest figures show 40% rise in construction insolvencies during 2008

Eight construction companies are going insolvent every day, according to the latest data from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

According to its figures, 692 construction firms went into insolvency in the last quarter of 2008 – up 28% from 540 the previous quarter.

This took the annual total for 2008 to 2,100 construction insolvencies, a 40% jump on the previous year's figure of 1,500.

It was the highest level of insolvencies – which include liquidations, administrations, receiverships and voluntary arrangements – since PwC began tracking the statistics six years ago.

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4th Feb 2009 £53bn of development suspended in Dubai

Report by HSBC reveals huge scale of postponement or cancellation of construction schemes in the emirate

A report by banking giant HSBC has said that almost $75bn (£53bn) worth of property schemes have been put on hold in Dubai.

The firm made the comments in a note on Arabtec, one of the emirate's largest contractors and which is helping build the world's tallest tower - the Burj Dubai.

In its report, HSBC lists 59 projects that are under review, including eight that have been cancelled. The bank said high-end residential schemes and commercial developments were those most at risk of being shelved.

In the note, HSBC said: “The worst of news has seen cancellations of entire projects even though they appeared in advanced stages of construction.”

Nakheel has been the most high-profile developer to delay or cancel projects, including its Trump Towers hotel and residential project as well as its answer to the 818m-high Burj Dubai - the 1km-tall tower scheme.

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4th Feb 2009 UK Commercial property values plunge 26% in a year

IPD figures show 2008 registered the biggest ever recorded fall in values of UK commercial property

The value of commercial property in the UK slumped by more than one-quarter last year in the biggest fall ever recorded, according to new figures.

Investment Property Databank (IPD) said that commercial property values dropped by 26.4% in 2008 - the largest decline since records began in 1987.

Shops, offices and industrial buildings are now worth around the same amount they were in December 2001, according to the body's quarterly property index for the UK.

The last quarter of 2008 showed the biggest drop of the year, with values down 14.4% on the previous three months.

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30th Jan 2009 Recession and oil a double challenge

Davos: The double challenge of cheaper oil and a global recession is to ensure enough is spent on new sources of fossil fuel and to grab the opportunity to get greener supplies, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Oil at near $40 (Dh146.92) a barrel has slowed investment in oil projects, he said, raising the possibility of a supply shortfall once demand resumes.

"The current price level has a negative impact on investment in new oilfields," Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the Paris-based agency, said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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30th Jan 2009 Stocks slump after two-day rally

Mumbai: Indian stocks fell, with the benchmark index snapping a two-day, 6.7 per cent rally. Bharti Airtel Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd, India's two biggest mobile-phone operators, dropped after they had their price targets cut at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

DLF Ltd, India's biggest real estate developer, declined after its share price forecast was reduced at Morgan Stanley, which said weak demand for property will damp profits. DLF will report earnings tomorrow.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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29th Jan 2009 Dubai re-exports jump 28%

Dubai: Dubai, the world's third largest re-export centre, saw a 28 per cent jump in its annual re-exports last year with overall non-oil foreign trade growing by 38 per cent to Dh934.7 billion - nearly 140 per cent of its GDP - despite deteriorating global economic conditions in the second half of last year.

India was the emirate's top destination for re-exports with a value of Dh32.8 billion, followed by Iran at Dh20.3 billion and Iraq at Dh8.9 billion.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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29th Jan 2009 Fewer buyers attend real estate show

Abu Dhabi: UAE exhibitors showcasing their projects at the Abu Dhabi Real Estate and Investment Show here told Gulf News yesterday they are finding buyers hard to come by in a slowing economy hit by the global financial crisis.

On Tuesday, until well past three in the afternoon, the sales staff of some 40 exhibitors almost outnumbered the visitors at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, where the three-day event is taking place.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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29th Jan 2009 Shares tipped to rise

The Australian share market is likely to open higher following strong gains on Wall Street.

In recent trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March SPI futures index was 62 points higher at 3,530. Yesterday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index closed up 1.5%, or 51.5 points, at 3495.5 points. The broader All Ordinaries index gained 1.3%, or 42.8 points, at 3435.1.

Miners may advance. The Reuters/CRB Jefferies index of commodity prices gained 1% overnight. Top global miner BHP Billiton may open nearly 5% higher, based on trading in its ADRs in New York, after industrial metals prices jumped.

Source: http://business.smh....

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28th Jan 2009 Job losses 'will add to mortgage pressure'

RISING joblessness will push even more families into mortgage stress this year than the decade-high interest rates of last year, a survey finds.

The news came as leaked details revealed the International Monetary Fund was set to slash its growth forecasts. Reuters reported the IMF expects global growth this year to fall to 0.5 per cent after forecasting 2.2 per cent last November, increasing the chance of recession in Australia.

As the Federal Government agreed yesterday to push banks to go easy on people at risk of losing their homes, a survey by Fujitsu Consulting found low interest rates caused the number of households in mortgage stress to fall to 635,000 this month, from a peak of 883,000 in August.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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28th Jan 2009 Property prices could fall 20% - Al Abbar

Dubai: Property prices in Dubai could fall about 20 per cent on average, the chairman of the emirate's largest developer, Emaar Properties, said in remarks published on on Monday. He did not give a timeframe.

Mohammad Al Abbar also said Emaar's financial position was strong but the firm had no intention to buy back shares, but it might consider delaying some projects if market conditions indicated a need to postpone putting new units for sale.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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28th Jan 2009 Oil rises above $48 as Opec cuts take hold

London: Oil rose above $48 (Dh176.32) a barrel on Monday, supported partly by perceptions the supply cuts by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) producers may have put a floor under prices.

US crude rose $1.63 to $48.10 a barrel by 1511 GMT, after earlier rising to a session high of $48.21.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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28th Jan 2009 In-house and RPO teams facing major cutbacks: TalentQuest

Many internal recruitment teams and RPO arrangements have reduced their staff by up to a third and more cuts may be coming, says Gareth Flynn of internal recruitment consulting firm TalentQuest.

Flynn told Shortlist today that it was difficult to predict the bottom of the market, but if the crisis continued to worsen, "there will be further cuts in the recruitment space which would be fully justified".

Flynn said TalentQuest, which has offices in Melbourne and Singapore, was seeing headcount reductions in both in-house teams and RPO providers, particularly in the financial services sector, where some large organisations had trimmed recruitment functions by up to a third.

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27th Jan 2009 Banks on notice as Rudd warns of job losses

KEVIN RUDD warned of a "rising tide of unemployment" yesterday as welfare groups said they would lobby the Government to pressure banks into showing mercy to those at risk of losing their homes.

At a meeting in Sydney today with the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the welfare lobby will also push for a minimum funding increase of $300 million a year to cope with an expected surge in demand for front-line relief measures.

senior source said there was sympathy within the Government for the push for banks to show compassion to those struggling to make mortgage payments, given all the help that has been extended to banks, including taxpayer-funded guarantees.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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27th Jan 2009 Shares pointed higher

The Australian sharemarket has received a mixed lead from Wall Street but stronger metal prices have pushed up the Sydney Futures Exchange.

At 0701 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March SPI futures index was 26 points higher at 3,355. On Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended down 144.1 points, or 4.1%, at 3,342.7 - its lowest close since February 2004. The broader All Ordinaries index fell 131.6 points, or 3.8%, to 3,300.3 - its lowest close since late January 2004.

The Australian dollar was recently buying 65.95 US cents, 47.2 pence, 58.8 yen and 50.1 euro cents. Gold jumped to $US910, a five-month closing high.

Source: http://business.smh....

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27th Jan 2009 Buro Happold and Faber Maunsell plan job cuts

Crisis worsens in civil engineering sector, while SMEs express doubts over latest bank bail out

The bloodbath in the civil engineering sector worsened this week as Buro Happold and Faber Maunsell followed Arup’s cull of 400 UK staff last week.

Faber Maunsell said 119 UK employees faced the chop. Senior salaries at the firm are also understood to have been frozen and bonuses reduced.

Buro Happold is axing 10% of its 2,000-strong global workforce. The London office completed a redundancy consultation on Tuesday and many of the jobs have already been shed from its Bath head office. Before Christmas, the firm had circulated an email offering voluntary redundancy.

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22nd Jan 2009 Mortgage holders play safe with rate cuts

THREE out of four mortgage holders are taking advantage of lower interest rates to pay off their mortgages faster, rather than instructing their bank to reduce their repayments so they can pocket the saving, according to a survey released today.

When asked by the Australian National Retailers Association if their monthly repayments had changed because of the recent interest rate cuts, 74 per cent of those surveyed said there had been no change.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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22nd Jan 2009 6000 jobs axed as BHP feels the pinch

BHP BILLITON broke months of silence yesterday on its plans for dealing with the plunge in metals demand by revealing it would sack nearly 6000 workers around the globe and close its disastrous Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia.

About 3400 Australian employees and contractors will lose their jobs as a result of BHP's decision to slash WA nickel and Queensland coking coal production and reduce the workforce dedicated to a proposed expansion of its Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine in South Australia. The redundancies will lead to $US500 million ($765 million) in charges.

Source: http://business.smh....

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22nd Jan 2009 Shares set for gains

The Australian share market is expected to open higher, after solid gains in securities on Wall Street, and oil, silver and copper rose in overnight trading.

In recent trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March SPI futures index was 46 points higher at 3474. Yesterday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 1%, or 33.8 points, at 3442.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index was lower by 0.9%, or 30.2 points, at 3394.8.

Australian miners may gain after the closely watched Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodity prices gaining 1.4%.

The Australian dollar was also flat compared with yesterday's local close, recently buying 65.45 US cents. It was also worth 57.9 yen and 50.8 euro cents.

Source: http://business.smh....

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21st Jan 2009 US stocks defy Obama

Wall Street ushered in the Barack Obama presidency with a record Inauguration Day slide on Tuesday amid fresh signs the global bank crisis was far from over.

State Street, the largest money manager for institutions, tumbled by more than half after unrealized bond losses almost doubled. Wells Fargo and Bank of America slumped more than 17% on an analysts prediction that theyll need to take steps to shore up capital. As Barack Obama's presidency begins, the Standard & Poors 500 Index extended its retreat since Election Day to about 20%.

Source: http://business.smh....

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21st Jan 2009 Recession in eye of the beholder

Amid all the bold predictions that Australia will enter "official recession" this year, here is something you may want to keep in mind: there is no such thing.

Sure, recessions are real enough and we might just be in the middle of one now, but there's nothing official about it. Nowhere is it written in stone or decreed by law what constitutes a recession. In the broadest terms, all the word "recession" means is a period of time in which the economy contracts rather than grows. This is notoriously hard to measure, and all we have to go on is a loose set of rules of thumb, invented by economists after observing previous recessions.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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21st Jan 2009 Rent cap in Dubai ends with new decree in place

Dubai: The Dubai Rent Committee has stopped enforcing the five per cent rent cap rule immediately following the issuance of the new rent law on Monday.

"We are no longer entertaining complaints based on the five per cent rent cap law as the new law is being enforced with immediate effect to deal with any rental dispute cases," said Mohammad Al Shaikh, Secretary-General of the committee.

He said the new law would be elaborated on and would help solve most of the cases amicably. However, he said it would take the rent committee a few days to draw up a strategy to implement the new law.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Jan 2009 Sales fall further despite growing interest in the market: UK Housing Market Survey

The average number of transactions per surveyor fell to a historical low in December despite buyer interest remaining strong. The balance of surveyors reporting house price falls fell back slightly with 73.5 percent more Chartered Surveyors indicating a fall than a rise.

Significantly, interest in the market continues to remain upbeat with 17 percent more Chartered Surveyors reporting a rise in new buyer enquiries, up from 16 percent in November. Interest was strongest in the South West and East Anglia.

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20th Jan 2009 RBS shares slide to 23-year low on record loss

London: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) unveiled the biggest loss in British corporate history on Monday, overshadowing a second government bailout for the sector and sending its shares reeling to a 23-year low.

RBS said it would report a 2008 loss of up to £28 billion (Dh149.31 billion), driven largely by a goodwill impairment charge of £15 to £20 billion related to its acquisition of parts of Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007. Excluding goodwill impairment, the bank said in a statement it expects a full-year loss of £7 to £8 billion.

The statement came as the UK government sought to counter a looming recession by unveiling a new rescue package for banks that will see its stake in RBS rise to nearly 70 per cent from 58 per cent.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Jan 2009 Oil futures fall on forecasts of lower fuel consumption

London: Crude oil futures fell, approaching $35 a barrel in New York, on forecasts faltering global economic growth will drive down fuel consumption for a second year.

Goldman Sachs Group, while forecasting a recovery in prices later this year, said demand will decline by 1.6 million barrels a day. That's more than three times the drop forecast by the International Energy Agency last week.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) may have to cut output again should prices fall further, Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said over the weekend.

"The world recession is continuing to dampen demand," said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. in London.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Jan 2009 UAE and Saudi Arabia cut key rates

Dubai: Central banks of the UAE and Saudi Arabia cut key interest rates on Monday by 50 basis points, bringing the domestic rates closer to US rates.

The UAE Central Bank reduced its benchmark repurchase rate by 50 basis points to one per cent to boost lending to shore up the economy.

"With the slowdown of the world economy and the fall in inflationary pressures, a rate cut will support domestic economic activity and foster business confidence," the central bank said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Jan 2009 Mapeley warns shareholders: £48m or bust

Property services client of Carillion and Interserve requests emergency bond issue to stave off insolvency

Mapeley, the property and facilities management services provider, has warned shareholders that it risks going bust if it cannot raise £48m of emergency capital.

According to the Times, Mapeley has said it does not have enough working capital for the next 12 months, and urges approval of an emergency bond issue.

The Mapeley Group owns and manages 2.3m m2 of commercial property in the UK and is a key employer of support services contractors such as Carillion and Interserve. Among its outsourced contracts is the Inland Revenue's property portfolio.

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20th Jan 2009 Builders brace for downturn, job cuts

Builders are expecting a sharp fall in activity in 2009 with more than 80% forecasting job cuts, Master Builders Australia says.

The December 2008 quarter Australian National Survey of Building and Construction released today has found builder sentiment plummeted in the final months of the year.

"There was a worsening and sharp fall in expectations for their own business activity, profits and investment,'' MBA chief economist Peter Jones said in a statement.

"And disturbingly, builders are now signalling that they intend to cut employees and subcontractors in the period ahead.''

One glimmer of hope was evidence of early signs of activity, particularly in housing, as a result of the interest rate cuts and the $1.5 billion extension to the first home owners' grant as part of the economic security package.

But Mr Jones said the serious deterioration in activity meant the industry needed similar additional economic stimulus during
2009.

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19th Jan 2009 NSW set to recover ahead of the pack

NSW is already in recession, and the rest of Australia is hot on its heels, a new forecast to be published today says.

But while collapsing commodity export income would cripple the sun-belt states of Western Australia and Queensland, the worse could soon be over for NSW, which stands to benefit the most from interest rate cuts and a lower dollar.

Access Economics, in its latest quarterly forecasts, predicts Australia will enter a technical recession by the end of March, chalking up back-to-back quarters of negative economic growth. This is expected to slow the annual growth rate from 3.7 per cent last financial year to just 0.8 per cent this financial year, and then rise to 2.4 per cent the following year.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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19th Jan 2009 UK M&S puts squeeze on suppliers with 60-day payment period

Marks & Spencer has lengthened its payment period to 60 days it has emerged as retailers pile pile pressure on their supply chains

Consultants close to the firm said terms had been extended from the industry benchmark of 30 days in order to cope with the tough economic climate.

The news comes a week after Building revealed Tesco had written to parts of its supply chain demanding a 20-50% discount in fees.

An M&S spokesperson said: “We reviewed our non-merchandise products and services supplier terms last year and have updated them to make them more transparent and align them to industry best practice.”

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19th Jan 2009 UK Consultants stop partners from taking profits

Davis Langdon and G&T among companies adopting tough measures to boost balance sheets

Partners in consultants including Davis Langdon have stopped drawing cash out of the business in a bid to bolster balance sheets.

The news comes as further evidence emerges of the effect the downturn is having on consultants. Rider Levett Bucknall, which is a limited liability company, is considering a rights issue and salary cuts as a “worst-case scenario” measure to raise money, while Arup is preparing to make up to 400 of its UK staff redundant. Arcadis AYH has also entered a consultation to cut up to 99 jobs.

Rob Smith, senior partner at DL, said: “We are stopping drawing out money. Who can tell what the banks are going to say to businesses in terms of availability of finance?”

He denied he was asking partners to put cash in to the business, but added that the firm was still looking for acquisitions. “We want to strengthen our balance sheet because there could be opportunities for investment and it’s unlikely the banks will stump up the money.”

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19th Jan 2009 UK Construction output to plunge 7% in 2009

Increased public expenditure by the government will not prevent construction output falling steeply in 2009, according to figures released this week

Economic consultant Experian is predicting that output will fall nearly 7% to £77.7bn, with the collapse in the housing and commercial markets largely to blame.

James Hastings, head of construction futures at Experian, added that the forecast for next year may have to be revised because of a further collapse in sentiment since the report was researched.

Experian is predicting output will grow 1.8% to £79.1bn in 2010, but Hastings said statistics released since the start of the year meant output was unlikely to recover as fast as that.

He said: “My feeling is that it will be flatter in 2010 and there will be a longer period of stagnation than we envisaged.”

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15th Jan 2009 RERA aims to control property rents through new price index

Dubai: Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) has revealed their rental index that they hope will replace the need for rent caps in the future.

Rera on Wednesday announced Dubai's first residential and commercial rental price index.

The rental index has been designed to give average rental rates across different zones of Dubai.

"The government has already interfered three times to impose rental caps and now there is hope that the rental index will remove this need," Rera said in a statement to media.

The commercial index gives the average rental rates for properties, based on road conditions, public parking, location, air conditioning, view and age of the building.

Office prices are also dependent on whether the building is on a main road, sub-street or an inside building.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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15th Jan 2009 New buyers provide hope

FIRST-home buyers are storming back into the property market, lured by aggressive interest rate cuts and generous government grants, but official job figures out today hold the key to whether the recovery is shortlived.

The jobless rate is tipped to have reached a two-year high of 4.5 per cent and most economists expect it to hit 6 per cent or more by the end of the year. Job losses could lead to an increase in forced property sales while weakening demand for new loans.

But official home loan figures for November show a tentative recovery following a series of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank totalling 2 percentage points and the Rudd Government's decision to double the first-home buyers' grant on established homes to $14,000 and triple it on new homes to $21,000.

The number of new home loans rose 1.3 per cent, while the number of first-home buyers jumped 18 per cent, pushing their share of new loans to 23 per cent - the highest since January 2002.

Source: http://business.smh....

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15th Jan 2009 Oil falls on gloomy demand outlook

Oil prices fell below $37 a barrel on Tuesday on expectations crude demand will weaken amid a severe global economic slowdown.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 91 cents at $36.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, February Brent crude fell 19 cents to $42.72 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

"After some transient end-of-year strength, it would appear that crude oil bears have once again found their groove," said the Schork Report, edited by oil trader and analyst Stephen Schork.

Crude prices have fallen more than 25 percent since reaching just above $50 a barrel last week as traders returned from the holiday break to find evidence of falling manufacturing and consumer spending across the globe.

Source: http://news.smh.com....

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15th Jan 2009 Arup to cut up to 400 UK jobs

Civils sector no longer immune to credit crunch as consultant prepares to shed up to 8% of UK workforce

Engineering giant Arup is preparing to cut up to 400 staff in the UK, the latest sign that the recession has taken hold in the civil engineering sector.

The firm's European board sent an email to staff last Friday announcing the start of a 90-day redundancy consultation that could result in more than 8% of its UK workforce losing their jobs.

In an email to staff, Arup's chief operating officer for the Europe region, Alain Marcetteau, said the firm is in a period of “significant business uncertainty” and the coming months will be “very challenging”.

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15th Jan 2009 Profit and turnover to crash 70% across construction sector

Business survey reveals building will be the industry worst hit by the downturn this year

Profitability and turnover in construction will both decline by over 70% in 2009, a survey of UK privately held businesses has found.

Business and financial adviser, Grant Thornton, canvassed 7,200 businesses across 36 countries. In the UK it sought the opinions of chief executives, managing directors, chairmen and senior executives of 600 large and medium-sized business.

It found that construction will be the worst hit casualty of the downturn, with expected falls of 75% in profitability and 71% in turnover this year.

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15th Jan 2009 Jobs: who's hiring, who's firing?

A Sydney recruitment agent says the employment climate is the toughest she has seen in almost a decade.

The director of boutique recruitment firm Lomas Permanent, Ariane Behm, says the last few months have even cowed the most resilient recruitment firms in Australia, which have downsized and cut back along with their clients.

"To stay afloat we're hearing all over the place that recruitment places are making people redundant because there's no work around," Ms Behm said.

"I know of one agency who does what I do and has been a competitor for years ... and they've had to move out of a landmark building because business has dried up and they work primarily in the finance sector."

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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14th Jan 2009 The Economist: U.S. In Depression, Not Recession

Publication admits that characteristics of economic slowdown resembles 1930’s.

Renowned financial publication The Economist reports that, based on the characteristics of the current financial crisis, the U.S. is in a depression, not a recession.

The admission marks the first time that a major international financial news outlet has acknowledged that the scale of the economic mess is unlike anything seen in recent decades.

Under the headline, Diagnosing depression, the article asks, “What is the difference between a recession and a depression?”

A depression is characterized by “falling asset prices, a credit crunch and deflation,” according to the article, all factors that we see unfolding in the current crisis.

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14th Jan 2009 Property, banking stocks sink UAE market

Dubai: UAE markets ended lower on Tuesday, dragged down by property and banking stocks amid investor worries about poor company results beyond the fourth quarter in a slowing economy.

Dubai house prices fell by eight per cent in the last three months compared to the previous quarter, according to a report issued yesterday by Colliers International, a global property consultancy. Colliers said the slide was mainly due to the tight liquidity situation and negative investor sentiment. After making gains for two straight days, the Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 2.76 per cent to end at 1708.53. Among the losers were Emaar Properties which slipped 4.84 per cent to Dh2.36; Union Properties, which shed 4.94 per cent to close at Dh0.77; and Dubai Islamic Bank, which fell 3.03 per cent to Dh1.92. Arabtec Construction led the list of losers, dropping 9.91 per cent to Dh1.84.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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14th Jan 2009 Property and bank stocks pull down UAE markets yet again

Dubai: The UAE stock markets ended lower on Tuesday as property and bank stocks were hit by investor fears about potentially weak fourth-quarter earnings.

In Dubai, Emaar Properties took the most points off the index, slipping 4.84 per cent, while Dubai Islamic Bank lost 3.03 per cent.

The index ended 2.76 per cent down at 1,708 points, ending a two-day run of wins.

In Abu Dhabi, Sorouh Real Estate and Aldar Properties ended down 5.96 per cent and 2.59 per cent respectively. National Bank of Abu Dhabi declined 3.65 per cent.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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13th Jan 2009 Rera chief executive says rent caps are not needed 'in a tough year'

Dubai: A rent cap is not needed this year, Marwan Bin Galita, chief executive of Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), told Gulf News.

Many tenants in Dubai are still confused that no rent cap for 2009 has been announced. While the cap for 2008 was set at five per cent, this was due to run out at the end of last year.

Since then, nothing more has been said on the issue.

However, Bin Galita told Gulf News yesterday that in his opinion, no rent cap is necessary in 2009.

"We don't need a rent cap this year. We need to freeze everything. 2009 is a tough year and we shouldn't interfere with rents too much," Bin Galita said.

Bin Galita also said rental rates should be fair to both landlords and tenants.

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13th Jan 2009 Online classifieds take hit as job market declines

THE looming recession isn't just bad news for job seekers.

The slump in the employment market, which has been eating away at newspapers' classified advertising, is also hurting their online counterparts such as Seek, Fairfax Media's MyCareer and News Ltd's CareerOne.

The number of internet job ads in Australia fell 9.5 per cent in December to an average 180,535 a week, the biggest decline since surveys of online ads started in 1998, ANZ said in its monthly job market report.

Over the past year, the number of positions advertised online fell 28.1 per cent, bringing growth to a shuddering halt in a sector hoping to be buffered from the dramatic sales decline that has hurt print rivals.

The decline comes after Seek's joint chief executives, Paul and Andrew Bassat, warned in November that the company's spectacular growth was over for now, saying earnings growth would slump from 37 per cent in 2007-08 to zero this year.

Source: http://business.smh....

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13th Jan 2009 Dubai expects $1.2bn budget deficit

Government revenues will not grow enough to compensate for 42% rise in public spending

The Dubai government has said it expects a $1.2bn (£0.8bn) deficit in this year's budget as it expands its spending on public projects to make up for the shortfall in private investments.

Nasser Al-Sheikh, the director general of Dubai's department of finance, said public spending would rise 42% to $10.3bn, but government revenues are expected to stand at $9.1bn - up a quarter on last year - leaving a deficit of $1.2bn.

Al-Sheikh said the fall was a result of Dubai “aiming to boost total local demand to compensate for an expected drop in private investments and consumption”.

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13th Jan 2009 UK Construction ouput at 30-year low

Overall output will not increase until the second half of 2010 predicts Construction Products Association

Construction output is facing its biggest fall in nearly 30 years, according to new figures out today.

Trade body the Construction Products Association (CPA) said industry output was likely to fall by 9% this year and a further 4% in 2010. This would be the biggest drop since the early 1980s, it said.

Private housing starts, which fell 43% in 2008, are expected to fall another 32% in 2009 and commercial work will continue to suffer as the retail industry scales back development plans, it said.

Other predictions for 2009 include a 10% fall in new construction work and a 15% fall in private housing repair, maintenance and improvement.

The CPA said overall output would not begin to increase until the second half of 2010 and there would be no recovery in total output until 2012.

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13th Jan 2009 Britain may need 0% interest rate to avoid a depression, leading economist warns

Interest rates may have to be slashed to zero as Britain battles to avoid a full-blown depression, one of the country’s leading economists warns today.

The extraordinary claim from Charles Goodhart, a founding member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, came as Gordon Brown signalled that he wants to see further, aggressive cuts in the cost of borrowing.

Mr Goodhart, professor emeritus of banking and finance at the London School of Economics and a member of the MPC between 1997 and 2000, tells Channel 4’s Dispatches programme: ‘Interest rates will go down from now, by how far and how fast nobody knows.

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12th Jan 2009 Tesco orders UK QSs to cut fees in half or lose future work

Consultants face price cuts of 20-50% as client responds to ‘current economic climate’

Tesco is slashing the fees it pays to its consultants, in response to the downturn in the retail sector.

The company, which procures about £1.4bn of construction work a year in the UK, has written to its consultants, which include Turner & Townsend, Faithful + Gould, Rider Levett Bucknall and Cyril Sweett, threatening loss of work if they do not accept the cuts.

Sources say these amount to between a 20% and 50% fee reduction, depending on the type of work involved.

Tesco is also understood to be in talks with contractors over price cuts. A source at one of its suppliers said: “It’s quite a shock. They obviously need to cut costs, but we can only agree to reductions up to a certain point.”

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12th Jan 2009 UK Unions threaten legal action as firms aim to slash pay

Contractors rush to reduce payroll costs as recession puts pressure on wage agreements

Construction unions are preparing to resist employers’ plans to slash pay in 2009.

The news follows union Unite’s threat to take legal action against concrete contractor PC Harrington after the firm asked workers to accept a 15% pay cut or risk losing their jobs.

Byrne Brothers, another concrete specialist, is understood to be discussing pay cuts with its employees. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment.

The concrete firms’ actions seem to be part of a growing trend in the contracting sector of the industry. A spokesperson for union Ucatt said it was aware of a number of companies instigating pay cuts, and Edward Goodwyn, a partner in lawyer Pinsent Masons, said he had had “an extremely large number of enquiries” from employers seeking advice on cutting workers’ pay.

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12th Jan 2009 Corporate leaders hail Dubai budget

Dubai: The Dubai government's 2009 budget which boosted the fiscal outlay by 42 per cent to Dh37.7 billion was widely welcomed by Dubai's business community on Sunday.

A cross-section of businessmen, bankers, economists and senior bureaucrats hailed the budget as growth oriented and said the government's emphasis on infrastructure spending will go a long way in resisting the impact of the global slowdown on Dubai's economy.

The budget estimates a 26 per cent increase in government revenue from Dh26.5 billion last year to Dh33.5 billion this year has avoided any new taxes or fees.

The business community in general believes that the Dubai government's fiscal strategy will be successful in preparing local businesses to meet short-term challenges from the current global economic environment.

If we look at the budget for 2008, we see it was well-managed and showed an increase in government revenues of 30 per cent and most revenues came from government investments in the emirate and abroad.

The majority of this budget (2009) will go to the liquidity of the market, services and for infrastructure. There will be a decline in growth but the government is taking action to inject money into the market to keep the confidence there.

The budget is significant not only for Dubai but for the UAE because the economy of Dubai is a huge part of the whole country.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Jan 2009 Davis Langdon leads fresh round of job cuts in UK

Consultants and housebuilders are bracing themselves for another round of redundancies, with firms including Davis Langdon preparing to make deep cuts in their workforce.

DL said it was in consultation to cut up to 150 jobs after further deterioration in market conditions.

Gardiner & Theobald is understood to have entered a second consultation with a view to making cuts. Senior partner Tony Burton said all staff had been told that their jobs were secure for the next 90 days.

Gleeds said it had made about 90 redundancies over the past six months and was reviewing the situation on a week by week basis.

Rob Smith, DL’s senior partner, said: “Unfortunately, we have started another round of redundancies. All our peer group is doing the same. We are doing everything we can to secure as much work as we can but at this juncture we had to make a move.”

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12th Jan 2009 Job ads dropped in December: survey

The demand for new labour deteriorated to "recession levels" in December, with the number of job advertisements falling for an eighth straight month, a survey has found.

The number of job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet fell by 9.7 per cent in December to an average of 190,661 per week, according to ANZ Banking Group's monthly survey.

Job advertisements were 29.9 per cent lower than 12 months earlier, the survey found.

The number of job ads in newspapers slipped 13.9 per cent in the month.

Job ads in newspapers have fallen 51.8 per cent in the 12 months to December, the weakest annual rate of growth since the survey began in 1975 and worse than at any time during the 1982 and 1991 recessions.

Source: http://news.smh.com....

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12th Jan 2009 UK Bovis Homes job cuts rise to 60% of workforce

New round of job cuts announced to counter fall in sales and sliding house prices

Bovis Homes has announced it is cutting another 160 jobs as the housing downturn continues to bite, losing almost one-third of its remaining staff.

In a trading update issued this morning, the housebuilder said that this means that the number of staff has now been cut by 60% from the 930 employed a year ago. It is thought that just 370 staff will remain at the firm.

Bovis also revealed that the number of private homes sold in 2008 dropped almost 50% on 2007, from 2,293 to 1,223. However, a sharp increase in its social housing sales – up one-third on the previous year – meant that the overall number of homes sold dropped by a more modest 38%.

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9th Jan 2009 Shares set for mixed opening

The Australian stock market is likely to open flat after a mixed performance by Wall Street and the European stock markets on Thursday, and as the oil price declined.

In recent trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March Share Price Index futures contract was down 2 points at 3,690. Yesterday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index closed down 85.4 points, or 2.3%, at 3694.3, and the broader All Ordinaries index was 84.6 points lower, or 2.3%, at 3643.6.

Mining stocks may extend yesterday's falls with the closely watched Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodity prices down 1% overnight.

The Australian dollar was marginally stronger overnight. It was recently buying 71.05 US cents, up from yesterday's local close of 70.6 US cents. It was also changing hands at 64.8 yen and 51.8 euro cents.

On Wall Street, worries about weak consumer spending have been revived, sending stocks lower as bad news from Wal-Mart Stores Inc signaled that even the stronger US retailers struggled during a holiday shopping season deemed the worst in 40 years.

Within the final hour of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Averager was 70.6 points lower, or 0.8%, at 8699.1.

Earlier, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was flat at 906.57 points, while the Nasdaq was 0.74 of a point, or 0.05% lower, at 1598.32.

European stocks closed lower, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares slipping 2.14 points, or 0.05% to 4,505.37 points even as the Bank of England slashed interest rates to the lowest since its founding in 1694.

Source: http://business.smh....

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9th Jan 2009 Dubai's companies urged to go on a lean diet in times of crisis

Dubai: As the economic situation continues to run stiff and dry, companies need to go on a lean diet to weather the storm, officials and advisors say.

The current economic crisis is forcing private sector companies to drastically cut costs as their orderbook is shrinking due to a decline in sales, impacted by the current meltdown.

The financial meltdown has hit Dubai's real estate market badly, forcing companies to reduce marketing and advertisement budgets, while some had to lay off employees as part of the cost-cutting measures.

Nearly 1,800 people have already been made redundant in the real estate and construction sector in Dubai in two months.

Many large companies in the real estate sector have already seen layoffs and the banking sector is also currently tightening its belt.

The impact is spreading to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which has every one on their toes, worrying about job security. About 80 per cent of the businesses in the UAE are SMEs.

Should companies jump to cut costs by ridding themselves of redundancies or is there another solution?

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, chief executive of Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, spoke to Gulf News about the possible course of action businesses need to take during this time of turmoil and uncertainty.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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9th Jan 2009 Demand for oil could fall by 45%, says Saudi official

Dubai: Oil demand could fall 45 per cent due to the global financial crisis, but investments should be increased to ensure supplies are maintained, a senior Saudi government official said in remarks published on Thursday.

Majid Al Munif, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's oil minister, said the global financial crisis may cut oil demand by 23 per cent to 45 per cent, the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat reported, citing remarks made at a conference on Wednesday. World oil demand fell by 50,000 barrels per day in 2008, and is predicted to fall 450,000 bpd this year, the United States Energy Information Administration said in a report in December.

Cooling demand was led by a 1.2 million bpd contraction in top consumer the United States in 2008, and another 200,000 bpd drop is likely this year. The last time world petroleum demand fell was in 1983, part of four years of straight declines in oil consumption that began in 1980, the agency said.

The weak economy and lower oil demand has already caused US crude oil prices to sink more than $100 [Dh367] from a record $147 a barrel in July - a slump that has forced Opec to take 4.2 million bpd of oil off the market in an attempt to reduce bulging global crude inventories and stabilise oil prices.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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8th Jan 2009 Darling admits UK recession will be prolonged

Chancellor to revise previous predictions of recovery for the second half of this year

Chancellor Alistair Darling has warned that Britain is “far from through” the recession, according to reports.

The statement was made yesterday in an interview with the Financial Times and signalled that he will be forced to abandon the government’s forecast that the recovery would begin in the second half of 2009.

Economic data has suggested that the chancellor’s forecasts last November, which said Britain was now at the midpoint of a one-year recession, were over-optimistic, and would have to be amended in the spring’s Budget.

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8th Jan 2009 WA Govt approves $230M hospital upgrade

Health Campus in Perth’s northern corridor will receive a $230 million upgrade, which is expected to double the size of the existing facility, according to the Western Australian government.

Kim Hames

Yesterday, the state government gave the $229.8 million Joondalup Health Campus expansion the go-ahead.

The expansion will begin this year under a public-private partnership between the health campus’ current operator, Ramsay Health Care, and the state government and is expected to be completed by 2013.

Deputy Premier and Health Minister Dr Kim Hames said construction work would be conducted in stages to allow existing hospital operations to continue as normal.

“The expanded hospital will be twice the size of the existing facility,” Hames said.

“There will be a 61 per cent increase in bed numbers for public patients – from the current 280 beds to 451 beds by 2013.”

According to Hames, the expansion also includes a new emergency department, a 20-bed dialysis service and 11 new operating theatres.

“The emergency department at Joondalup is now the busiest in the state treating more than 63,000 patients per year,” he said.

“The new facilities will enable us to significantly expand the range and breadth of clinical services offered at Joondalup, which will ensure many more patients can receive hospital care much closer to home instead of having to travel to other hospitals.”

Joondalup Health Campus chief executive Kempton Cowan said the expansion was a major milestone.

“The northern corridor is one of the fastest growing regions of our state and the country,” Cowan said.

“We have seen phenomenal population growth in recent years, which in turn has resulted in extraordinary demand for hospital services and is set to continue in the years ahead.

“This major $229.8 million commitment from the state government will ensure we have the facilities to meet not only current demand but also the needs of our patients into the future.”

In addition to the expansion, an 85-bed private hospital will be opening at the site in 2012, which will bring the total amount of beds to 536 by 2013, making it Perth’s third largest hospital, Cowan said.

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8th Jan 2009 Get ready: high-rise suburbs coming

SYDNEY will be reinvented as a high-density metropolis serviced by mass-transit subways under a transport blueprint being developed by senior state and federal government bureaucrats.

Powerful new legislation underpinning a proposed metro network costing $13 billion will enable transport and planning officials to reshape the inner suburbs of Sydney, paving the way for apartment towers as high as 15 storeys as well as large-scale retail and office blocks.

To justify the multibillion-dollar investment, tens of thousands more people would have to live and work within walking distance of the proposed Parramatta Road metro stations, according to planning officials behind the overhaul.

Heritage inner-west suburbs such as Glebe, Leichhardt, Rozelle and Camperdown are to be among the first to face radical changes should both the $8.1 billion West Metro underneath Parramatta Road and the $4.8 billion CBD Metro go ahead.

A joint state and federal government study into the West Metro, leaked to the Herald, revealed it would "significantly reduce travel times between western Sydney and the Sydney CBD".

"It would also provide significant support for transit-oriented development, urban revitalisation and services to new rail markets," it said.

The controversial population targets in the inner west, set in the State Government's planning blueprint, the Metropolitan Strategy, would be eclipsed by new targets to support a mass-transit subway.

"It is not to say the Metro Strategy is wrong but the world has shifted," said a senior state planning official. "The next round of the Metro Strategy will have to consider greater in-fill [urban density]."

But in the face of anti-development campaigns in the inner west, the state Labor Government may have trouble selling the high-rise living plans to nervous western Sydney MPs.

The Transport Minister, David Campbell, acknowledged that an overhaul of the areas serviced by the metro was a central concern for the State Government.

"One of the main benefits of this corridor would see the revitalisation of urban growth and employment for communities along Parramatta Road," he said.

Late last year, a team of advisers from Infrastructure Australia took a bus tour to one such location, MarketPlace shopping centre on Marion Street, Leichhardt, to scout the location for a metro station.

A new transport authority, quietly legislated by the State Government in late November, has been given unprecedented powers to develop the land above and around proposed metro stations.

On November 26, a Sydney Metro Authority was created by a special amendment to the Transport Administration Act. It still does not have a board or chief executive but it has new powers "to carry out development, or facilitate, manage or finance development, on land located on, or in the vicinity of, metro railway systems". RailCorp has no equivalent power.

Concentrating housing around train stations is a well established policy in cities around the world to ease congestion, prevent suburban sprawl and reduce the cost of services such as water, power and transport.

The Rudd Government is leading a new push to make Australian cities look more like London, Tokyo and Singapore, which have twice as many people and jobs per hectare as Sydney.

Infrastructure Australia, a federal body set up to recommend funding for transport projects across the country, said in a recent influential report that residential and commercial densities in Sydney were too low.

"Increasing densities around rail stations can increase the economic and other benefits that might flow from the considerable public investment in urban rail projects. However, this is an area where governments have a mixed record," it said. "Much more can be done to increase densities around transport nodes. A strong, proactive approach needs to be taken to integrate land use, zoning and planning policies more effectively."

One member of the Infrastructure Australia board, Professor Peter Newman, said in an interview with the Herald that Sydney and Melbourne could no longer afford to exist as two-tiered cities where the wealthy had access to transport and the poor struggled on the fringes.

"That is one of my themes, that we stop cities developing into eco enclaves surrounded by Mad Max suburbs," he said.

"If you want to go with the metro, you would need to think about higher densities, and in particular, high densities around the train stations.

"They will be apartments, there is no doubt about that. Chatswood is the best example but a lot of people will find that hard to take."

A spokesman for the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, said there would continue to be a mix of housing styles in the city, including single dwellings, terraces, townhouses and low-, medium- and high-rise apartment buildings. "Home purchasers will continue to make choices between these housing styles which suit their personal circumstances," said the spokesman.

Two previous government plans in 2001 and 2005 tried to force councils to boost population throughout the inner west and revitalise Parramatta Road. Both failed in the face of strong community opposition.

Initially, 130,000 dwellings of up to six storeys were to be built along the road at a rate of 4000 a year. Four years later that was cut to 70,000.

The 2005 Metropolitan Strategy declared 30 per cent of new residents would be housed in greenfield areas in the north-west and south-west of Sydney, serviced by extensions to the CityRail network. The remainder would be squeezed into existing suburbs.

But since the former premier, Morris Iemma, dumped the rail expansion in favour of a metro network, the Metropolitan Strategy has fallen by the wayside. Now, as Sydney continues to grow, the argument that established suburbs should house more people has gained currency.

Ku-ring-gai could be seen as a model for how these new densities could be achieved. Last year, the Government usurped council planning powers to allow a dramatic increase in building heights along CityRail's North Shore line. Two-storey shopping strips like Roseville and Turramurra will be overshadowed by mixed-use developments as high as seven to nine storeys, and Gordon will have 15-storey towers.

Technically, the Department of Planning remains the consent authority for any such development. "Any changes will be managed in the context of existing planning processes, including consultation with local communities," Mr Campbell said.

Transport officials behind the new railway line successfully lobbied to have the power enshrined in legislation, creating new tensions with the Department of Planning.

The legislation makes it easier to package property development with private sector construction contracts to help finance the railway line.

One source told the Herald funds from property development were better spent, however, on local amenities that could include anything from bicycle lockers to libraries.

"It is better off to help the amenity around the stations," he said.

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8th Jan 2009 RICS: empty homes should house UK homeless

Chartered surveyor body calls for increase in council powers to deal with vacant properties

The government should use the 750,000 empty homes in the UK to rehouse thousands who will be homeless over Christmas, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

RICS wants the government to ramp up council powers to intervene with empty dwellings, and for a reduction in VAT on the renovation and repair of buildings from 15 to 5% to make renting empty property a more attractive option for owners. The institution said there are currently measures in place to help homeowners who face having their property repossessed, but not those who do not have accommodation.

Latest figures from the communities department show there are 762,635 empty homes in the UK with 72,130 families homeless or in temporary accommodation.

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8th Jan 2009 China to grow 8% in 2009

Bloomberg
Published: January 05, 2009, 23:35

Shanghai: Chinese economic growth, buoyed by the government's 4 trillion yuan (Dh2.15 trillion) stimulus package, will likely exceed eight per cent this year, Citigroup said.

"The most important reason supporting our confidence about eight per cent growth is the government's will and ability," Huang Yiping, Citigroup's chief Asia Pacific economist, wrote in a report.

"Latest official statements confirm that eight per cent growth is now a political as well as economic policy priority."

China needs growth of at least eight per cent to create enough jobs for the 20 million workers entering the urban workforce annually.

The government unveiled a stimulus plan aimed at creating jobs in November and last month called on state-owned companies to avoid firing workers.

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First-quarter economic growth may be as low as five per cent, the slowest for some time before government spending on infrastructure spurs second-quarter gains.

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7th Jan 2009 US job figures fuel fears of recession

WEAKER than expected jobs growth in the US has heightened fears that the country may be headed for a recession, with economists predicting that an interest rate cut at the end of the month is now a "done deal".

The jobs market has been one of the strengths of the US economy amid a damaging credit crunch, oil prices sitting about $US100 a barrel and falling housing prices.

But that appears to have changed as figures released by the US Labour Department show the unemployment rate at a two-year high in December and new job creation stagnant.

see full article:
http://business.smh....

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7th Jan 2009 New label for B&B Communities

AS OF today, Babcock & Brown’s retirement village development arm, Babcock & Brown Communities, will have a new name: Lend Lease Primelife.

Following approval of the change at the company’s annual general meeting on December 30, 2008, the new name will also affect the Babcock & Brown Communities Trust, which from today will be known as the Lend Lease Primelife Trust.

The company’s ASX ticker code will also change from BBC to LLP.

The move will sever management ties with BBC’s troubled investment bank parent company Babcock & Brown, and see Lend Lease inject $195 million into BBC.

Lend Lease has a 43.2% stake in BBC, and the change to LLP reflects Lend Lease’s recapitalisation plan, which was approved at the AGM.

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7th Jan 2009 Robust growth in Dubai land deals

Dubai: The value of the total land transactions in Dubai jumped 47.5 per cent to Dh70.2 billion last year from Dh47.6 billion in 2007, according to figures from Dubai land department.

A total of 5,837 transactions were recorded in 2008, up from 3,997 transactions in 2007.

The most land activities were seen last May, with Dh11.6 billion spread over 793 transactions.

The least activity in 2008 was recorded in December with just Dh1.9 billion over 191 transaction.

However, this should come as no real surprise, given the dismal economic situation seen over the last quarter.

"I think Dubai has a very good market and will continue to grow, but it needs more time," Sultan Butti Bin Mejrin, director general of Dubai land department, said.

In terms of mortgages, 2008 was an impressive year with the total value of mortgages hitting just under Dh114 billion.

The most mortgages recorded in 2008 were in July with Dh29.4 billion worth of mortgages registered.

In 2007, the total number of mortgages recorded at the land department was Dh57.3 billion.

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7th Jan 2009 Price of oil increases to over $50

London: Oil hit a one-month high above $50 (Dh183.51) a barrel on Tuesday as Israel's incursion into Gaza and a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas heightened concern about supply disruptions.

Tension in the Middle East, supply cuts by Opec oil exporters and the row between Russia and Ukraine have helped to boost crude prices by more than 50 per cent from a low of $32.40 on December 19.

"Oil prices continue to be supported by political issues, whether they be gas or Gaza related," Rob Laughlin, broker at MF Global, said.

US crude for February delivery was up $1.07 at $49.88 by 14.00 GMT and earlier hit $50.10, the highest since December 2. London Brent was up $2.03 at $51.65.

The Gaza conflict does not directly threaten any oil supplies, but unrest in the Middle East can bolster prices because countries in the region pump about a third of the world's oil.

Russian gas supplies via Ukraine to the Balkans, Turkey and south-eastern Europe were halted yesterday and flows to EU-member state Austria dropped by 90 per cent in a deepening price row between Moscow and Kiev.

The gas row, which echoes a similar dispute three years ago that also disrupted supplies, will renew questions in Europe about Russia's reliability as a gas supplier. Russia is also a major oil exporter.

Oil has fallen steeply from a record high of $147.27 reached in July as the global downturn eroded demand.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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7th Jan 2009 Leighton slashes earnings forecast

LEIGHTON HOLDINGS has offered a stark reminder that the financial nightmare of last year will continue well into this year for many of Australia's biggest companies, after it warned that write-downs in its various investments would poke a $170 million hole in its half-year accounts.

The contractor, which at its November annual meeting forecast a 15 per cent lift in earnings this financial year, warned yesterday its profits would also be hit from the slump in the Australian office market.

Leighton said operating profits (before write-downs) would now rise 8 per cent for the year, after conceding its Leighton Properties arm could struggle to break even.

Shares in Leighton tumbled $3.33, or 12 per cent, to $25 after the company warned its first-half profit would fall to about $100 million, or 60 per cent below the previous year's interim profit.

The company now expects to post a $480 million full-year profit, well down on the forecast of $700 million made in November and the previous year's $608 million.

Aside from the write-downs, Leighton's chief executive, Wal King, blamed the full-year downgrade mainly on the sharp downturn in the property sector.

"The properties we've got for sale, there's no interest in them," said Mr King, who blamed the credit crisis on the company's inability to sell about $300 million worth of office developments.

Mr King also warned the "distortion in timing" on the booking of revenues from several recently awarded projects in Dubai could hit profits this financial year. He also confirmed the planned listing of the Dubai-based Al Habtoor Leighton Group could be delayed another two years.

But the Leighton chief continued to play down fears the commodities downturn could hurt the company's contract mining operations.

"It really depends on where you are in the cost curve," said Mr King. While some higher cost mining operations in central Queensland were being wound back, others in lower cost areas where Leighton has extensive operations, such as Indonesia, were being ramped up. He also spoke of the huge potential of coal-rich Mongolia, where Leighton recently set up operations.

Source: http://business.smh....

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7th Jan 2009 UK Construction activity suffers sharpest ever fall

Industry purchasing index shows record falls in housing, civils and commercial building sectors

Evidence of a slump in construction activity has been strengthened by a survey showing a record fall in new work.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply/Markit construction report for December showed activity in the UK construction sector falling at the sharpest rate recorded by the series to date.

The report said the information reflected a retrenchment in demand alongside company concerns that the continuing economic crisis shows “little sign of relenting”.

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6th Jan 2009 Australian companies brace for the worst

AUSTRALIAN businesses fear the next three months will be their toughest quarter yet.

They fear the financial crisis will keep driving down sales, profits and employment levels.

A nationwide survey of 1200 companies from various sectors revealed more than half were preparing for a drop in sales, while 59 per cent expected lesser profits.

The last time the Dun & Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey recorded such a bad reading was during the second quarter of 1990, when Australia was in recession.

Some executives have indicated they will need to slash staff numbers and capital investment to survive the downturn.

A fifth of Australian business owners expect to have fewer staff in the March quarter than they did a year ago, while 10 per cent of firms will be putting capital investment plans on the back burner until the outlook improves. The majority (79 per cent) also plan to raise prices during the March quarter to protect their bottom line, with the index that measures this climbing to the highest level ever recorded by the survey.

However, almost 30 per cent of firms have also noticed a slowdown in consumer spending, which is unlikely to be helped by higher prices.

During the September quarter, 66 per cent of firms raised their prices, an increase of 6 per cent on the June quarter.

Dun & Bradstreet Australia chief executive Christine Christian said that while this strategy may work in the short term, it would not bode well for the economy in the long term.

"We suspect there will be very few businesses that won't be putting in a cost maintenance strategy and there is no question that this is going to have a knock-on effect right through the economy," Ms Christian said.

"The next three months are going to be the most telling for the Australian economy."

The nation's depreciating currency has caused major problems for Australian businesses, with 72 per cent claiming to have been negatively affected by its dramatic fall from the 25-year high of US98.49c struck in July.

Yesterday, the dollar was trading at US71.34c at the close.

The credit squeeze has also been a bugbear for local businesses, with four in 10 indicating they have been negatively affected by changing credit market conditions.

But their biggest concern is the cash rate, with 36 per cent of executives believing interest rates will have the greatest impact on their business, despite recent cuts.

The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed interest rates by a cumulative three percentage points between September and December last year, the fastest ever loosening in monetary policy.

During the September quarter, 44 per cent of firms recorded fewer sales and 55 per cent took lower profits.

"The challenges experienced by Australian firms in the second half of 2008 caused executive confidence to decline to levels not seen in the D&B survey since the 1990s," Ms Christian said.

"Executives will be hoping that the loosening in monetary policy, government measures to address the financial crisis and the post-Christmas sales will encourage spending throughout 2009.

"However, regardless of the outcome of these measures, business activity will remain depressed in 2009."

One positive finding to come out of the survey is that recent downward movements in petrol prices have been well received by local businesses, with an 89 per cent decline in the number of executives negatively affected by fuel costs since September.

Only 4 per cent of firms now report a negative impact from the cost of petrol.

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6th Jan 2009 UK HR body warns of massive job cuts in 2009

Report predicts over 600,000 jobs could go in the UK next year

A report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has predicted that at least 600,000 jobs will be lost across the UK next year, the worst losses since 1991, the BBC reports.

The warning from the professional body for managers and personnel staff comes as a growing number of firms apply for administration, with construction and building materials companies among the worst hit.

Those who retain their jobs will face a lean 2009 as well, the report predicts, with pay freezes likely across sectors. The CIPD's recent survey of 2,600 workers indicated that more that a quarter of UK workers did not expect a pay rise next year, while some feared a cut in wages.

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6th Jan 2009 US home sales hit 17-year low

Housing market continues to struggle as sales drop 35.3% in a year

New home sales at the US hit their lowest level for 17 years in November, the BBC has reported.

Sales of new houses were down 2.9% from October, according to US Commerce Department figures. Predictions for property sales in the period were gloomy, but figures fell below economists' expectations.

Overall home sales in November were down 35.3% from November 2007. The mid-price of a new home also dropped the biggest amount in eight months, down 11.5% from a year ago.

Housebuilders in the US have attempted to reduce production of new homes, in order to keep in step with rapidly falling demand. The US housing slump is expected to continue well into next year.

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6th Jan 2009 World stockmarkets suffer worst year on record

Construction firms hit hard as key indices drop by up to 72% in 2008

Stockmarkets around the world have suffered an annus horribilis, as trillions of pounds have been wiped off share values. The global economic downturn has sent shares crashing, losing £9.7tn for the world economy, the Guardian has reported.

London's FTSE 100 index lost 31.3% of its value, the worst drop since it was founded in 1984, with construction firms some of the worst casualties. Wall Street lost almost 35%, and Europe was not exempt from the decline, with Germany, France, Spain and Italy recording losses of 40.4%, 43%, 47.5% and 48.5% respectively. Russia, however, fared the worst with a drop in value of its RTS index of 72%. China's Shanghai composite index fell 65%.

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19th Dec 2008 UK Commercial property fears deepen

The value of commercial property loans in breach of their agreed terms more than trebled in six months as rapidly falling real estate prices hit a heavily leveraged sector struggling under almost £208bn of debt.

With more than £76bn of debt needing to be refinanced before the end of 2010 and increasing numbers of loans slipping into default, the findings of an influential survey of property lending, to be published on Wednesday, will add to warnings that commercial property could be a timebomb for banks that supported the real estate boom.

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18th Dec 2008 Advocacy Alert – Big Reductions in NSW Development Levies

The NSW Government has completed its development levies review and today announced significant reductions to state and local development levies and water utility charges.

For the full story please see the attached article.

download document [32 KB]

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18th Dec 2008 Chilling developments in Dubai

There will surely come a day when Dubai runs the world's reserves of hyperbole dry. But in the meantime, we continue to draw a sharp intake of breath each time a new construction project is announced. We have had ski domes built in the desert, seen vast artificial islands rise from the sea and watched several structures vying for the title of world's tallest building. Dubai represents the will, vision and ambition of our species. Yet many believe it shines an unflattering light on our tendency for folly and hubris, too.

This week, it was reported that the Palazzo Versace hotel - the Emirate's latest offering for those still in the market for exorbitant luxury - will boast, when completed in 2010, a refrigerated 820sq metre swimming pool and a beach with artificially cooled sand to protect its guests from the excesses of a climate that can see summer temperatures exceeding 50C. Wind machines will even be on hand to provide a gentle breeze.

"We will suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on," said Soheil Abedian, founder and president of Palazzo Versace, a hotel group with plans for a further 15 luxury hotels around the world to add to the one that already exists on Australia's Gold Coast. (I'm a Celebrity junkies will know this as the hotel where the celebrities are sent once voted out of the "jungle".) "This is the kind of luxury that top people want," he added.

Source: http://www.guardian....

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18th Dec 2008 Trading in UAE stocks remain flat

Dubai: UAE stocks on Wednesday remained almost flat amid low volumes with hardly any positive investor sentiment. A US rally on Tuesday after the Fed's rate cuts did not sway the markets here.

The UAE Central Bank, however, announced that it was not going to match the Fed, the second time after it declined not to cut in October.

Sideways

Analysts have been describing the market movement in the past few days as sideways.

The Dubai benchmark moved just 0.19 per cent up to close at 1929.06. Volumes fell 9.45 per cent to 108.85 million shares with a turnover of Dh262.61 million.

Among the gainers were Emaar Properties, up 1.03 per cent to Dh2.93; Arabtec, surging 5.81 per cent to Dh5.28, taking its four-day gain to 18.82 per cent; Dubai Financial Market rising 3.31 per cent to Dh1.25; and Air Arabia, closing one per cent higher at Dh1.01.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index remained almost unchanged, barely moving up 0.05 per cent to 2711.55.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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18th Dec 2008 Job losses in real estate continue in Dubai

Dubai: Al Shafar General Contracting, a Dubai-based construction company on Wednesday said it will cut between 500 and 1,000 construction site and office jobs as new projects become harder to get.

The company's chief executive officer Bishoy Azmi told Gulf News most of the job losses involve staff still under probation.

He said the company had hired them expecting "aggressive expansion" but construction has slowed down. The company employs about 15,000 people and has Dh6 billion worth of projects under way.

"We can manage ongoing work without adding new staff. The amount of new projects has significantly reduced," Azmi said.

The planned layoffs will be carried out in the next two months, he said.

The local property sector is continuing to shed jobs as project flow slows due to tough economic conditions.

Top developers such as Nakheel, Damac and Omniyat have announced hundreds of job cuts in recent weeks, and industry sources say new recruitments are down sharply.

The real estate sector slowdown has had a direct impact on related sectors such as property services firms and building material suppliers.

"The market is quiet," said Sameh Hassan, chief executive officer of Madar Holding, a supplier of steel and timber to construction firms. He said the downturn began in summer and described August and Sep-tember as the "worst months".

Although the company has seen some recovery in sales since October, Hassan believes things will only become clear next year.

"Not many projects are coming up. It will become clearer next year whether they have been cancelled or only postponed."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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18th Dec 2008 WSP slashes 500 jobs

Consultant cuts 5% of workforce as international orders falter

Consultant WSP has made around 500 job cuts across its global business – around 5% of its total workforce.

The firm said it had reduced headcounts around the world as the economic crisis takes its toll on its international business.

A spokesman said: "We are working in 40 countries around the world and there are redundancies spread around those 40 countries."

Around 100 of the cuts are thought to have come from the firm's UK operations.

The news follows this morning's year-end trading update from WSP, in which it confirmed its order book had dropped by 5% in the past six months.

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18th Dec 2008 UK Business rates to rise 5% from April

CBI warns of threat to economy after government ignores its call for a business rate freeze

The government has told local authorities that business rates will rise by 5% in April 2009, in line with last September's unusually high RPI rate of inflation.

The statement was put in a letter to local authorities from the government, quashing hopes of a freeze on rates to give the economy a boost.

Dr Neil Bentley, director of business environment policy at the CBI, labelled the decision to push rates up “unnecessary”.

He warned: “The unnecessary jump in business rates will affect nearly every firm, and struggling retailers will be particularly hard hit when they need all the help we can give them.”

The CBI had called for a freeze in business rates in a bid to boost the economy during the global economic downturn, but Bentley said that councils will now have “carte blanche to raise £1.15bn of extra money through business tax next year.

“Pegging the increase to September's record RPI rate - an 18-year-high - enables government to raise £400m in extra tax revenue from firms when they can least afford it,” he said.

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17th Dec 2008 Westpac Residential Monthly

Westpac Property is pleased to provide the latest edition of the Residential Property Monitor - December 2008.

This three page publication provides a one stop source of economic and market data relating to the residential markets around the country.

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17th Dec 2008 UAE government formulating legislation to ensure banks guarantee deposits

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Government is positive about the country's economic growth in 2009, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, told the Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday.

Al Tayer said the government will take all necessary measures to tackle the issue, including injecting even more funds into the financial system in the context of the acute shortage of credit in the global financial markets as the West grapples with its biggest financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Al Tayer told the FNC on Tuesday that the UAE banking sector remains strong with solid fundamentals including Dh181 billion of capital and provisions. "The capital adequacy ratio in UAE banks is 12.6 per cent on average. Yes, there are banks which have less adequacy, but the ministerial committee set up to look into measures to contain the impact of the global financial crisis proposed that this ratio be increased to 11 per cent by mid-2009 and 12 per cent by mid-2010," Al Tayer said.

He said the government injected Dh120 billion into long-term bank deposits to address a liquidity shortage, accounting for 14 per cent of GDP. "Compared with other countries, it shows we are taking the right steps. The UK has injected 20 per cent of GDP, the US 15 per cent of GDP, Russia 8 per cent, and Germany injected 7 per cent of its GDP."

Al Tayer said the government also plans to introduce legislation to ensure banks guarantee deposits. "The legislation will be fin-alised in a couple of weeks," he said.

Speaking about the global financial crisis and its impact on the UAE economy, Al Tayer said the government is taking the right steps to contain the liquidity crunch and prevent it from turning into an economic slowdown.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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17th Dec 2008 Oil rises above $46 ahead of expected cut by producer group

London: Oil rose above $46 on Tuesday, bolstered by expectations Opec will agree on its largest ever supply cut this week to try to halt a fall in prices due to shrinking global demand.

Oil ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Algeria today, with many members calling for output cuts of up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd).

US light crude for January delivery rose $1.60 to $46.11 a barrel at 1453 GMT.

London Brent crude was up $1.73 at $46.33.

Oil fell to a four-year low of $40.50 on December 5, down more than $100 from its July record above $147 a barrel.

"Opec won't face a bigger decision than this for some time to come," Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris said. "If they don't put a floor under prices with a cut of some significance then it could have huge ramifications for the future of the oil market."

The producer group expects global demand for its crude oil to fall by an average of 1.4 million bpd next year due to the downturn in the world economy.

The drop in demand will be even more dramatic in the first quarter. Opec has already agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels a day at two previous meetings.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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17th Dec 2008 WSP shifts staff from Dubai as market slows

Consultant redirects resources in response to market crisis, predicting global profits ahead of expectations

WSP is shifting staff away from Dubai as the market there comes to a standstill, the engineering consultant said in a trading update today.

It said that workers in the emirate are being moved to other areas of the Gulf and “surrounding countries” in response to the effects of the financial crisis on the UK-based firm's global operations.

But the board said it has seen “strong organic revenue growth” during 2008 and profits for the year to 31 December should be ahead of expectations.

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16th Dec 2008 Come meet Blondie the builder

HER work colleagues have nicknames like "Fossil" and "Rebel" - and they call her "Princess".

In their down time on the city's toughest construction sites she softens them up by doing their nails and giving them facials.

But Cindy Bennett commands the utmost respect of every tattooed workman when she is operating the tower crane 120m above the Sydney skyline.

Ms Bennett, 26, is one of a handful of women who are storming the last bastions of maleness within the Australian workplace.

As the construction industry lays out the welcome mat, women are moving into specialised jobs previously the exclusive preserve of blokes - and showing the boys they can do the work just as well, if not better.

Ms Bennett, a former pre-school teacher from Cronulla, earned her ticket as a crane operator after months of on-the-job training, night classes at TAFE and exams in practical and theory.

Tower crane operators can earn six-figure sums working perched 40 or 50 storeys high, keeping giant construction projects on schedule.

Ms Bennett, one of the nation's first women to become a "dogman", is filling a void left after the mass departure of industry specialists during the mining boom.

"I left my job working with all women because I wanted to do something different, something outdoors and involving people," she said.

"The guys have been unreal, they're really protective. The rougher they are the bigger are their hearts, I have found."

At her pre-school, where Ms Bennett was a supervisor, she cleared $550 a week. Now she can gross up to $2000 when she works extra hours.

The CFMEU's national secretary John Sutton said women made "very good construction workers". "Some young men can be a bit bull at a gate . . . maybe it's the testosterone . . . but the girls are much more measured and calm," he said.

The union is pushing for better maternity leave and childcare in a bid to attract women to the industry.

Ms Bennett said she was looking forward to having more girls on building sites - and changing the face of the industry.

Source: http://www.news.com....

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16th Dec 2008 Building and Construction Interchange

Please find attached an article released by the BCI where they have released new research on the economic downturn.

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16th Dec 2008 Real estate exhibition opens in Sharjah

Dubai: The second ACRES real estate exhibition kicked off on Monday in Sharjah, with over 100 real estate companies participating.

Shaikh Saud Bin Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, a consultant in Sharjah Ruler's office, opened the event yesterday and conducted a tour of the exhibition space.

Shaikh Saqr Bin Ahmed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of Emirates Vision events management, organisers of the exhibition, said in a statement the event was originally meant to coincide with the region's economic development and growth of real estate activities.

Shaikh Saqr added that Sharjah's economy is testament to the success of Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah and supreme council member.

While the financial crisis has cast a shadow on all economic divisions in many regions of the world, the real estate sector continues to be highly efficient and effective, the statement said.

Shaikh Saqr attributed this to the attractive investment climate established by the UAE government and a country that is secure, safe and strong in the areas of communications, business and infrastructure.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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16th Dec 2008 UK Housing starts sink to lowest for 84 years

Office building also hard hit although public projects on the rise, according to CPA activity barometer

The number of homes being built in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 1924, putting further out of reach the government's target of building 3 million new homes by 2020.

Only 135,000 housing starts have been recorded this year, down from 203,500 in 2007, according to a report published today by the Construction Products Association (CPA) and Ernst & Young.

Their construction activity barometer report for the fourth quarter of 2008 also indicated a continuing downturn in commercial property, predicting a 24% fall in office construction next year.

Although this will be partly offset by increasing public sector spending on construction projects, this is not expected to be enough to stop construction output “falling considerably” over the next two years.

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15th Dec 2008 Dubai gets $8b finance from Citi

Dubai: Citigroup Incorporated has arranged more than $8 billion (Dh29.3 billion) finance for various Dubai government entities in recent months, the global banking group said.

"This is in line with our commitment to the UAE market in general, and reflects our positive outlook on Dubai in particular," said Citi's chairman, Sir Win Bischoff in a statement.

Officials familiar with Citi's recent deals with Dubai entities said the amount is an aggregate of about half a dozen deals Citi did with Dubai's public sector entities during the past few months.

"We continue to place the Gulf region among our globally most significant markets, and we certainly see opportunities across all of the UAE's financial sectors. In the last 2 years, we've participated in most major financing transactions across the region including the UAE," Bischoff said.

Citi's renewed commitment comes amidst speculation on Dubai's sovereign debt obligations.

Late last month Mohammad Al Abbar, chairman of the Advisory Council of Dubai's government and chairman of Emaar Properties, stressed that the government was capable of meeting all its obligations.

According to the council's estimates, the government's sovereign debt stood at $10 billion, while its assets, excluding key infrastructure installations were more than $90 billion.

The total debt of government-affiliated companies is estimated at $70 billion, while assets are valued at $260 billion.

While the government has clarified its ability to meet all its debt obligations, analysts view the renewed support by international financial houses as a strong vote of confidence in Dubai's financial strength despite the global financial turmoil.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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15th Dec 2008 UAE consumers oblivious of problems

Dubai: Although the economic crisis has affected residents' buying patterns, the consumer goods market is still showing signs of robust growth, with retail spending in the UAE poised to exceed $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) in 2009, industry sources told Gulf News.

The boom on spending will be fuelled by the expansion of retail footage in Dubai, where mall growth is estimated at 200 per cent, as well as consumers' unstoppable appetite for affordable products, according to Satish Khanna, general manager of Al Fajer Information and Services.

Al Fajer Information Services are the organisers of the International Autumn Trade Fair at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"The estimate is that in Dubai alone, mall growth will be 200 per cent and retail spending is expected to reach 25 per cent of the gross domestic product. Retail spending in Dubai alone is poised to touch close to $8 billion in 2009, while in Abu Dhabi it is estimated to be to the tune of $2 billion," Khanna said.

"The addition of mall footage to the region's retail landscape is fuelling a boom on spending and this has benefited the consumer goods segment.

"The UAE will have some 4.25 million square feet of retail space, out of which nearly 3 million will be in Dubai alone in 2010. Saudi Arabia will still have the largest at seven million square feet," Khanna added.

He dismissed speculation that the crisis will dampen sales of retail goods in the UAE or the Middle East, noting that residents will continue to buy basic consumer items.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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15th Dec 2008 UAE stocks reverse gains, close lower

Dubai: UAE stocks closed lower on Sunday, reversing gains of Thursday, as investor sentiment continued to weaken in the light of a major slowdown expected in the local economy and a deepening worldwide recession.

The UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said Thursday that the country's growth is poised to witness a slump, from 7.5 per cent this year to 3.1 per cent in 2009, owing to low oil price and slowing consumer spending.

"It is the same negative sentiment that continues and is perceived as an opportunity to sell," said Rami Sidani, head of Mena funds at Schroder's Investment Management Ltd.

Led by finance, investment and real estate shares, the Dubai Financial Market General Index sagged 1.33 per cent to 1,960.84. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index shed 0.86 per cent to 2,733.33, with banks leading the downfall.

Emaar Properties fell 1.62 per cent to Dh3.04. Shuaa Capital and Gulf Finance House lost 7.43 per cent and 9.75 per cent to end at Dh1.62 and Dh12.50 respectively. Last week Shuaa announced it is to lay off nine per cent of its workforce.

Emirates NBD, the largest bank by assets in the country, fell l2.78 per cent to Dh3.50. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi ended 6.62 per cent lower to Dh8.74 and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank declined 5.64 per cent to Dh2.51.

"It's still hard to gauge the impact of the economic downturn on the banking sector in general," Sidani said. "I expect banks to continue under-performing the rest of the market."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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15th Dec 2008 UK Contractors resort to ‘zero-profit’ bidding

Property agent says tender prices are being cut by 10-15% in attempt to bolster order books

Contractors are so desperate to win work during the downturn that they are submitting bids that are too low to make a profit.

Jim Rowland, head of building, construction and project management at property agent King Sturge, said his firm was working on projects where tender lists had come back with “some contractors bidding on a zero-profit basis”.

He added that many tender prices were coming back 10-15% lower than clients had estimated. He said: “Contractors are buying turnover for next year. If we’ve got a list of four or five firms on a job, sometimes we’re seeing all the bids being under the estimate.”

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15th Dec 2008 Mass redundancies at UK’s MJ Gleeson as chief executive resigns

Over 170 jobs axed as total workforce falls to 50 from total headcount of over 600 at start of 2008

MJ Gleeson chief executive Paul Wallwork has resigned amid a massive wave of redundancies at the housebuilder and developer.

He will be replaced by finance director Chris Holt, who will in turn be replaced by Alan Martin, currently group financial controller.

The company said the resignation was in the context of a “substantial cost reduction programme” that will see headcount fall from 224 to 50.

It had previously cut 400 jobs in 2008.

It said: “This is designed to reduce the Group's annual 'cash burn', while at the same time protecting current and prospective value.”

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12th Dec 2008 UAE poised for two-year slump says Central Bank Governor

Frankfurt: The UAE is poised for two years of slow economic growth as its property sector is hit by the global financial crisis and banks rein in expansion, the central bank governor said.

Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter would fall to low-single-digit levels in 2009 and 2010, Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said, as an economic boom spurred by six years of high oil prices comes to a close.

Still, a slump in the booming property sector would be limited as the country continues to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy, although it will take steps to ring-fence its banking system, Al Suwaidi said.

"The present global fin-ancial crisis will reduce the prospects for UAE econ-omic growth from high single-digit to low single-digit growth in 2009 and 2010," Al Suwaidi said at a banking conference.

"Monetary policy in the UAE was and still [is] expansionary and aimed at maintaining balanced economic growth."

UAE economic growth will fall by more than half in 2009 to 3.1 per cent from 7.5 per cent this year on lower oil output and slowing consumer spending, EFG-Hermes said yesterday.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Dec 2008 Oil climbs towards $46 after IEA prediction

London: Oil rose towards $46 yesterday after the International Energy Agency predicted global growth in oil demand would resume in 2009 and the Saudi oil minister said Opec's top exporter pumped less oil than expected last month.

World oil demand growth would return in 2009 after shrinking this year for the first time since 1983, the IEA, which advises 28 industrialised nations on energy policy, said in a monthly report. It also cut forecasts for supply outside Opec next year.

"We knew the bad bits, demand down, but the supply downgrade was supportive," said Rob Laughlin of MF Global.

US crude was up $2.28 at $45.80 a barrel by 1427 GMT, after surging $1.45 to settle at $43.52 on Wednesday. European benchmark Brent crude was up $2.70 at $45.10.

The IEA's view that demand would grow in 2009 contrasts with that of the US government's Energy Information Administration, which forecast this week that consumption would fall by 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Dec 2008 Rudd reveals $4.7bn nation building plan

THE Federal Government is introducing a $4.7 billion nation building plan to combat the affects of the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

The latest injection of funds comes on top of its $10.4 billion economic stimulus package.

Flanked by Treasurer Wayne Swan, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, Mr Rudd said the Government was focusing on infrastructure because it was a major driver of economic growth.

Mr Rudd said the package was capable of creating 32,000 jobs.

"This package will deal with critical infrastructure in transport, it deals with rail, it deals with roads, it also deals with education, it also deals with how we support private investment,'" he said.

Mr Rudd said the Government would bring forward $711 million in spending in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 financial years to accelerate the commencement of 14 road projects.

It will also double funding for the federal Black Spots program from $50 million to $110 million.

``This ... effectively brings forward a total of $4.7 billion in the Auslink 11 program,'' Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd said the Government would spend $1.2 billion on rail infrastructure, the largest single investment in rail in the history of the commonwealth.

He said that investment over two years in the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) was more than the former coalition government invested during its almost 12 years in office.

``We will inject $1.2 billion in new funds into the ARTC,'' Mr Rudd said.

``For example, $580 million of today's investment will be used to expand capacity and rail corridors to service the Hunter, the Hunter Valley Coal mines, and of course their connection to the Port of Newcastle.".

Source: http://www.news.com....

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12th Dec 2008 Time bomb for home buyers

ABOUT 300,000 Australian households could face "negative equity" next year — owing more money to lenders than their house is worth — if prices fall by 10 per cent as predicted.

Modelling by RMIT's Housing and Urban Research Institute suggests that about 4 per cent of Australia's 8.5 million households could next year see the value of their property fall below what they owe on it.

"We could face a situation like the UK," said research head Professor Gavin Wood. "Rapid price falls there have meant a rapid increase in foreclosures … people who have already leveraged up to very high levels of debt now own nothing."

The median Melbourne house price fell 3.3 per cent to $435,000 in the three months to September, and economists from AMP, Morgan Stanley and Australian Property Monitors and are predicting price declines of at least 10 per cent in the next year.

British house prices have fallen about 15 per cent this year, and about a quarter of a million householders owe more than their home is worth.

In the United States, prices have fallen about 20 per cent since their peak in 2006, and about 12 million home owners are thought to be in negative equity.

Professor Wood said monitoring of the borrowing practices of about 20,000 Australians since 2001 showed that a large proportion were now at risk of negative equity. A 10 per cent drop could push 300,000 households into negative equity, while a 15 per cent drop would affect 400,000.

That tallies with the latest data on mortgage stress from Fujitsu, which found about 363,000 were in "severe stress".

The western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne's outer north have been identified as some of the areas most at risk of falling into negative equity.

Source: http://business.smh....

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11th Dec 2008 Payment woes demolish ‘poshest builder’

The construction company renowned as “London’s poshest builder” has collapsed in a stark illustration of how badly the downturn has hit the capital’s wealthiest residents.

Robin Ellis Construction Services, whose client list has included rock stars, hedge fund millionaires and ultra-rich non-domiciles, has gone into administration as the financial turmoil has frozen the stream of lavish work on prime west London properties.

Mr Ellis said the collapse had come as a “dreadful shock”, and was brought about by a “climate of non-payment and slow payment by clients”. He told the Financial Times: “It’s very upsetting. I had hoped the top end of the market would be more resilient than it has proved to be.

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11th Dec 2008 Dubai tourist inflows to drop in 2009

Dubai: The UAE is likely to see a drop in tourist arrivals from Europe next year due to difficult economic conditions facing the European outbound market and the fall in the euro's value against the dirham, an industry expert said.

"Europeans have seen a decline in the value of their investments and real estate. Combined with the unfavourable exchange rates between European currencies and the dirham, which has increased the cost of visiting the UAE by at least 25 per cent, the UAE faces a challenging time in maintaining the growth enjoyed over the past three years," said Alex Kyriakidis, global managing partner of hospitality and leisure sector at the auditing firm Deloitte.

Still, the UAE's tourism sector will be in good shape compared to other regions such as Europe and the US where the downturn will be severe, he added.

Kyriakidis said the long-term development vision of the UAE must continue and current conditions should not cause panic.

Europeans account for about 40 per cent of the UAE's total tourist arrivals.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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11th Dec 2008 Rio Tinto to cut 14,000 jobs and slash capital spending

Melbourne/Sydney: Global miner Rio Tinto, saddled with nearly $40 billion (Dh146.9 billion) in net debt, said it would cut 13 per cent of its workforce, slash capital spending by more than half and sell more assets as it battles a collapse in commodity prices.

Rio, which mines a range of metals and minerals from aluminium and copper to gold and diamonds, has been under pressure to detail plans to cut borrowings since its share price slumped after larger rival BHP Billiton scrapped a $66 billion takeover bid for the company last month.

"What they've done has more than allayed fears in the market that they were going to come and have an equity issue," said Tim Schroeders, portfolio manager at Pengana Capital in Melbourne.

"Drastic times call for drastic measures. They've addressed all parts of the equation. They've definitely gone into survival mode, which is appropriate given the market circumstances," Schroeders said.

Rio's London shares jumped 17.2 per cent to 1,474 pence by 1219 GMT, outperforming a 7.2 per cent increase in the UK mining index. Its Australian shares closed up 12 per cent as investors had anticipated its announcement, said UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock.

The group's shares had dropped 54 per cent in the past month, more than five times the drop in the broader market.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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11th Dec 2008 UK Economy shrinks 1% in three months

New research shows contraction of the UK economy is accelerating

The UK economy contracted 1% in the three months to November, new research from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has shown.

The think tank, one of the UK's leading economic forecasters, said the drop came after a 0.8% fall in the three months to October, with the economy contracting at a much faster pace than appeared likely just weeks ago.

Following a review of the latest industrial production data, the NIESR said it believes the contraction in the economy will accelerate during the fourth quarter.

The Office for National Statistics will report on the final quarter's GDP in January.

The new data from the think tank is the latest indication that the UK economy is sliding into a recession. Prime minister Gordon Brown has already warned that this is likely, but the NIESR said that the recession could be deeper than initially thought.

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11th Dec 2008 Sydney headhunters under siege

Sydney headhunters are experiencing a wave of new interest as the global financial crisis impacts on the CBD.

The Finance Sector Union estimates that 5000 people have lost their jobs in the finance industry since the start of the year, most of them in Sydney.

Even Macquarie Bank, once known as the millionaires' factory, is tipped to have axed more than 1000 jobs.

Many of those axed appear to have turned to recruitment firms to help put them back on track.

"There's certainly an increase in the number of candidates from banking and finance, both domestically and from the US and the UK," Marcus Sandmann, from recruitment firm Michael Page International, said.

"I can't quantify the increase, but it's an outcome as a result of the financial sector slowing down ... and we are expecting more highly qualified people to be engaging with us in the short term."

Even the well-connected are looking for help. A large number of those who have registered their resumes have come from the ranks of middle and senior management, Mr Sandmann said.

A proportion of candidates are finance workers still in jobs but "staying warm" with recruitment firms, just in case.

As the finance industry continues to shrink, some senior bankers and managers are looking at changing careers.

"For middle and senior management, they're having to be as flexible as they can about their job search and [looking to use their skills] in other industries," Mr Sandmann said.

Others who have taken a hit might be looking to bide their time over the holiday period and to try their luck once the economy picks up again.

Respected financial publication Forbes, which has devoted a section to braving the crisis, suggests that many workers could walk away from the industry and take a holiday.

"If you lose your job and are lucky enough to walk away with a decent severance package, the smart thing to do is to save the cash. Cancel the cable and start reading career guides," it says.

"Or you can book a flight to the Philippines and live like a king for six months.

"In every economic downturn, a certain breed of adventurous jobless souls finds satisfaction ditching the job hunt and going off the radar.

"They know that, while it's hard to survive without employment in New York or Los Angeles, it can be much easier in Thailand or Guatemala."

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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10th Dec 2008 Cyril Sweett in job cut talks

Despite strong results company says it needs to reshape business to match order book

Consultant Cyril Sweett has begun redundancy talks with an unspecified number of its 900 staff.

After announcing strong results for the six months to 30 September 2008, the company said it needed to re-shape the business to match the order book.

Dean Webster, chief executive, said the final number of redundancies depended on how many staff were prepared to move overseas or into its public sector divisions.

He said: “It would be unrealistic to say some redundancies won’t be necessary but we are telling people they need to be as flexible as possible.”

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10th Dec 2008 Mideast growth to slide

Dubai: A further decline in oil prices and the global financial crisis are expected to take their toll on the economies of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), reducing GDP growth to 3.9 per cent in 2009 from 5.8 per cent in 2008, according to a World Bank report.

While a rise in oil and natural gas revenues to $200 billion (about Dh730 billion) helped drive growth in oil-dominant economies in 2008, next year might not be so rosy for the region, said the report, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News.

While the UAE's GDP growth is expected to slow as well, it is expected to remain above 6-7 per cent, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy, much above the growth rates predicted elsewhere in the Mena region.

"With oil exporters facing diminished revenues in 2009 due to sharply lower oil prices, Mena regional growth is expected fall to 3.9 per cent in 2009," the World Bank said in the latest edition of its Global Economic Prospects - a half-yearly report, released yesterday. "Growth among the oil exporters as well as the diversified economies is anticipated to fall to about 4 per cent in 2009."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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10th Dec 2008 Oil rises towards $44, Opec expected to cut

London: Oil crept towards $44 on Tuesday, modestly supported by gains on other financial markets and mounting expectation that Opec would announce further output cuts at its meeting next week.

US crude was up 14 cents at $43.85 a barrel at 1309 GMT. On Monday, prices had gained $2.90 as they recovered from last week's 25 percent drop, which marked the biggest weekly fall in 18 years.

London Brent crude eased by 18 cents to $43.24.

"Oil is on a count-down to Opec now and everyone is expecting them to come up with something big -- probably a cut of 1-1.5 million bpd,"said Rob Laughlin, senior oil analyst at brokers MF Global in London.

"If Opec doesn't make a big cut, this market is in trouble."

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on December 17 in Algeria and is expected to reduce overall production by a minimum of one million barrels per day (bpd).

Stock markets surged on Monday as the US government cobbled together a rescue plan for stricken automakers and US President-elect Barack Obama said he would undertake the biggest infrastructure spending since the 1950s.

The White House reviewed a Democratic plan to bail out the "Big Three" automakers with $15 billion of loans.

But fuel demand could stay weak for the foreseeable future.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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9th Dec 2008 Saudis deepen oil supply cuts to Asia and Europe

Tokyo/London: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will make even bigger oil supply cuts to some of its Asian and European cust-omers next month, industry sources said on Monday as the kingdom stepped up efforts to halt the steep price slide.

While most Asian refiners appear set to receive steady supplies next month, news of reduced allocations helped push oil prices up six per cent yesterday and suggested Riyadh is not waiting for Opec's December 17 meeting to tighten crude oil exports, to keep oil from falling below $40 a barrel (Dh146.90).

Production cuts
Oil traders had not expected Saudi Arabia to make any further explicit cuts ahead of that meeting, but yesterday at least two oil refiners in Asia were told by state oil firm Aramco that they would get less crude in January than in December. An industry source said cuts were also deepened to some European lifters.

"We were cut 10 per cent...It was more than expected, we thought it would be around 5 per cent like last time," a source with a major customer in Japan said on condition of anonymity because the information isn't public. Refiners measure their cuts versus the volume stipulated in annual contracts.

A second north Asian refiner outside Japan also said its supplies would be cut by about 7 per cent, deeper than the 5 per cent curb that Saudi had given to nearly all its Asian buyers for December after Opec's 1.5 million barrel per day (bpd) output cut.

Oil prices extended earlier gains to more than $2.50 a barrel or 6 per cent after the news. Yesterday morning US crude for January delivery was up $2.34 to $43.15 a barrel, up from its lowest close in two years.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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9th Dec 2008 Job ads dive

The number of jobs advertised dropped the most on record in November, as companies shed staff or hold off fresh hiring to cope with slowing demand.

Jobs advertised online and in newspapers tumbled 8.6% in November from the previous month to an average of 211,199 per week, taking it 18.6% lower than a year earlier, according to ANZ Bank.

The steep drop is the seventh consecutive contraction of the gauge, and the deepest dive since ANZ began releasing the data on a monthly basis in 1999. In trend terms, total job ads dropped 3.5% in November.

''Over the last two months, newspaper job advertising has declined by the most in the 30-year history of the survey,'' said ANZ head of Australian economics Warren Hogan in a statement. ''This tells us that hiring intentions have been heavily impacted by the latest wave of uncertainty and financial distress caused by the global financial crisis.''

The economy all but stalled in the September quarter, data out last week showed, even before the worst of the global rout in stocks and other markets took hold. Companies, including ANZ Bank itself, are starting to cut staff or refrain from filling vacant positions as they adjust to weaker demand at home and abroad.

Among the states, New South Wales fared among the best with only an 8% decline in November, while Victoria's ads shrank 12.6%.

GM Holden, Don's smallgoods, HP EDS have all announced plans to reduce headcounts in recent months.

Mr Hogan said there is a ''reliable relationship'' between newspaper job ads and employment levels over the following six months.

''If the recent weakness in job ads is sustained, it would be consistent with a contraction in total employment over the first six months of 2009.''

The national unemployment rate, currently at 4.3%, is projected to rise in coming months, with economists from JP Morgan expect it to rise to 9% by 2010.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect to see a modest uptick in the unemployment to 4.4% for November, when the figures are released on Thursday. The economy is expected to have lost 15,000 jobs last month, the survey found.

Source: http://business.smh....

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9th Dec 2008 Recruitment Industry Update

In our last newsletter we pointed optimistically to the relative strength of the Australian economy versus the rest of the world thanks to its large resource / mining–related industries. We pointed to a good number of engineering-related recruitment jobs that we were advertising as evidence. It’s interesting how things have developed in just 3 months. With the financial crisis now clearly impacting real economies around the globe, commodity prices have slumped. In short, this is bad news for any recruitment company related to the mining industry since lower commodity prices make new mine developments and some existing mines uneconomic, and thus dampen hiring conditions. This means the recent boom in all things mining-related (including recruitment) is likely to subside. Nowhere is this more visible than in the housing markets of Australia’s most mining-dependent states: WA and Queensland. The average number of dwellings traded in Queensland was around 10,000-12,000 in 2007. This fell to 8,000 by May of this year, and to 6,000 in July (-42% YoY). There are also over 53,000 unsold dwellings in WA. As a result, although we do still have some mining/engineering-related recruitment agencies looking, interest has clearly cooled.
Three areas where we are still seeing significant interest are in IT-related and healthcare / pharmaceuticals recruitment (in common with our newsletter 3 months ago) as well as in the sales & marketing sector. There is clearly a perception among recruitment agencies that the healthcare industry is relatively cycle-neutral: i.e. pretty steady through good and bad economic times, which explains the continued demand for recruiters in this area.
The strength in IT recruiter demand (both contract and perm) is harder to justify, but probably relates to the sheer numbers of specialist IT recruitment firms in Sydney. One would have thought that IT-budgets (especially at the big banks) would be in the process of being cut, and hence demand for IT personnel would be falling, but this isn’t borne out in our current experience. One way to reconcile this conundrum is that recruitment agencies are clearly becoming very picky when hiring. Proven billing histories are obviously always important, but never more so than now. One way for an agency to see through a down-turn is to upgrade its workforce - perhaps this is what is happening in the specialist IT recruitment space, and why so many agencies are still looking to hire.
The other area of demand is in the sales & marketing area of recruitment – across a broad spectrum of industries. We suspect this reflects corporate demand for their own sales reps, which is feeding back into the recruitment industry, and thus to us. Again, we are finding that this sector, perhaps even more so than IT or healthcare, is candidate-short.

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8th Dec 2008 Last phase of airport expansion launched

Dubai: A UAE-South African-Japanese consortium led by Al Habtoor Engineering has been awarded a Dh4.9 billion contract to build Concourse 3, the final package of the Dh15 billion ($4.1 billion) expansion of the Dubai International Airport.

"Al Habtoor-Murray & Roberts-Takenaka (HMRT) joint venture will start constructing Concourse 3 immediately, which will be connected to Terminal 3 via an automated people mover (APM) and vehicular and baggage handling system tunnels," an HMRT statement said on Sunday.

Concourse 3 forms part of the Dh9.1 billion ($2.5 billion) Terminal 3, Concourse 2 and Concourse 3 package, the largest component of the Dubai International Airport's master plan announced by Dubai Government.

Once complete, the airport will have three terminals and three concourses - together catering to 70 million passengers per year, and will help support the growth in Dubai's air traffic.

Terminal 1/Concourse 1 (the Shaikh Rashid Terminal) is equipped to handle 21 million passengers, while Terminal 2 can handle 6 million passengers per year. As per the government's master plan, Terminal 3/Concourses 2 and 3 together will handle 43 million passengers per year, when completed.

The move reflects the Dubai Government's determination to push ahead with infrastructure spending amid a global slowdown that could negatively impact the region's aviation industry.

Credit rating agency Moody's on Thursday said airlines' access to liquidity from external sources will remain challenged

Dubai International handled 34 million passengers last year. Concourse 2 and Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, the busiest in the Middle East and North Africa, were opened on October 14 this year.

Concourse 3 will include one four-star and one five-star hotel, first- and business-class lounges, and duty-free areas. Concourse 3 is scheduled to be completed by April 2011.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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8th Dec 2008 Aussie ads leave Brits insulted

The British have reacted with confusion to Ausport's new internet campaign to find stars for the 2012 Olympic Games, unsure if they should see the obnoxious Pommie "with a mouth as wide as the Thames" as a national insult or a bit of fun.

The 80 second internet video and email stars an actor dressed as a hooded chav, taunting young Australians about their lack of medals in Beijing and baiting them to stand up and be counted at the London Games in 2012.

The ad has caused a ripple through London and The Sunday Times devoted almost all of its valuable page three to the ad.

Under the headline 'Let's rip those Brits to bits', it described the "provocative Australian campaign" to find stars for the next Games.

"The finger-jabbing yob wipes his nose with his hand as he tells young Australians: "You haven't got what it takes . . . the only gold you will be picking up is from a chocolate wrapper, wrote the paper.

The yob appears in front of a mantelpiece holding a sporting trophy and a photograph of the Queen. He signs off his diatribe waggling his fingers with a Russell Brand-style "oooooh" before the slogan "Let's rip the Brits to bits in London 2012" appears on the screen.

The film has been made by the Australian government, which denies that it is meant as an insult to the British.

The Australian Sports Commission, which employed an advertising agency to make the film, is quoted as saying the campaign is intended as a lighthearted skit like the 2006 "So where the bloody hell are you?" tourism campaign.

But according to The Sunday Times, 'it reflects the depth of feeling among Australians, that Britain finished above them in the Beijing medals table last summer and the determination of the Canberra government to redress the balance in four years' time."

Australia claimed that "the Poms took bragging to another level", the paper said, after Britain finished with 19 gold medals to its 14 in China.

Indeed, The Sun newspaper drove vans around Sydney and London with "Where the bloody hell were you?" splashed across a Union Jack.

Canberra also complained that Britain has a bigger talent pool and is spending £250m on elite athletes in the run-up to the London Olympics, compared with its own £95m.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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8th Dec 2008 UK consultants shed staff from Dubai offices

Firms including EC Harris and Mace cut jobs or relocate personnel as region ‘goes southwards’

The extent of the downturn in Dubai’s construction market became clear this week as it emerged some of the biggest UK consultants in the emirate are shedding staff.

EC Harris, which employs about 200 people in the region and has a joint venture with developer Sama Dubai, said it had moved about 15% of its Dubai staff to Abu Dhabi and made “selective cuts”.

Mark Prior, the firm’s regional managing director, said: “The market, particularly in Dubai, has gone southwards rapidly.

Abu Dhabi is slowing down, but not so much.” He added that the firm was building up its disputes and project recovery business in the region.

Mace is thought to be axing about 60 of its 450 jobs in the UAE, although it would not confirm the number. A spokesperson said: “Like everyone else in the Middle East we have had to make some cost savings.”

It also emerged that Ian McGauley, Dubai operations director for Bovis Lend Lease, has been transferred to Sydney.

The news comes after the region’s major developers, including Nakheel and Damac, announced sweeping jobs cuts. Many projects, including the Trump Tower and Arabian Canal, have been put on hold, scaled back or cancelled.

One consultant said: “Dubai could end up with a lot of half-completed buildings. This is what happens when you have an economy that’s based on an artificially-created environment.”

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5th Dec 2008 UK Interest rates cut to 2%

Interest rates have been cut by one percentage point to 2% - equal to the lowest rate since the Bank of England was founded in 1694.

The move, which had been widely anticipated due to fears over the length and depth of the recession, has been welcomed by the industry.

Neil Chegwidden, head of residential research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: “Quite bizarrely, given the 1.5% base rate cut last month and the various giveaways in last week’s Pre-Budget Report, today’s base rate cut will still be seen as a much needed boost and comfort to Britain’s beleaguered households and homeowners.“

“The rate cut will also be welcomed by the housing industry and will provide yet greater incentive for first-time buyers to step onto the property ladder. The Bank of England’s latest move will not solve all our housing woes but it does sow the seed of hope, especially looking towards next year. The magnitude of the cut is an additional boost for the housing market.”

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5th Dec 2008 Oil dips to four-year low

Abu Dhabi/Dubai: The price of global benchmark crude on Gulf News fell to below $46 (Dh168.9) per barrel to its lowest in nearly four years, causing more concern among major producers about the commodity's sliding value.

Leading members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) with huge infrastructure projects to fund are worried about their shrinking export revenues.

With the prospects of global economic growth weakening, oil has shed about two-thirds of its value since July when it traded more than $147 per barrel.

In yesterday's early trading, US light crude for January delivery was down 57 cents to $46.22 a barrel. It earlier touched a low of $45.30, the lowest since February 9, 2005. London Brent crude was down 67 cents at $44.77.

Yesterday Iran said $75 a barrel was a fair price, echoing earlier comments by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi.

Iran also believes that the market is oversupplied and producers should cut output to balance the fundamentals of supply and demand.

"It is obvious that the market is oversupplied," Reuters quoted Iran's Opec governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi as saying.

Opec will announce a production cut at its meeting in Algeria later this month, Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah told reporters in Dubai on Wed-nesday.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Dec 2008 Dubai real estate still set for solid growth

Dubai: The future of Dubai and UAE real estate will be more successful and solid than in previous years, due to lessons learned during the economic crash.

Both developers and property analysts are keen to reassure investors that while days seem dark right now, next year will be bright.

Many see last year's soaring prices and astronomical profits as symptoms of an immature market dominated by speculators chasing short-term gains.

"Despite the excitement they generate, sky-high profits are both unsustainable and unhealthy. Ultimately, they create unrealistic expectations about future performance, especially because high prices hurt demand," Cliff Kelaita, chief executive officer and chairman of Landmark Properties, said in a memo to his clients.

Such displays of transparent communication are signs of a maturing market, one that will be more successful in the future.

"There are many reasons to be optimistic about Dubai's resilience during this downturn. Despite worsening economic conditions in other parts of the world, the UAE and GCC remain on track for solid growth," Kelaita said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Dec 2008 Property price growth rate slowing

Dubai: House prices in Dubai are still rising, but the rate of increase is expected to slow in the coming year, according to the latest research into the local property market.

There was an increase of just 5 per cent in the growth of house prices in Dubai in the three months to September, compared to the previous quarter.

But according to international property firm Colliers, the rate of growth in house prices has been dropping rapidly since the beginning of the year.

Although house prices increased by 43 per cent in the first quarter, by the second quarter the growth rate had declined to 16 per cent.

Growth in residential prices is expected to slow further as the year comes to an end.

Nevertheless, year-on-year growth in the third quarter was 80 per cent.

The negativity in the market is most notable, perhaps, on Palm Jumeirah, where prices have fallen by up to 40 per cent since September. Some previously much sought-after residences in the Burj Dubai area have also seen price drops of up to 30 per cent.

This phenomenon has been attributed to the fact that an increased number of homes is coming onto the market and loans are hard to come by because of the international financial crisis.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Dec 2008 Dubai retreats on new $95b development

The new Dubai developer that unveiled a $US95 billion ($A147.29 billion) real estate project just two months ago said Wednesday it is reviewing its plans - the latest sign that the souring economy is dampening this brash boomtown's ambitions.

The retreat comes as a widely watched report showed property price growth in the fast-growing Gulf city-state slowed considerably in the three months through September, ahead of an expected decline later this year.

In reassessing its development plans, Meraas Development said in an emailed statement it has "seen that investor demands have changed" and that it must "quickly respond to meet these market needs."

The developer, launched by the government of Dubai in late September, said it is re-examining its business strategy and the rollout of its flagship Jumeira Gardens project slated for a central part of city.

"In a worldwide economic downturn, any corporate must analyse the market and ensure its business strategy is aligned to make the most of new opportunities, as well as ensure risk management strategies take account of the new financial landscape with a focus on new market and investor demands," the company said.

Meraas announced the 350 billion dirham ($US95.3 billion ($A147.75 billion)) Jumeira Gardens at a property expo in October. The company said at the time that work had already begun on the development, which was advertised as a "city within a city" that would include one of the world's tallest buildings and take 12 years to complete.

Source: http://news.smh.com....

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4th Dec 2008 UK jobs market weakens fast

New survey shows a record fall in job placements last month

The UK job market weakened rapidly last month, as permanent placements dropped at a record rate, new data has showed.

The fall in permanent and temporary placements was more rapid than at any point in the 11-year history of Markit Economics' regular monthly survey.

Permanent employment places declined for the eighth consecutive month, and record falls were noted in permanent salaries and pay rates for temporary staff.

The figures are indicative of a rise in unemployment, and are the latest evidence of the quickening decline of the UK economy.

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4th Dec 2008 More SMEs take legal action against clients

Research reveals small to medium sized businesses are getting more litigious in response to economic downturn

The number of SMEs taking legal action to force clients to pay up has risen sharply, as the credit crunch takes its toll on UK businesses.

Research by the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) showed county court judgments against listed companies in England and Wales had risen by a quarter since the beginning of the year.

September saw almost 2,000 cases compared with just over 1,500 in January, and in sectors such as property and retail, research showed the number had increased fivefold.

Nick Wilson, director at the CMRC, said about one in four insolvencies were caused by payment delays, with restricted bank lending already squeezing small and medium-sized enterprises.

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3rd Dec 2008 Oil slumps to $46 as turmoil hits demand

Dubai: Global oil prices slumped to $46 (Dh169) a barrel on Tuesday, reaching the lowest point in almost four years as global energy demand weakened amid a widespread economic slowdown.

The slump came as a world oil sector review prepared by Global Investment House said falling oil price was a matter of concern to Opec and GCC oil producing countries.

On London's InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January hit $46.02 - the lowest point since February 18, 2005. The contract later recovered slightly to stand at $47.43 a barrel.

On Tuesday, light sweet crude for January delivery fell to as low as $47.36 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). That was the lowest level since May 2005 and followed a dive of $5.15 on Monday. Later Tuesday, light sweet crude was down 75 cents at $48.53 a barrel.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 per cent of the world's crude, met in Cairo on Saturday to assess the state of the oil market but held off from making any decision on cutting production. Instead, energy ministers decided that any output move would be made when they next meet in Oran, Algeria on December 17.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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3rd Dec 2008 Gulf shares fall on recession concerns, oil price slump and lack of financing

Dubai: Gulf shares declined on Tuesday, led by Saudi Basic Industries Corp and banks as concern heightened that the deepening global recession will drive down commodity prices and weaken demand for Arabian Gulf exports.

Saudi Basic Industries, the largest company in the Middle East by market value, fell for the first time in four days. Industries Qatar, the region's second-largest chemical maker, slipped for the second day. Al Rajhi Bank, the largest lender in Saudi Arabia, ended a three-day gain, while the National Bank of Kuwait fell for a second day.

The Tadawul All Share Index sank to it lowest level in four days, declining 3.9 per cent to 4,607.08 as of noon local time. Qatar's DSM 20 Index declined 2.8 per cent, while the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index slipped 1.4 per cent.

"Oil has a psychological effect," John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Saudi British Bank in Riyadh, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "The momentum in the Saudi market is downward on the back of low oil prices, which could continue to go down."

The Gulf region is bracing for a slowdown in their economies as oil prices drop and financing for real estate projects dries up amid the worst global fin-ancial crisis since the Great Depression.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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3rd Dec 2008 Shares pointed higher

Australian shares are headed for a modest advance at the opening after US stocks staged a partial recovery overnight. Weaker commodity prices, though, may hold back miners.

In recent trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December Share Price Index futures contract was up 29 points, or less than 1%, at 3,601. Yesterday, The benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index closed down 153 points, or 4.2%, at 3,528.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 145.6 points, or 4%, lower at 3,473.4.

The Australian dollar was stronger overnight, recently buying 63.91 US cents, up from yesterday's local close of 63.59 US cents. It was also buying 59.55 yen.

A closely watched index of commodity prices, the Reuters/Jefferies CRB gauge, was down 2%, suggesting local mining stocks may retreat today.

Into the final hour of trade on Wall Street, the main indexes had pared early gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 0.9%, while the broader S&P 500 index was 1.5% higher for the day, as was the Nasdaq composite index.

Stocks were buoyed by news that General Electric announced plans to maintain its dividend and the Federal Reserve extended terms of three emergency loan programs. Poor auto sales for November, though, revived worries about the economy.

On other overseas markets, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 57.37, or 1.4%, to 4,122.86 points. Germany's DAX gained 137, or 3.1%, to 4,531.79 points, while the CAC 40 rose in Paris by 72.47 points, or 2.4%, to 3,152.9 points.

Source: http://business.smh....

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2nd Dec 2008 DFM closes up for fifth day, ADSE dips

Dubai: The Dubai benchmark closed up, extending its gains to five straight days, but the Abu Dhabi index ended lower as the bourses headed into a holiday break starting on Tuesday.

The markets will reopen on December 14.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index climbed 0.52 per cent to close at 1,974.90, taking its five-day gain to almost 9 per cent. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index shed 0.77 per cent to end at 2,754.48.

"Everything is a good buy now," said Vyas Jayabhanu, head of Al Dhafra Financial Brokerage. "And some investors realise that this is the time to buy, especially for those who have cash. Some hedge funds are now eyeing the markets here as they consider the UAE to be a cheap buy compared to other emerging equity markets."

Dubai's benchmark index is valued at 4.7 times the earnings of its 29 companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with a high of 23.92 reached in January. Abu Dhabi's index is trading at 6.8 times earnings, compared with around 17 times in January.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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2nd Dec 2008 UK builders told to head for Libya

Former UK ambassador says UK firms are missing out on $100bn of planned infrastructure work

The man who was the British ambassador in Libya when the pair broke off diplomatic relations has said that UK builders should be looking to do more business in the country.

Miles said that improvements to the country's roads, railways, water and wastewater networks, housing and hotels are planned, financed by oil revenues. The likes of Shell and BP have signed deals with the Libyan government to carry out exploration and production work as well as refurbish run-down oil fields.

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2nd Dec 2008 Mega projects likely to face some delays

Dubai: Parts of the Dh350 billion Jumeirah Garden City, the Trump International Hotel and Tower on Palm Jumeirah and Nakheel's kilometre-tall tower are just three of Dubai's mega-developments that are delayed.

With Dubai's real estate sector undergoing a fundamental rationalisation and companies reviewing their projects, now is seemingly not the time for developers to be splashing their cash as many mega-developments are under review.

"The master plan (of Jumeirah Garden City) is being revisited and pockets of the development are delayed," a Meraas spokesperson told Gulf News.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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2nd Dec 2008 Silver lining in dark clouds

THE economic crisis is producing a new round of winners and losers as the Reserve Bank slashes interest rates for home owners, consumer prices continue to fall, and pensioners and families line up for cash bonuses.

A household with a $400,000 mortgage will be about $200 a week better off than it was in August if banks pass on an expected 1 percentage point cut in official interest rates today - the fourth cut in as many months.

Even as the sharemarket plunge erodes savings, motorists are enjoying the steep fall in petrol prices. Pensioners and low-income families, meanwhile, will start to receive $8.7 billion in one-off payments from next week.

"The pace with which the Reserve Bank is cutting rates is quite extraordinary," a Macquarie Equities economist, Brian Redican, said. He said the combined impact of government payments, cheaper petrol and lower interest rates would add about 8 per cent to average household income. "This is a very powerful policy stimulus," he said.

From Monday, the Federal Government will begin to roll out its cash bonuses, handing one-off payments of $2100 to pensioner couples and $1000 per child for low-income families.

The Reserve was given more ammunition to make a steep rate cut by a batch of economic figures released yesterday that pointed to slower growth and the reduced threat of inflation.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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2nd Dec 2008 Mention the crisis, go directly to jail

TALKING about the global financial crisis can land you two years in jail in Latvia, under a new law that has seen a muscian and economist arrested for wondering if their bank deposits are safe.

The Baltic state's new law against spreading false financial information has outraged human rights campaigners.

In one of a string of high-profile cases, musician Valters Fridenbergs faced a police investigation after he urged the audience to withdraw their money from two major banks.

He later claimed it was a joke, but the police launched a probe nonetheless.

Security police also arrested an economics lecturer, for "distributing untrue data or news about the conditions of the finance system of the Republic of Latvia''.

The lecturer, Dmitrijs Smirnovs, spent two days behind bars before he was granted bail after agreeing not to flee the country.

Mr Smirnovs' crime was to write a newspaper article urging Latvians not to leave their money in the bank.

He also wrote that keeping savings in the local currency, which is called lats and pegged to the euro, was "very dangerous".

Latvian authorities passed the law last year after a mysterious flurry of mobile phone text messages warned the lat was to be devalued in March 2007.

"This has, undoubtedly, been a highly disproportionate response by the security police, and freedom of expression has been dealt a blow in Latvia because it stifles free expression of opinions in what is a legitimate public debate,'' said Anhelina Kamenska of Latvia's Human Rights Centre.

"It could be likened to cracking a nut with a sledgehammer,'' she said.

Latvia, which broke free from the crumbling Soviet bloc in 1991, had boom years after joining the European Union in 2004.

However, the country of 2.3 million people now faces the deepest recession in the EU.

A string of events have fuelled the local rumour mill.

Earlier this month the government took over the nation's second-largest bank, Parex, after an exodus of deposits. Last month, it turned to the IMF for a rescue package.

The arrests have made economists nervous, with many now extra cautious when commenting on the stability of the lat.

A leading economist told AFP on condition of anonymity that he refuses to discuss currency-related issues publicly.

Political scientist Nils Muiznieks of the University of Latvia said the authorities were "ridiculous''.

"Going after currency speculators and traders is one thing, but when it's an economist and a musician making jokes, it's completely different,'' said Mr Muiznieks.

Source: http://www.theaustra...

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1st Dec 2008 Nakheel scales back projects, announces job cuts

Dubai: Dubai’s real estate master developer, Nakheel, on Sunday said it has made 500 people (15 per cent of its global workforce) redundant while scaling back projects, as the market slump bites into Dubai's fast-growing real estate market.

"Dubai’s master developer, Nakheel, announced on Sunday 30 November 2008 that it was scaling back work on some of its projects and that it has adjusted it staffing requirements accordingly to accommodate the current easing market conditions," a Nakheel statement said.

Nakheel spokesperson described the decision as a responsible action in light of the current global market conditions.

“We have the responsibility to adjust our short term business plans to accommodate the current global environment. The redundancies are indeed regrettable, but a necessity dictated by operational requirements which are in turn dependent on demand,” added the spokesperson.

This is the second biggest confirmed job cut in the UAE so far, and comes after two developers, Damac and Omniyat confirmed a total of 269 - 200 by Damac and 69 by Omniyat.

All the affected employees were provided a redundancy package, which includes outplacement support services to assist in this time of transition.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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1st Dec 2008 Saudi shares bounce back amid global market rally

Riyadh: Saudi shares surged 9.5 per cent on Saturday, led by blue chips, as investors took heart from a global stock rally and reassuring remarks by King Abdullah on the state of the economy.

"We had a good performance in international markets on Thursday and Friday and this translated into a positive way in the Saudi bourse after the king's statement," said John Sfak-ianakis, chief economist at SABB bank, HSBC's Saudi subsidiary.

King Abdullah said in a published interview that aside from a climate of tension and fear, the global financial crisis did not have a real impact on Saudi Arabia. "Yes the crisis ... created tension and fear ... But as far as the state and state funds are concerned, we have not been impacted," he told a Kuwaiti newspaper.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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1st Dec 2008 Job losses add to deepening gloom in Dubai

The uncertain economic outlook for Dubai worsened on Sunday as Nakheel, the government-owned property developer, said it was cutting 15 per cent of its workforce and it emerged that Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse also are shedding regional staff.

Falling property prices and disappearing credit lines have caused developers to trim back real estate plans, while investment banks are preparing for tougher times as the oil price slump helps to rein in breakneck growth across the Gulf.

Nakheel, which last month held a star-studded opening party for the Atlantis hotel on the reclaimed Palm Jumeirah, said it had made about 500 staff redundant in response to “current easing market conditions”.

The developer, which is building five other offshore reclaimed projects and last month unveiled plans for a record-breaking kilometre-tall skyscraper, also said it was “scaling back work on some of its projects”, without elaborating.

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28th Nov 2008 Effects of low trading bite as UAE shares dip

Dubai: UAE shares ended mixed on Wednesday amid continuing weak sentiments reflected in extremely low trading volumes that is unlikely to pick up until the year end with banks reluctant to extend liquidity for reasons of stabilising their balance sheets in the fourth quarter.

Declines across the board - energy, telecom, banks and real estate - sent the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index down, 1.65 per cent to 2,685.54. The Dubai Financial Market General Index climbed 0.53 per cent to 1,872.29, extending its two-day gain to 3.15 per cent.

On DFM, trading volume dropped 61.07 per cent to 154.34 million shares and turnover tumbled 55.55 per cent to Dh266.18 million. ADX, also, witnessed declines on both counts, with turnover sliding 28.67 per cent to Dh206.02 million and volume decreasing 41.96 per cent to 56.05 million.

"The confidence levels are so low and the liquidity availability is so slow in the system, that any sign of recovery in the next few sessions does not look like being on the cards," said Mohammad Ali Yasin, managing director of Shuaa Securities.

"It looks like banks are set on not extending any loans till year end just to stabilise their positions and try to achieve one-to-one loan to deposit ration on their balance sheet. Any easing of that tightness will not come up before the first quarter of next year."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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28th Nov 2008 Market turmoil leads to low hotel occupancy

Dubai: Hotel occupancy in Dubai decreased by 4.1 per cent to 79.6 per cent from January to October this year from 83 per cent in the same period last year, according to Smith Travel Research's monthly benchmarking report.

Hotel occupancy for the month of October was up marginally from 79.9 per cent in 2007 to 82.8 per cent this year.

Alpha Tours chief executive Ghalid Aridi on Wednesday said there was definitely a drop in hotel occupancy in recent months, a consequence of the worldwide financial slowdown.

He said Dubai was accustomed to exceptionally high occupancy levels. The recent dip in occupancy levels, therefore, did not have a "dramatic" impact on the sector.

"There is definitely a drop but its effects are not that dramatic, bearing in mind that last year there was a shortage. Dubai is still doing well, if you compare it with the countries hardest hit by the financial crisis," he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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27th Nov 2008 Leighton Holdings scores Dubai mega project

A LEIGHTON Holdings-backed company has won a $3.75 billion contract to construct a mixed used development in the Middle East, which is believed to be the largest in the world.

Al Habtoor Leighton, of which Leighton's has a 45 per cent stake, won the right to construct the $US4 billion ($6.2 billion) Dubai Pearl project in Dubai.

The project, by the United Arab Emirates developer Pearl Dubai, overlooks the Palm Jumeirah development on the Dubai harbour.

It includes four 73-storey mixed towers, with commercial, retail, hotel and residential components, as well as a 2000-seat theatre.

At 15 million square feet, it is believed to be the largest in the world by floor space.
Leighton Holdings will collect a $1.69 billion share from the construction work over three and a half years, taking its project pipeline to almost $40 billion and adding to the several billion dollars worth of work secured in the Middle East.

In a statement, Al Habtoor Leighton Group said work on the project would start in January.
It was believed to be the largest single contract of its kind in the region and potentially in the world for a real estate project.

Managing director of the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, David Savage, said the combined strength of Al Habtoor and Leighton was a key factor in securing the project.

"The Al Habtoor Leighton Group is one of the few contractors with the capacity and capability to take on a project of this magnitude," he said.

"This puts our uncompleted work at record levels, with Dubai remaining the largest component of our business.

"The project confirms our position as the United Arab Emirates leading construction group."

Source: http://www.theaustra...

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26th Nov 2008 Khalifa: Oil price drop won't impact economy

Dubai: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday downplayed fears of declining oil prices impacting the national economy.

"Volatility in the oil market is not a new thing," Shaikh Khalifa said in a wide-ranging interview with an Egyptian daily that will be published on Wednesday.

"In the past, we dealt with turbulences during which prices declined even further than today's level," he was quoted by WAM as telling Al Ahram.

"We are following what is happening in the oil market and working with our partners in Opec to control the negative fallout that many affect the stability of the global market."

Shaikh Khalifa also added: "We are investing oil revenues to develop human resources which are our most valuable resource, and also diversifying our national income though internal and external investments."

The President's comments came as the UAE ministers of economy and finance and the governor of the UAE Central Bank joined forces to form a new committee aimed at resuscitating the financial and banking sectors.

Abdullah Al Saleh, director-general of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, said the government's commitment would boost all-round confidence in the local markets and relieve the economy of the burden of the global credit crisis.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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26th Nov 2008 Abu Dhabi investing $270b in growth

Abu Dhabi: The government of Abu Dhabi is investing over $270 billion (Dh990.9 billion) in projects in the city of Abu Dhabi, a top executive of the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said on Tuesday.

ADAC Vice President Dan Cappell told industry delegates at the Middle East Duty Free conference in the capital that over $100 billion is being used in Abu Dhabi's transport infrastructure. The money will be invested over the next five years.

He added that Abu Dhabi's anticipated tour-ism boom from $1 million in 2004 to $5 million in 2015 is "supported with $10 billion investment in hotels over the next 10 years, adding over 17,000 rooms."

Cappell said Abu Dhabi's focus is on luxury five star hotel facilities.

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"Abu Dhabi will continue to invest for the future development of our country. We (ADAC) are in the midst of a $7 billion development programme for the new midfield terminal complex and overall airport development," said Cappell.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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26th Nov 2008 Australia will avoid recession, says OECD

AUSTRALIA will avoid a recession next year, one of only a handful of developed countries whose economy will continue to grow, a leading global think tank says.

As financial markets wrestle with the meaning of the latest last-ditch US bail-out - a $500 billion prop for the ailing banking giant Citigroup - the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts the richest economies in the world will shrink by a collective 0.4 per cent next year.

"Many OECD economies are in or are on the verge of a protracted recession of a magnitude not experienced since the early 1980s," the chief economist, Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel, said.

"As a result, the number of unemployed in the OECD area could rise by 8 million over the next two years."

Australia's economy is likely to grow by a relatively healthy 1.7 per cent.

In contrast, the US economy will contract by 0.9 per cent, Britain's by 1.1 per cent, and Europe's by 0.6 per cent, the OECD's latest economic outlook report, released last night, said.

While the OECD is mildly optimistic about Australia's prospects of avoiding the worst of the meltdown, it still warns of the risk of a sharp drop in house prices.

And if house prices fell faster than their 2 per cent decline now, there would be a big impact on the broader economy because of the widespread practice of using housing equity to pay for other consumer goods.

Relative to average incomes, Australian house prices remain the fourth most expensive in the OECD, behind the Netherlands, Spain and New Zealand.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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26th Nov 2008 UAE to bail out banks as construction capped

Financial crisis intensifies as federal government pumps funds into rescue operation

Dubai's construction boom is to be capped by some of its largest developers as the UAE steps in to bail out the country's ailing banking sector.

The UAE's federal government is to pump funds into the Emirates Development Bank, a new vehicle set up after the merging of state mortgage lenders Amlak and Tamweel.

Cheap liquidity in Dubai has dried up in recent weeks, forcing the UAE to take a similar course of action to Europe and the US in bailing out its banks with federal funds.

Mohammed Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar, said that he and other developers would force a slowdown in construction projects to ease the number of properties hitting the market and prevent an all-out property crash.

Emaar will collaborate with Nakheel and Dubai Holdings to put a cap on new construction projects. The three together control 70% of Dubai's property market.

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25th Nov 2008 UK unveils $47b stimulus plan

The British Government has unveiled a sweeping emergency plan to steer the UK through the recession, offering 20 billion pounds ($47 billion) in tax cuts to boost spending and a big rise in tax rates for high-income earners.

Delivering the most important financial statement of his career, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, conceded that the British economy faces a critically difficult 12 months but insisted that "doing nothing" was not an option and "action now" is needed to kick-start the economy.

The package cheered investors who sent stocks in London soaring almost 10% on the day.

At the heart of the measures is a 2.5 percentage point cut in its goods and services tax (VAT) - from 17.5% to 15% from Monday - the first time such a measure has been taken in the UK.

Mr Darling also confirmed that the 120 pounds increase in personal tax allowance that was announced in May to compensate the 22 million workers who lost out from the controversial scrapping of the 10p income tax rate would be made permanent - and will rise to 145 pounds next April.

Source: http://business.smh....

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25th Nov 2008 Dubai calms investor worries

Dubai: Dubai will meet its all debt obligations as it puts a comprehensive economic plan together to ride out the current financial crisis, a top government official said on Monday.

Dubai's total debt obligation of Dh256 billion is much lower compared to its assets, which are valued at Dh1.3 trillion.

"Currently, the Dubai Government's sovereign debt obligations stand at $10 billion (Dh37 billion). At the same time, the total debt obligations of affiliated companies stand at $70 billion (Dh256 billion), compared with assets valued at $260 billion (Dh950 billion)," Mohammad Al Abbar said on Monday.

Al Abbar, chairman of the Advisory Council - the newly created crisis body of of the Dubai Government - and chairman of Emaar Properties, made the comments at a conference at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"While our key sovereign assets are currently being evaluated, I can give you a rough estimation of their value, being over $90 billion (Dh330 billion). And this does not include our airports, bridges and the Metro. The total value of the assets of the government and affiliate companies in Dubai is well over Dh1.3 trillion."

Dubai last month created the council to assess the impact of the global financial crisis on its economy, amid a massive capital outflow estimated at Dh500 billion between July and October this year, which resulted in a stock market crash and a correction in the real estate sector.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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25th Nov 2008 Abu Dhabi to recycle all waste water

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will be recycling 100 cent per cent of its waste water by next year, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.

"Now, two-thirds of waste water is recycled in the emirate," said Alan Thomson, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Sewerage Service Company, a government-owned company dealing with sewerage treatment services.

He spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Middle East Economic Digest's Waste Water Treatment and Reuse Conference 2008 which began in the capital yesterday.

Thomson said there is no plan to improve the standard of waste water recycling to produce potable water. "The present recycling system does not aim for potable water."

A proposed 15 kilometre sewage tunnel linking the Abu Dhabi mainland and island as part of Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (Step) will improve the waste water treatment capacity of the emirate, said the official.

"Abu Dhabi's population is expected to double by 2020 and the amount of waste water will also increase proportionately."

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25th Nov 2008 Uncertainty batters Dubai shares

Dubai: Dubai shares dropped sharply as investors sentiments were affected by a lack of clarity on the Amlak-Tamweel merger and the news that the three big real estate companies of Dubai are in talks about pulling back property supply.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index fell 5.33 per cent to 1,814.90 led by real estate and banking stocks. Emaar Properties fell close to 10 per cent to end at Dh2.47.

Deyaar Development slid 9.86 per cent to Dh0.64. Union Properties shed 5.94 per cent to Dh0.95

Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank fell five per cent and 6.12 per cent respectively.

Amlak Finance and Tamweel's trading has been suspended.

"Its not clear what happens to the shareholders holding Amlak and holding Tamweel, said Mousa Haddad, head of trade, discretionary mandate, National Bank of Abu Dhabi. "Will shares of Tamweel go down and Amlak go up or is it going to go the other way around? Nothing is clear. And there is a question mark over Emaar."

Emaar Chairman and head of Dubai committee studying the impact of the global crisis on its economy, Mohammad Ali Al Aabar, however, at the DIFC conference said that the details are being worked and will be announced shortly.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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24th Nov 2008 UAE moves to protect assets with mergers

Dubai: The move to merge Amlak Finance and Tamweel - the UAE's biggest Islamic mortgage providers - under the Real Estate Bank (REB), a UAE government entity, is a direct intervention by the UAE Government in rescuing troubled state assets, industry observers and analysts said yesterday.

"The fact that the UAE Government is ready to support Dubai is a good thing for the markets. The federal government has to step in, and this support will not stop," Raju Menon, managing partner of investment advisory firm, Morison Menon Chartered Accountant, told Gulf News.

REB, a federal government organisation with independent legal entity, subsidiary to the Minister of Finance and industry, was established in 1981 with a capital of Dh2 billion, subscribed in full by the government.

Eckart Woertz, an economist at the Gulf Research Center, said: "Abu Dhabi, as a main backer of the UAE government, is lending its credibility to Dubai's real estate sector by putting Amlak and Tamweel under the umbrella of the Real Estate Bank."

The federal government yesterday also decided to merge REB with Emirates Industrial Bank to create a stronger holding company that is expected to channel more funds into the UAE's real estate market.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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24th Nov 2008 One in five workers face redundancy before 2011

Government holds urgent talks with industry ahead of pre-Budget report as crisis deepens

Almost 400,000 jobs in the construction sector could be lost over the next two years, it was predicted this week. The report came as industry leaders held crisis talks with Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, over how construction work could be used to underpin the wider economy.

The research, carried out by Public and Corporate Economic Consultants for the Local Government Association, found that 385,300 out of the 1.9 million people employed in the construction industry in England could lose their jobs before the end of 2010.

It is predicted that the area worst affected will be London, where 23% of the 215,800 workers are expected to be made redundant .

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24th Nov 2008 Dubai Bank launches new product for top investors

Dubai: Dubai Bank has announced the launch of Value Bouquet, a high-yielding investment product for its Wealth Management clients.

Value Bouquet promises to offer very competitive profit rates of up to 6.25 per cent per annum. According to the bank, the new product "gives more value" to high net worth investors with at least Dh500,000.

"We are excited about the launch of Value Bouquet. Considering the current global investment climate, we have recognised the need to for investors to get better returns on their money," said Mohammad Amiri, Head of Retail Banking, Dubai Bank.

With Value Bouquet, investors can maximise their returns under two plans, Amiri says.

The first plan provides a choice of three investment windows. A one-month term deposit of Dh500,000 will generate a 5 per cent profit rate, while three months and six months term deposits will yield 5.25 per cent and 5.50 per cent as profits, respectively. The second plan is for a minimum period of a year. Two investment options are offered under the one year term plan.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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24th Nov 2008 Citibank says UAE customer deposits safe

Dubai: Citibank UAE on Sunday reassured its cust-omers on deposits, saying all customer deposits at all its branches in the country are guaranteed by the UAE Government in line with the Federal Cabinet's decision that guarantees bank deposits, including deposits with national banks and foreign banks that have significant operations in the UAE.

The second-biggest Arab economy guaranteed deposits of all local and foreign banks with significant operations in the country on October 13 in a bid to boost confidence in its banking industry amid the global credit crisis. Citi-bank has been operating in the UAE since 1964, it said in an e-mailed statement on Sunday.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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24th Nov 2008 Davis Langdon cuts 90 UK jobs

Gleeds is also doing a review of its UK offices with redundancies expected

Job cuts among consultants continued to escalate this week as QS Davis Langdon said it had axed 90 positions since September.

Rob Smith, senior partner at the firm, said the cuts, which amount to about 5% of UK staff, were caused by “tough market conditions”. He added that DL had also moved about 40 people to the Middle East since August.

He said: “We continue to do all we can to minimise the losses and support those affected. One such measure is moving people to where our growth is strong.”

Competitor Gleeds is also doing a root-and-branch review of its UK offices and redundancies are expected. A spokesperson said: “Gleeds is reviewing all aspects of its operation.”

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21st Nov 2008 Realty poised to ride out market storm

Dubai: Inflated prices of properties on the Palm Jumeirah have fallen 40 per cent as the number of ‘distress sale’ e-mails have begun to increase, real estate brokers said.

However, the villas and apartments are still selling at prices higher than the original prices.

“There is a sizeable increase in the number of property owners in an urgent state to sell,” Robert Macnair, sales dir-ector of Dubai-based Elysian Real Estate, said on Thursday.

“It could be that they have a large payment coming up or they’ve seen the market dropping over the last month ... there is a real sense of urgency.”

Abid Junaid, executive director of property developer ETA Star, said, “The current downturn is a reflection that the market is correcting itself, which is a good thing as the prices are going to come to a more realistic level.”

However, mortgage lender Amlak’s announcement that it is temporarily halting new mortgages is rubbing salt in the wound.

“This could be counterproductive, as this is the time to channel more funds into mortgages so that the end-users can buy,” Junaid said.

While some analysts believe that it is not a reflection of the sliding property market, others are confident that it is a temporary condition, soon to be resolved.

Prospective homeowner Joe D’Costa told Gulf News that the news would not deter him from investing in a new home for his family.

“I would rather buy now than later. I will go through any bank that will provide the finance,” he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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21st Nov 2008 UAE shares drop on real estate fears

Dubai: UAE shares fell on Thursday after mortgage lender Amlak Finance PJSC said it isn't granting new home loans, further undermining investor confidence in the region's real estate market.

Amlak dropped as much as 9.3 per cent after the UAE's biggest mortgage lender said it temporarily stopped granting new mortgages. Emaar Properties PJSC fell for a third day this week and Sorouh Real Estate Co. declined for the first time in five days.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index fell two per cent to 2,012.24, bringing the decline for the week to 4.5 per cent. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index lost 1.6 per cent.

"Low investor confidence can be directly linked to the fall in the real estate market," said Motaz Herzallah, senior broker at Emirates Securities LLC in Abu Dhabi.

Amlak's news came after other banks took steps to restrict mortgage-lending as the global credit crisis threatens Dubai's property boom and pushes mortgage providers to restructure. HSBC Holdings Plc and Lloyds TSB Group Plc, two of the largest UK banks operating in the UAE, earlier this month said they would tighten mortgage lending criteria in the country.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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21st Nov 2008 Babcock on the brink

THE debt-stricken investment group Babcock & Brown was clinging to its corporate life last night as it sought to persuade one of its key bankers to release a substantial sum of the company's own money to which the lender has frozen access.

The dispute threatens to derail Babcock's latest attempt to persuade its banking syndicate that it should be given more time to pay back its $3.1 billion of debt and, in doing so, avert the growing possibility of insolvency.

But with all sides recognising the risks involved, the urgent talks between Babcock and the unnamed bank to try to resolve the crisis over the frozen deposit were going on against the backdrop of separate discussions involving the company and its banking syndicate about their respective legal positions.

Babcock refused to disclose the identity of the bank involved or the size of the sum of money at stake but said that the deposit was a "material amount".

The lender is said to have a long-standing relationship with Babcock, dating back many years. Sources indicated that a German bank, Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, could be the lender at the centre of the dispute.

HypoVereinsbank, as it is known, was an original major shareholder in Babcock and agreed to sell down part of its investment after the group was floated on the ASX in 2004.

News of the dispute emerged when Babcock yesterday morning unexpectedly asked the ASX to place its shares in a trading halt, just a day after it announced yet another critical shake-up of its business under which the troubled company will sack a further 850 of its 1450 staff and sell even more of its remaining assets to stay afloat.

Babcock asked for the suspension to stay in place until Monday morning in order to give it breathing space and avoid yet another calamitous fall in its share price.

The stock has more than halved in price over the past six days, dropping from 55c last Thursday to just 25c, where the shares are now temporarily frozen. But that is already 99 per cent below the stock's record high of $34.78 recorded just 18 months ago.

Source: http://business.smh....

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20th Nov 2008 Dubai sets up panel to assess crisis impact

Dubai: The Dubai government has set up a new committee to assess the impact of the global financial crisis on the emirate’s economy, a senior official said on Wednesday.

“The purpose of the high-level committee is to look at the impact of the global financial crisis on Dubai and what can be done in sectors, including real estate and banking,” said Nasser Al Shaikh, Director-General of Dubai Department of Finance, at a luncheon organised by the UAE Bankers Forum.

“We cannot be in a state of denial about the challenges… [The committee] will make recommendations to the Ruler on the way forward for critical areas that have to be tackled to withstand future challenges,” said Al Shaikh, who is also a member of the committee.

Headed by Mohammad Ali Al Abbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, the committee also includes Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of Dubai Holding; Eisa Kazim, Borse Dubai chairman; Mohammad Al Shaibani, head of Dubai Ruler’s Court, and Marwan Bin Galita, CEO of Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

Acknowledging the challenges faced by the emirate amid the global turmoil, Al Shaikh also hinted at reassessing some of the projects in the pipeline.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Nov 2008 Don't panic, Mr Rudd

THE Reserve Bank Governor, Glenn Stevens, has urged Australians to have "quiet confidence" about their future while warning the Federal Government against wasteful spending dressed up as measures to boost flagging consumer spending.

As more than 400 mayors returned to their local councils with fists full of taxpayer dollars to spend on swimming pools, town halls and toilet blocks, Mr Stevens said the Government was fortunate to be in a position to help cushion the economy with increased spending.

"That said, it is still important for fiscal measures to pass the 'good policy' test. Poor public policy proposals should not be accepted simply because they are presented as boosting short-term aggregate demand," he told a dinner of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia Council in Melbourne last night.

As a Westpac survey pointed to a "disturbing" fall in economic growth in the months ahead - the biggest two-month fall since the 1980s - Mr Stevens also urged Australians not to give in to "gloomy talk" about the economy.

"The biggest mistake we could make would be to talk ourselves into unnecessary economic weakness. Yes, the situation is serious. But … the long-run prospects for the Australian economy have not deteriorated to the extent that might be suggested by the extent of some of the gloomy talk that is around."

"We ought to go forward with some quiet confidence in our own abilities and in the opportunities that are on offer."

Helping to lift spirits, a Reserve Bank assistant governor, Malcolm Edey, said the next official inflation figures were likely to show headline inflation "dropping quite smartly" as petrol prices continue to retreat towards $1 a litre. One service station in Frenchs Forest was selling fuel for less than $1 a litre last night. Tumbling oil prices reduce inflationary pressures and make it easier for the Reserve to lower interest rates.

Source: http://business.smh....

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20th Nov 2008 Construction sector will provide UAE economy much needed fillip

Dubai: The massive construction sector in the UAE is providing healthy business to international manufacturers and suppliers despite the worldwide credit crunch.

With more than 3,000 exhibitors from 53 countries due to participate in next week's Big 5 event, and more than 55,000 visitors expected, the construction industry is still robust.

"It would be foolish to suggest that the global fin-ancial situation will not impact the region and no doubt some projects will be scaled back.

"But the fact remains that the Arabian Gulf is one of the few places in the world where growth is expected to continue with governments supporting major infrastructure projects," Bernard Walsh, managing director of organisers dmg world media, said.

The UAE recently predicted six per cent growth for next year, so it comes as "no surprise that the world wants to come here and do business," added Walsh.

According to figures so far, the PMV (plant, machinery and vehicles) area specifically has grown 70 per cent since last year's event, with 380 manufacturers and suppliers participating.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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20th Nov 2008 Crisis? What crisis? Dubai hotel to throw $30 million party

Dubai is throwing a multi-million-dollar extravaganza on Thursday to launch a luxury hotel on an artificial palm-shaped island, despite the bite from the global financial crisis.

More than 2000 world celebrities are due to attend the event which has been dubbed by the local press as "the party of the decade."

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, actors Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington, and former basketball great Michael Jordan are expected to walk the red carpet at the US$1.5 billion "Atlantis, The Palm" hotel.

The evening will peak with a fireworks display that will be "seven times larger than this year's Olympic Games opening ceremony" in Beijing and will be "visible from space", according to the event organisers.

The event will cost a hefty US$20 million (A$31.4 billion) said Sol Kerzner, the South African billionnaire, hotel and gambling tycoon, who is organising the bash.

"We built something that's quite extraordinary. We've got to tell the world about it," Kerzner said about the lavish hotel which was built through a joint venture with giant local developer Nakheel.

Nakheel, which is controlled by the Dubai government, has built some of the most iconic projects that have put the Gulf emirate on the world map, including a cluster of islands making the shape of the world.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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19th Nov 2008 Dubai shrugs off credit fears

Dubai: Short-term capital shortages and crunch in the international credit markets will not have any major impact on Dubai's long term investment plans and growth strategies, Saud Ba'Alawy, executive chairman of Dubai Group, told Gulf News on Monday.

Speaking about the impact of the global financial turmoil and the credit crunch on Dubai's government-led growth strategy and corporate investments Ba'Alawy said: "We are not overly worried about the current global financial situation. Dubai's strength is not merely a function of availability of capital alone. More than capital it is the leadership and capability of people that has built Dubai from almost nothing."

Describing the current shortage of credit as a short-term turbulence, he said such cyclical fluctuations in capital markets will not have any major impact on the long term strategies of Dubai.

"Yes, we will be impacted by the global economic slowdown. But we are smart enough to manoeuvre out of this. If you look at history, we have faced many crises such as a number of wars in the region and wild fluctuations in asset prices in the past. Our strength is our leadership and our ability to withstand such crises," he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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19th Nov 2008 First batch of Abu Dhabi-built buses shipped to Australia

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi-based Hafilat Industries on Monday said it has commenced shipping its first export batch of European buses to Australia from its factory in ICAD-1, Mussafah, which opened earlier this year.

The shipment will be part of the company's contract to supply the city of Melbourne with 'Low Floor' city-buses on a Mercedes Benz chassis.

"This contract reverses the usual paradigm in the UAE of importing vehicles to manufacturing and exporting vehicles," the company said in a statement.

The establishment of Hafilat's factory is a ground-breaking move to establish a local manufacturing industry that serves the region and other global markets, supporting the UAE's move toward economic diversification.

Hafilat director Obaid Sughair Khalaf Al Qubaisi, said: "The UAE is the first country in the GCC to build European quality buses. With the fast-developing nature of the region, safe public transport vehicles is set to grow exponentially. Accordingly, there are major business opportunities for a local bus manufacturer."

Qubaisi said: "Our policy of 'buying local' wherever possible will support home-grown companies and reduce our carbon footprint in the long run."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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18th Nov 2008 Citigroup to cut another 53,000 jobs

New York: Citigroup Inc. is cutting approximately 53,000 more jobs in the coming quarters as the banking giant struggles to steady itself after suffering massive losses from deteriorating debt.

The plans, posted on the company's Web site, are being discussed by CEO Vikram Pandit at the company's town hall meeting in New York on Monday with employees.

The company said total headcount is being reduced by 20 per cent from its peak of 375,000 at the end of 2007; the company had already announced in October that it was eliminating about 22,000 jobs from those levels.

The New York-based bank has posted four straight quarterly losses, including a loss of $2.8 billion during the third quarter.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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18th Nov 2008 Real estate stocks reverse slump as UAE bourses recoup Dh19.5b

After seven straight days of frenzied selling, much of it on the Dubai Financial Market which plunged 37 per cent, UAE shares rose on Monday to provide some much-needed relief to investors and traders. The combined value of shares went up by Dh19.54 billion.

The benchmark Dubai Financial Market General Index soared 161.41 points or 8.15 per cent to close at 2,142.85, with a surge in real estate stocks which, despite trading at cheap prices, have borne the brunt of the massive sell-offs.

Volumes jumped 97 per cent to 466.64 million shares with the total traded value increasing 101.31 per cent to Dh741.96 million.

Emaar Properties, the biggest Arab property developer, was the top gainer of the day, jumping 14.98 per cent to end at Dh3.30. The shares, according to Bloomberg, now trade at 3.1 times earnings.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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18th Nov 2008 Nakheel to scale back projects

Palm Islands developer says it will re-examine scale of developments in light of downturn

Nakheel, the state-owned developer of Dubai’s Palm Islands, has said it will scale back construction projects in light of the economic downturn afflicting the UAE.

In a statement, the developer said it intended to slow down its building programme to control supply to the market.

Nakheel said: “The next few months will see a scaling back of activity around some of our projects. This will not affect our long term business objectives and is a responsible approach in line with the current global economic conditions.

The developer added that it had a responsibility to help the market maintain “healthy momentum”.

Nakheel is one of the UAE’s largest developers, responsible for the Palm Jumeirah and the proposed 1km Nakheel Tower in Dubai. The latter project is unlikely to be affected by a short-term economic downturn as the developer predicted it would take 10 years to complete.

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18th Nov 2008 CBI predicts 'deeper and longer' recession

Revised forecast shows 9% out of work and interest rates slashed to 1.5%

The UK recession will last most of next year and leave 2.9 million people unemployed, according to the CBI.

The business lobby group has revised its growth predictions for 2008 and 2009 following a gloomy October, and says the recession will be “deeper and longer” than previously thought, with recovery not expected until 2010.

The CBI now says that the economy will contract by as much as 1.7% in 2009, a sea change from its September prediction of 0.3% growth.

It also said that the Bank of England may be forced to put interest rates as low as 1.5%, and that inflation will fall from its current rate of 4.2% to 1.7% by the end of next year.

By the end of 2009, according to the CBI's forecast, unemployment will be as high as 2.9 million, or 9% of the UK workforce.

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17th Nov 2008 Gulf 'should be ready for tough times'

Dubai: The global financial downturn has implications for all economies around the world, including Gulf economies, and all should be prepared for tough times ahead, said James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank.

Painting a grim picture of the global outlook, Wolfesohn said on Sunday that global economic recovery is going to take much longer than expected and the impact of the slowdown will be felt in every corner of the world.

Quoting statistics from the Bank of International Settlements, he said the world financial system is sitting on more than $630 trillion worth of derivative trades, most of which are leveraged positions.

While the unwinding of these could be a long process, it will be painful for financial systems around the world, he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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17th Nov 2008 New crossing planned across Dubai Creek

Dubai: A new crossing will be built on Dubai Creek between Al Garhoud and Al Maktoum Bridges replacing the existing Floating Bridge to further ease traffic congestion, said a senior official at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved the design of the Seventh Crossing named 'Dubai Smile' on Dubai Creek.

The project, which boasts of an iconic structure, will cost Dh810 million and will be completed by 2012. It will be located between the Dubai Creek Park and the Dubai Courts from Bur Dubai side, and the Deira City Centre and Dubai Golf Club from Deira side.

"The Seventh Crossing ranks among the unique and landmark projects undertaken by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which aims to ease traffic flow across Dubai Creek. RTA is keen to turn the seventh crossing into an iconic distinctive structure of Dubai worldwide," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA.

He said specialised global companies were invited to compete in submitting distinctive architectural designs and the best one was selected based on specific technical criteria.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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17th Nov 2008 EC Harris plans job cuts after major restructure

Consultant says it will focus on energy, transport and public sector as it announces profit rise of 21%

EC Harris has announced plans to restructure and cut jobs as it revealed its results for the past financial year. It will now focus on the energy and transportation sectors, among others.

Revealing the results exclusively to Building, Philip Youell, its chief executive, said redundancies were “inevitable” following the reshape, which will involve greater emphasis on the public sector and oil and gas markets.

He said: “The global market adjustments have required a shift in emphasis towards the energy, transportation, public, oil and gas sectors, where major investment is continuing. Unfortunately, not all our people will have the skills or mobility to embrace this and there will be redundancies.”

He declined to say how many staff would be affected.

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17th Nov 2008 Dubai property expats 'denied credit'

UAE's largest bank reportedly halts consumer credit to employees of Dubai developers

Foreigners employed by property developers in Dubai are allegedly to be denied credit by the UAE's largest bank.

Emirates NBD reportedly sent an internal email instructing its employees not to grant retail credit, also known as consumer credit, to staff working for 12 of Dubai's leading property firms.

The move means that Britons employed by companies such as Emaar, Nakheel, and Dubai Properties could find their personal credit severely restricted.

A memo reported in a local magazine said: “"In view of the current market scenario, it has been decided to suspend retail credit facilities to expatriate employees working with the below mentioned employers, due to possible restructuring, lay-offs and job loss."

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17th Nov 2008 THE AUSTRALIAN - CAREERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In the Weekend Australian, Director of Conduit Recruitment Adam Walker discussed Careers in the Middle East and the state of the current market in Dubai.

The article is attached for further reading.

download document [29 KB]

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14th Nov 2008 Traders rue lack of transparency

Dubai: UAE stocks ended the week in negative territory, losing more than Dh100 billion of their value in five days, led by a massive pounding in real estate and bank and mortgage companies' shares.

Emaar Properties, which tumbled to a four-year low to close at Dh3.18, dragged the Dubai Financial Market benchmark 4.91 per cent lower to 2,106.14. The DFM index lost 29 per cent in the past six trading days.

Tamweel and Amlak Finance, the two mortgage giants, which are in talks for a merger, suffered heavily losing 9.52 per cent to Dh1.14 and 9.68 per cent to Dh1.12 respectively. Emirates NBD, the largest bank by assets in the UAE, fell 4.94 per cent to Dh4.43 and Dubai Islamic Bank slid 8.77 per cent to Dh2.60.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange fell 1.48 per cent to 2,765.07. The six-day toll was 21.25 per cent. It has lost 39 per cent since the beginning of the year.

With UAE leading the region - DFM sliding more than 64 per cent this year - in the current slump of the market, it has been increasingly felt that it is more than just the usual reasons: a slowdown in real estate, a difficult credit situation, falling oil prices and an immi

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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14th Nov 2008 Dubai villa prices tumble 19%

As credit crunch drives UAE mortgage provider to seek help from central bank

The asking prices for upmarket homes in Dubai fell by 19% during October, according to a new survey.

The news came as Tamweel, the UAE's second-largest mortgage provider, was forced to borrow funds from the central bank.

According to analysts at HSBC, the average asking price for an upmarket Dubai “villa” of the type favoured by rich expats in master developments fell by 19% month-on-month. The average across the board fell by 4% in Dubai, and by 5% in neighbouring Abu Dhabi.

Tamweel, a state-controlled mortgage provider to customers in the UAE, is now in talks with government agencies to repair its financial problems. The UAE central bank may now be forced to step in to shore up the property market.

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14th Nov 2008 Oil recovers slightly as Opec plans action

London: Oil rose above $57 (Dh209.1) a barrel yesterday, recovering from a 22-month low as it drew limited support from news Opec might take more emergency action to compensate for a deep drop in energy demand.

US crude was up 85 cents at $57.01 by 1434 GMT, recovering from a session low of $54.67 - the weakest level since January 30, 2007.

London Brent crude gained 48 cents to $52.85.

The International Energy Agency yesterday in a monthly report slashed its global oil demand growth forecast for next year and said this year's increase in consumption had been the slowest since 1985.

It predicted demand would next year expand by only 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) - down 340,000 bpd from its forecast in last month's report.

Faced with the prospect stocks will swell as consumers stop buying, pushing prices even lower, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it was considering an emergency meeting on November 28 in Cairo.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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13th Nov 2008 Fears grow over realty jobs

Dubai: Fears over widespread job losses are creating panic in Dubai's property market as developers and brokers are laying off hundreds of staff as part of cost-cutting measures due to the slowdown in sales.

On Wednesday, a number of banks suspended lending to expatriate employees of leading real estate companies, fearing large-scale layoffs as personal loan applications multiply daily.

According to information available to Gulf News, Emirates NBD, the region's largest lender has suspended retail credit facilities to expatriate employees working with a few real estate firms due to possible restructuring.

The bank has suspended banking services to employees of a dozen companies such as Tamweel PJSC, Amlak, Damac and its subsidiaries, Daman Investments PSC, Emaar, Nakheel, Sama Dubai, Dubai Properties, Union Properties and KM Properties.

While Lloyds TSB has stopped loans for purchase of apartments and dropped its loan to value ratio on villas in the UAE to 50 per cent, earlier this week HSBC doubled its minimum salary requirement for a personal loan from Dh10,000 to Dh20,000.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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13th Nov 2008 Land Department says developers entitled to 30% of paid amount if buyer cancels contract

Dubai: The Land Department in Dubai established an interpretation for article no (11) of law no. (13) for the year 2008 in regards to Regulating the Interim Real Estate Register in the Emirate of Dubai.

"The interpretation of article no. (11) explains the details of implementing the article itself, in order to protect the rights of developers and buyers and maintain the contractual balance in the real estate equation," said Sultan Butti Bin Mijrin, Director General of the Land department in Dubai.

Bin Mijrin mentioned that based upon the article no. (11) of Law no (13) the developer should inform the Land Department if a buyer breached the property-selling contract; the Department will then notify the purchaser in person or by registered mail or email, and give the purchaser 30 days to fulfill the contractual obligations.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Nov 2008 Dubai market drops over 7 per cent on fears of global financial crisis

Dubai: The Dubai stock market plummeted more than seven per cent on Tuesday as investors, gripped by worries of a real estate crash and a grim regional and global economic outlook, continued on a selling spree.

Led by the real estate index, which had the worst drop among all sector indices - 9.82 per cent - the Dubai Financial Market General Index dived 184.23 points or 7.29 per cent to close at 2,343.15. The index declined for the fourth straight day.

Emaar Properties continued its rapid slide, declining 9.88 per cent to close at Dh3.74. Other listed property developers also lost heavily, including Deyaar Properties, which tumbled 9.57 per cent to Dh0.85 and Union Properties which fell 9.76 per cent to Dh1.48.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Nov 2008 Slowdown in Dubai real estate sector will be shortlived, experts say

Dubai: The real estate industry in Dubai is currently at a standstill, as fewer people are buying new properties due to much speculation in the market and the liquidity squeeze that gripped the local banking sector recently, experts said on Tuesday.

In the short term, there will be a "dramatic slowdown" in real estate developments because property developers, including Emaar and Nakheel, will find it difficult to secure new financing.

However, projects that have already broken ground and have existing commitments with financial institutions will continue despite the global financial crisis because the UAE has already injected liquidity into the local banking system.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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12th Nov 2008 Shares set to drop as gloom deepens

Australian shares are expected to open lower after recession fears sent overseas share markets lower overnight.

In recent trading, the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange was down 76 points, or almost 2%, at 3,917. Yesterday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index slumped back below the 4000-point mark, losing 3.6%, or 146.8 points, to 3,960.9.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 114.93 points, or 1.3%, to 8755.61, well off its session low at 8560.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 12.43 points, or 1.4%, to 906.78, well above its session low at 884.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 21.07 points, or 1.3%, at 1595.67, above its intraday low at 1563.95.

European markets fared worse, as news of more corporate problems highlighted concerns about the spreading damage from the global credit crunch.

In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares slumped 157.23 points, or 3.6%, to 4,246.69 points. The German DAX fell 263.95 points, or 5.3%, to 4,761.58 points.

Source: http://business.smh....

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12th Nov 2008 House sales volumes hit new low

RICS reports slowest sales since 1978, but some signs of deceleration in market decline

House sales fell further in October as lack of mortgage finance continued to stifle the property market, according to new data from the RICS.

In its housing market survey for October, the body said that the average number of completed sales per surveyor fell to 10.9 over the past three months, the lowest level since the survey started in 1978.

London was the worst performer, with an average of just 6.4 sales per surveyor - less than half the figure in the West Midlands, where surveyors had 15.3 sales on average. In Wales and East Anglia the figure was nine sales, while the North-east fared better with 16.

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11th Nov 2008 Pricewise, a lower North Shore

THE lower North Shore was the weakest region for residential house prices over the past year, with a 12.7 per cent fall to a $1.1 million median sales price. The second weakest district was Sydney's east, where prices fell 6.8 per cent, to $1.01 million, according to Australian Property Monitors.

House prices fell just 1.2 per cent in the inner west, and the decline in the long-ailing west and south-west was less than the overall Sydney decline of 3.1 per cent in the past year.

Sydney's median house price is now 6.5 per cent below its peak of $568,500, in March 2004.

The price collapse was not as steep or as deep as in Perth, where prices have fallen 7.4 per cent from the peak of $516,000 last December, APM said.

The median house price in Sydney, $531,500, remains the country's highest, followed by the price in Canberra, $498,000.

While the softening in median prices may be distorted by the large drop in sales activity, real estate agents have been increasingly advising vendors to price listings below recent comparable sales if they wish to secure a sale in the remaining spring market.

In the September quarter the price of houses in Sydney fell 1.7 per cent.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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11th Nov 2008 Pedestrian network planned in Dubai

Dubai: A short fitness walk through a network of air-conditioned crossings and subways will not only keep diseases at bay but also enable public move around in hot weather depending less on vehicles.

The Dubai Road and Transport Authority will be linking up major buildings through air-conditioned walkways in some areas.

These buildings will also be linked using covered walkways with main roads as well as Dubai Metro stations to increase pedestrian mobility.

"The strategy will minimise the reliance on vehicles for short trips, and accordingly cut short road congestion as well as pollution in the emirate.

"Walking is one of the safe modes of mobility, which has good health benefits. It is also an economical mode of mobility that saves time compared to vehicles, particularly in congested places and during peak times," said Abdul Mohsen Ebrahim Younes, Chief Executive Officer of the RTA's Strategy and Corporate Support Services.

The new arrangement will also bring down the nuisance of jaywalkers whose numbers are on the rise in the Emirate.

Statistics provided by Dubai police in August this year shows some 1,022 jaywalkers have been fined in Dubai from January until the end of July.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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11th Nov 2008 200 employees affected as Damac announces job cuts

Dubai: Damac Group on Monday said it will retrench 2.5 per cent of its staff or 200 jobs owing to the global slowdown.

Analysts say a similar move is expected by a number of developers and brokers due to the slowdown in Dubai's real estate market.

"Dubai's real estate sector will see many more job losses, if the present stagnant situation fails to imrove. Government should revise freehold visas to bring back investor confidence, otherwise we will all lose out," Kaleem Khan, chief executive of brokerage firm NKR Properties, told Gulf News.

Damac, which employs over 8,000 staff worldwide, will see redundancies focused in those areas that have been directly affected by the contracting market including sales and marketing, recruitment and back office support functions.

Damac Properties CEO Peter Riddoch said the tough decision was inevitable in the light of the severe slowdown in the worldwide property market.

"We regret that we have to lose colleagues but we believe that taking an early decision was the right thing to do," he said in a statement.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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11th Nov 2008 Emerging property market downturn accelerates

The latest RICS Global Commercial Property Survey shows that business demand for property weakened further in Q3 2008. Significantly, cracks are now starting to show across many emerging markets.

Other key findings for Q3:

The net balance for global rents turned negative at a global level for the first time in the survey’s history led by particular weakness in US, Japan, Spain Ireland and India.

Rental growth expectations have been also pared back sharply across all markets. Outright declines in rents are now anticipated in Emerging Asia, for the first time in the survey’s history, led by weaker office markets in India and China. Expectations in the US have also sunk to a new low.

The most optimistic rental outlook remains in the UAE closely followed by Nigeria, Ukraine, Germany and Brazil amongst others.

Investment activity continued to slide in the third quarter with most regions seeing transaction volumes decline.

Steep declines in activity were reported for the first time in Emerging Europe and Emerging Asia and across all the main sub-sectors of the commercial property market. (office, retail and industrial)

Transaction activity declined at a faster pace across the developedworld with the only exception being Australasia, where the pace of retreat eased back marginally.

Latin America, Africa and the Middle East saw purchasing activity start to plateau having risen robustly in recent years.

Capital values are expected to decline further across most developed markets with the most negative sentiment across much of Western Europe, Australasia and the US.

Emerging Europe is the only developing region where sharp falls in prices are expected. This represents a marked turnaround from Q2, where capital values in the region were still expected to show a small gain.

By contrast, capital values are expected to rise at a slower pace in Africa and Middle East, whilst stagnating in Latin America.

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11th Nov 2008 Global Property Survey

RICS Global property survey provides unique insight into commercial property occupancy and investment trends in major cities around the world.

Now published quarterly, the report is based on data contributed by over 400 property professionals in global and local property companies.

See this link for the full reports:
http://www.rics.org/...

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11th Nov 2008 Libor's glimmer of hope

You might not have noticed, but money's cheap again.

After falling every day for a month, it's down to a four-year low - as long as you're a bank seeking a little dosh at London interbank offered rates.

Sterling, euro and greenback Libor are all back to where they were in the first half of 2004 and, just as importantly, there are signs of volume picking up.

There's a lot more to liquidity than Libor, but it's a clear sign that one of the three big economic fixes is working.

The latest fix - China's domestic stimulus package - started to work just by being announced. Which leaves the middle leg, a US fiscal stimulus. Oh well, as Mr Meatloaf reminds us, two out of three ain't bad.

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10th Nov 2008 Abu Dhabi growth to stay on course

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi's economic growth in 2008 will match the emirate's 17.4 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of last year, unaffected by the global financial crises that's expected to slow down growth of some of the world's major economies, Mohammad Omer Abdullah, Undersecretary for the Department of Planning and Economy (DPE), Abu Dhabi said here on Sunday.

"Abu Dhabi will sustain the growth momentum of 2007 in 2008," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Conference-2008, organised by Middle East Economic Digest (Meed).

Asked to provide Abu Dhabi's GDP growth projections for 2009, Abdullah said it's a bit early to comment now, but added that indications for next year's growth will be available by December.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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10th Nov 2008 Big four banks tightening grip

BANKWEST warned the Federal Government the industry was losing competition and the big four banks were tightening their grip on customers three months before it surrendered its independence as Australia's sixth biggest bank to the Commonwealth.

The West Australian group was mounting a big push into the eastern states when it expressed serious concerns that the global credit crisis was driving smaller players out of the market.

Its warning - contained in a detailed submission to the Government's inquiry into banking sector competition in mid-July - proved to be prophetic. Shortly afterwards, its British parent, HBOS, fell victim to the financial chaos.

HBOS's desperate need to shore up its balance sheet and its subsequent rescue by the larger British bank Lloyds TSB led to the decision early last month to sell its Australian retail banking and wealth management divisions for $2.1 billion - less than their book value.

The move ended the British group's 13-year flirtation with branch banking in Australia and BankWest's aggressive push into NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, which it had launched little more than 15 months ago.

Source: http://business.smh....

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10th Nov 2008 Oil creeps higher on rate cut hopes

Crude oil rose as speculation that the US Federal Reserve will lower interest rates outweighed a report of the highest US unemployment rate in more than a decade.

Oil prices tumbled 14% the past two days as stock markets declined on signs that the US recession will spread. Futures on the Chicago Board of Trade showed a 99% chance the Fed will cut its 1% target rate for overnight lending between banks by a half-percentage point at its Dec. 16 meeting to spur growth in the world's biggest energy consuming country.

``The oil market appears to be shrugging off the unemployment number,'' said Gene McGillian, an analyst at TFS Energy LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. ``The slide of the last two days may have priced in the negative news. We've been testing the lower end of the range recently but have been unable to break decisively through the $US60 level.''

Crude oil for December delivery rose 44 cents, or 0.7%, to $US61.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $US59.97, the lowest since March 22, 2007. Prices, which have tumbled 58% since reaching a record $US147.27 on July 11, are down 36% from a year ago.

``Prices are still looking for a floor,'' said Steve Maloney, a risk-management consultant for Stamford, Connecticut-based Towers Perrin. ``There won't be a sustained price increase until inventories begin to move to the low side of normal and there are indications that economic growth, led by the US, is picking up.''

Source: http://business.smh....

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10th Nov 2008 Corus cuts 400 jobs as steel demand slides

Distribution workers axed after 'significant decline in demand' from construction and plant markets

Steel giant Corus is planning to slash 400 jobs from its distribution business as a result of the economic downturn.

The proposed losses will include 100 in north Wales, 100 in the West Midlands, 50 in south Wales and 50 in Leeds.

According to the company, the distribution business has been working in a volatile and fluctuating market since the beginning of the year. It said: “The impact and continuation of the global economic downturn is having a major effect on steel customers in the construction and plant and machinery markets. Since September, the business has seen a significant decline in demand.

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7th Nov 2008 Global fears shatter stocks

Dubai: UAE markets fell sharply on Thursday with investors worried about the continuing weakness in the global markets and a recession likely to impact the region.

Local concerns about real estate growth slowing down and affecting other sectors including banking, mortgage and construction persist, affecting all the listed companies in each sector.

And last but not least, the bearish hangover seems still to be overwhelming in a market where healthy fundamentals just do not count. After enjoying a modest rally in the week preceding the presidential elections, the US market on Wednesday ended down more than 5 per cent.

With poor corporate results coming out and investors nervous of what looks like an inevitable slowdown, Asian markets fell yesterday, with all three indices - Nikkei 225, Hang Seng and Kospi - declining more than 6.5 per cent and wiping all the gains during the past week. European markets were down too around midday - France's CAC40 index 3.69 per cent, London's FTSE 100 3.10 per cent and Germany's DAX 4.15 per cent.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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7th Nov 2008 Shock UK rate move

The Bank of England made a shock 1.5 percentage point cut in interest rates on Thursday to just 3%, their lowest level in more than half a century, as it seeks to prevent Britain from sliding into a deep recession.

That was the biggest official interest rate cut since the 1981 slump and completely wrong-footed analysts who had mostly been predicting a half-point reduction. Not one in 62 polled by Reuters had expected such a massive move.

The BoE said the economic outlook had got a lot worse and drastic action was now needed. Economists said more rate cuts would still follow and it was possible Britain could soon have rates the same level as in the United States, just 1%.

``The MPC needs to keep cutting interest rates aggressively. I think that they will need to fall to 1%,'' said Roger Bootle, an economic adviser for accountancy firm Deloitte.

``Rates have never before been this low, but extraordinary times require extraordinary action. And it is not impossible to imagine circumstances under which rates end up having to go lower, perhaps even to zero as they have done in Japan.''

Source: http://business.smh....

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7th Nov 2008 NSW first to suffer jobless increase

JOBLESSNESS in NSW is as high as it was eight years ago when Sydney hosted the Olympics but the national jobless rate has fallen 2 percentage points since then.

NSW is the only state conforming to dire predictions of rising joblessness, with the unemployment rate jumping to 5.2 per cent last month, up 1 percentage point from February. NSW shed 13,300 full-time jobs last month.

But at a national level the latest snapshot of the jobs market from the Bureau of Statistics was unexpectedly rosy. Last month 34,300 jobs were created, holding the national jobless rate steady, at a near generational low of 4.3 per cent.

However, the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, predicted job prospects were likely to worsen in the months ahead.

"The global crisis will impact on growth and employment here, and the Government does expect to see unemployment rise," Ms Gillard said.

The chief economist at the Commonwealth Bank, Michael Blythe, said the impact of this global financial turmoil was being felt by NSW's financial services industry first.

"You'd have to speculate that finance, property and construction is where a lot of the pain is being felt, and we're not getting any of the benefit from those resource sectors," he said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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7th Nov 2008 Power, water, roads at risk: climate report

THE country's electricity and water supplies are at high risk from climate change, and immediate action is needed to prepare for the threat, a report presented to the Federal Government has warned.

Dams, roads, power stations and even paved footpaths are all at risk of damage from the increasing number of droughts and bushfires and rising sea levels during the next 30 to 50 years, said the report by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

A national taskforce should be formed to develop guidelines for adapting to climate change and to consider legal liabilities for allowing developments to go ahead, said the report, made public yesterday by the Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong.

Electricity production and distribution in southern Australia has "a very high degree of vulnerability" to climate change.

As warmer temperatures curtail snow falls, less power can be generated from hydroelectric sources. But less cooling water would be available to coal-fired power plants. Higher temperatures are expected to increase the demand for air-conditioning, but they are also likely to lead to more bushfires, which can damage and even destroy power grids.

"Adaptation to cope effectively with these situations is expected to require major investment with integrated, high-level strategic planning," the report said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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7th Nov 2008 Interest rates slashed to 3%

Construction welcomes 1.5% interest rate cut by Bank of England

The Bank of England has shocked City observers by reducing interest rates by 1.5% to 3% in a bid to stimulate the economy and stave off a deep recession.

Industry commentators welcomed the surprise cut as a 'brave move' by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. The decision followed intense lobbying by the construction industry and housebuilders, as well as wider business interests, for at least a 1% rate cut.

City observers were, however, still expecting the Bank to only cut rates by half a per cent at its monthly meeting this morning, and shares immediately spiked on the news, recovering most of earlier losses.

The bank said the move was in response to a “marked deterioration” in the economic outlook in the past two months, with inflation no longer seen as a threat. In a statement it said: “The past two months have seen a substantial downward shift in the prospects for inflation in the United Kingdom. There has been a very marked deterioration in the outlook for economic activity at home and abroad.”

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6th Nov 2008 Democrats in UAE cheer victory

Dubai: With hope and tears in their eyes, American Democrat supporters in the UAE watched as their president-elect spoke after a historic election victory on Wednesday.

Thunderous applause broke out at a hall in the Movenpick hotel in Bur Dubai when senator Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential race was confirmed.

A crowd of mostly Democrats, a few Republicans and enthusiastic non-Americans gathered at the hotel to watch the election results come in and celebrate the Democrat's victory.

Whether it was the racial glass ceiling Obama had broken, the American dignity he had "restored" or the promises for economic recovery he had made, American Democrats in Dubai were united in celebration of the Chicago Senator's victory.

"This is a historic night for all of us. You're seeing a culmination of a huge wave that has crashed in American politics with this election," said Chris Hansen, Chair of the UAE chapter of Democrats Abroad. "Obama represents a stark departure from the last eight years of Bush's policies," he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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6th Nov 2008 Major banks refuse to give full rate cut

WESTPAC and NAB have closed ranks with the Commonwealth Bank in refusing to pass on the full benefit of this week's surprise 0.75 percentage point cut to the official cash rate.

But there is good news for existing home owners: house prices in NSW are expected to gain support from a growing shortage of new homes.

NSW is building less than half the number of new homes it was a year ago - the lowest level in the post World War II era - new figures released by the Bureau of Statistics yesterday show.

The number of new homes approved by NSW councils slumped 26 per cent in September to 1594.

Westpac announced yesterday it would cut its interest rate by 0.65 percentage points, denying home borrowers about $30 in savings if it passed on the Reserve's full cut.

"Westpac is sensitive to the challenges being faced by many working families," Westpac's head of retail and business banking, Peter Hanlon, said.

"However, we are still having to meet substantially higher funding costs."

The NAB chief executive in Australia, Ahmed Fahour, announced the bank would pass on just 0.62 percentage points, citing higher funding costs.

"Despite the RBA cash rate reduction, it is now apparent that the cost of borrowing money anywhere in the world has become a lot more expensive," he said.

ANZ was yet to announce its decision.

Some smaller banks are viewing the decisions by the major banks as an opportunity to tempt new customers.

AMP Banking announced it would cut its standard variable rate by the full 0.75 percentage points, effective from a week and a half.

Source: http://business.smh....

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6th Nov 2008 Oil prices slump as demand weakens

Oil prices tumbled as US data showed demand falling in the world's biggest energy consumer, highlighting worries about the slowing global economy.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for December delivery dropped $US5.23 a barrel to close at $US65.30 on Wednesday.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for December fell $US4.57 to settle at $US61.87 on the InterContinental Exchange.

A decline in oil prices gained momentum after the US Department of Energy (DoE) reported US petrol stockpiles jumped 1.1 million barrels in the week ended October 31, confounding market expectations for a drop of 600,000 barrels.

The DoE said that crude reserves held steady instead of rising the 1.2 million barrels forecast by analysts.

US energy demand continued to decline. Americans consumed 6.7 per cent less crude in the past four weeks compared with the same period a year ago, the government data showed.

Source: http://news.smh.com....

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6th Nov 2008 Economy goes part-time

Australian employers are increasingly turning to part-time workers to fill their needs as the economic slowdown begins to pinch. New South Wales' jobless rate jumped.

The economy added an unexpectedly large number of jobs last month - 34,300 in total - but the gain masked the loss of 9,200 full-time positions.

The unemployment rate stayed put at 4.3% because of the whopping 43,500 part-time positions created last month - the most since April 2001.

"Sometimes the switch from full- to part-time employment is a sign business is putting labour on more judiciously than they would otherwise to meet demand," said economist David de Garis of National Australia Bank.

Economists had tipped the economy would shed a net 10,000 positions last month.

The initial market reaction was positive, with the Australian dollar jumping about half of one US cent to 68.1 US cents, before giving all of the gain to trade at recently at 67.68 US cents. Shares were little changed on the news.

The Rudd Government yesterday released revised estimates for the economy, including raising the forecast for jobless rate to 5% by next June.

Some economists, though, predict the unemployment rate will rise to 9% by the end of 2010.

Source: http://business.smh....

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5th Nov 2008 Another rail plan axed

ANOTHER rail project into Sydney's north-west has been axed by the NSW Government, stunting plans to house another 322,000 people in the booming area by 2031 and forcing thousands of cars onto congested roads.

The full $432 million duplication of the Richmond Line - whereby a new track would have been laid alongside the existing single track - was dumped last week by cabinet when it decided to shelve the other rail service to the north-west growth centre, the $12 billion North West Metro.

Instead, the project was truncated to a duplication between Quakers Hill and Schofields for $236 million. The project was a vital part of the 2003 Rail Clearways program, designed to improve the reliability of the rail system by providing trains more passing opportunities and limiting the effect of breakdowns.

The program has been plagued by inter-agency feuding and cost increases. Treasury officials have used these issues to support a campaign to have rail investment taken off the state's books.

As a result, all planned improvements to rail services for the booming north-west, including vast land release areas, will no longer go ahead.

The program is facing other cuts. A $32 million project to build a platform at Macarthur is unlikely to survive the November 11 mini-budget, along with a $38 million passing loop planned for Rydalmere station.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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5th Nov 2008 Mega mall opens in Dubai despite global economic gloom

A mega shopping centre opened for business in the bustling Gulf emirate of Dubai on Tuesday amid doubts about the success of the venture at a time of worldwide economic turmoil.

Hundreds of people crowded the entrance to Dubai Mall, whose projected 1,200 stores and scores of entertainment outlets are billed as the biggest shopping centre in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world.

Only half the stores listed to set up shop in the mall were open on Tuesday, with some of the big retail names due to kick off much later.

"I'm excited to be here at the opening of the mall," Bilal Dahmush, a Syrian sales agent in a a men's clothes shop, told AFP.

"It is the most beautiful mall in Dubai and it will oushine all other malls" in the city state, which already boasts a large number of giant shopping centres, said his compatriot and colleague Ahmad Hammam.

The mall is situated at the foot of Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) -- already the tallest building on earth at around 700 meters (2,300 feet) and still under construction.

The mall is scheduled to house branches of some of the world's best known retail chains, such as Marks and Spencer, Galeries Lafayette and even Bloomingdales, which has never before had stores outside the United States.

However, the inauguration has been repeatedly delayed. The centre was initially supposed to open by the end of 2006, but the date was postponed to August 2008, then to October 30 and finally to November 4.

Bloomingdales is not scheduled to open until 2010 and Galeries Lafayette is earmarked for next February, according to the mall's website.

Source: http://news.smh.com....

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5th Nov 2008 Prices begin to come down at Dubai hypermarkets

Dubai: Prices of basic commodities have on average fallen by 12 per cent at the Union Co-operative Society stores in the last three months, according to a price check by Gulf News, indicating a break from more than two years of spiralling hikes in food prices.

The prices of 19 items monitored by Gulf News have decreased by an average of three per cent at Union Co-operative and Carrefour outlets. Union Co-operative registered a price fall of 12 per cent. Prices at Carrefour, however, have risen six per cent.

The average increase in food prices was more than 55 per cent for the period between April 2006 and March 2008, according to our price check of basic commodities at the Union Co-operative Society and Carrefour hypermarkets.

In July, prices started to stabilise as many outlets, under an agreement with the Ministry of Economy, started freezing prices at the 2007 level of a basket of commodities of selected brands to fight inflation.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Nov 2008 Jobs and property fall - so will rates

HOUSE prices have suffered their biggest quarterly fall since 1978 while newspaper job ads have slumped by a recession-like 35 per cent over the year.

But relief is on its way today for mortgage-holders, with the Reserve Bank expected to cut official interest rates at 2.30pm, most likely by half a percentage point.

This would mean a saving of $133 a month on repayments for a $400,000 home loan and, if passed on in full, bring the average standard variable mortgage rate back to 7.84 per cent, the lowest since August 2006.

The Reserve is keen to bring interest rates back to a more "neutral" level to shelter households from the global economic storm and prevent a recession.

"Growth in this economy and jobs are under direct threat from the global financial crisis," the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said. "It will be tough, it will be difficult, it will be hard, it will be ugly."

But amid rising fears of recession, Treasury forecasts to be released next week are expected to show growth staying positive.

The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, sought to head off panic about falling home prices yesterday, insisting a shortage of housing and the increase to the first home-buyers' grant would stabilise the market.

Some economists are tipping that large interest rate cuts, along with tumbling share prices, will spark another housing boom such as the one that followed the 1987 sharemarket crash.

The Treasurer and the Prime Minister both urged banks to pass on today's rate cut "as rapidly as possible".

Meanwhile, in a sign that inflation may have peaked, a survey by TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute found consumer prices fell 0.2 per cent last month - the first drop since February 2006. This was due to lower prices for produce, holidays and household services.

Average rents fell 1 per cent, taking the annual pace of rental increases back to 12 per cent, from a July peak of 15 per cent.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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4th Nov 2008 UAE reduces crude oil output following an Opec agreement

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has reduced its crude oil output following an agreement the OPEC reached on 24 October to slash its production ceiling by 1.5 million barrels per day as of November, 2008, announced Mohammad Bin Dha'en Al Hamili, Minister of Energy, on Monday.

"Talking about a new round of cutting oil output is premature as the oil group will meet again on December 17 in Algeria to review the situation in the world oil market," Al Hamili said in a statement to the press on the sideline of the International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

"Fluctuations in oil prices don't have impact on long-term oil projects," he said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Nov 2008 Saudis to embark on railway project

Riyadh: The Saudi Railway Organisation (SRO) is soon embarking on implementing one of its ambitious projects - the Makkah-Jeddah-Madinah railway at a cost of Dh19.57 billion (SR20 billion).

According to SRO sources, the route for the Makkah-Madinah Railway Link (MMRL) project and the locations for stations in Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah have already been finalised.

Speaking to Gulf News, Habeeb Zain Al Abidine, secretary general of the Commission for Development of Makkah, Madinah and the Holy Sites said that the first phase of the project will begin in December after the Haj season.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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4th Nov 2008 Impending recession further dampens commercial property

The balance of surveyors reporting demand for commercial property in Q3 has fallen at the fastest pace in a decade across England and Wales, says the RICS Commercial Property Survey published today (3 November 2008).

All sectors remain firmly in negative territory for the fourth consecutive quarter, with the industrial and office sectors dropping to the lowest balance in the survey's history.

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3rd Nov 2008 Apartment and villa rents in Dubai set to slow down

Dubai: Rental rates for villas and apartments in Dubai are set to slow down further, according to a latest report by rental agency Asteco.

Villa rental rates had a slower increase growth of 11 per cent over the last three months, while apartment rental rates saw an average growth of just 4 per cent.

Villa rental rates had a slower increase growth of 11 per cent over the last three months, while apartment rental rates saw an average growth of just 4 per cent.

Despite a rent cap, landlords have been violating government directives and have a way in getting away with it.

International City and Jumeirah Lakes Towers had the highest recorded rental increases for apartments of 13 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.

The highest rental rates for villas was 25 per cent, as seen in Downtown Burj Dubai due to limited supply of villas in the development, said Asteco in their third quarter residential report.

There was an overall increase of 24 per cent in villa prices since last quarter whereas, apartment prices appreciated slightly slower, at 20 per cent.

Andrew Chambers, managing director of Asteco, said despite the financial crunch affecting the rest of the world, demand for villas and apartments in Dubai, remains "unabated".

Source: http://www.conduitgr...

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3rd Nov 2008 New waterfront project for Dubai launched

Dubai: Developer VIP Waterfront on Sunday launched its Dh1.8 billion Royal Bay project in the Dubai Waterfront, complete with two helipads to assist access.

The total built-up area of the Royal Bay development is a little over 1.2 million square feet.

The project consists of a residential tower with 158 apartments and one penthouse. The commercial tower has 107 offices.

The two towers are connected at one level with a floor housing a gym and spa.

Also in the development are 12 villas and 2 palaces and a three-storey, 400,000 square foot shopping mall.

Royal Bay will have two helipads to ease transportation in the area.

"We believe that heli-transportation will be developing in this country. Royal Bay is not far from the largest international airport [Dubai World Central] so it is very convenient as car traffic is also restricted in Waterfront," Slava Garin, chief executive officer of VIP Waterfront, told Gulf News.

When asked about availability of liquidity for such projects, Garin said it was not a real issue.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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3rd Nov 2008 Mortgage lending up in September

New approvals show first monthly rise in a year, but lending still nearly 50% down on last year

Mortgage approvals rose in September for the first time in a year, revealed the Bank of England this week.

The bank reported that 33,000 mortgages were approved last month, an increase of 1,000 from the record low in August when total mortgage debt fell for the first time since records began in 1993. Mortgage lending was valued at £2.2bn in September, after a fall of £691m in August.

Figures released from the Building Society Association (BSA) showed that net mortgage lending by building societies increased in September for the first time in four months. However, lending is still 47% down on the same month a year ago.

Adrian Coles, director general of the BSA, said: “The mortgage market is unlikely to recover for some time. Nevertheless, the increase in net lending in September is to be welcomed.”

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31st Oct 2008 No need to fear house price dive, says Reserve

HOUSE prices in Australia are not set for precipitous falls, as in the US, nor are household balance sheets suffering too badly, says the Reserve Bank deputy governor, Ric Battellino.

He said that despite the sharemarket plunge, annual returns on shares had averaged 8 per cent over the past five years and real incomes had risen 30 per cent - the biggest surge in more than 30 years.

But mortgage holders may get less interest rate relief than expected in coming months, with Mr Battellino warning that the need to contain inflation "could limit the room for manoeuvre".

Economists still expect a cut of half a percentage point when the Reserve Bank board meets next Tuesday.

Amid predictions that house prices would fall by 40 per cent as households crumbled under the weight of mortgage debt, Mr Battellino told a bankruptcy conference in Sydney that prices would hold up much better than in the US, where they have fallen about 16 per cent in the past year.

Unlike the US, Australia's housing bubble had already burst, about three years ago, Mr Battellino said. "The Australian housing boom ended because prices rose to levels that severely strained the financial capacity of buyers to pay higher prices, not because too many houses were built, as in the US.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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31st Oct 2008 UAE ready to play key role

Abu Dhabi: The UAE came to the rescue of the world against the spreading financial crisis, the Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Thursday.

"The UAE will employ all means to head off the global financial crisis, be it through bilateral cooperation with the country's friends and allies or through international financial institutions," Shaikh Abdullah told a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank Walter Steinmeier in Abu Dhabi.

Shaikh Abdullah did not suggest any bailout package but stressed the UAE is emerging as an important financial contributor to the world financial system.

"We are part of a global system and this entails obligations... We are also interested that the world witnesses auspicious growth to achieve the millennium development goals."

He added: "We in the UAE highly appreciate cooperation with our allies in the G8 and the Group of 20 and fully support the role Saudi Arabia will play in the next meeting on means to contain a deepening fin-ancial crisis before it triggers a global recession.

The United States and EU appealed to the GCC countries to rescue their ailing financial institutions. "Collective efforts are needed to tackle the global financial crisis and Gulf countries have a key role to play in resolving it," Robert Kimmitt, deputy secretary of the US Department of the Treasury, said on Tuesday.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and IMF first deputy managing director John Lipsky have appealed to China and the Gulf states to contribute to the IMF fund as the $250 billion (Dh917.5 billion), which the IMF has earmarked to bail out countries in distress may not suffice.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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30th Oct 2008 Rail blunders put hundreds of commuters at risk

A BURST high-pressure gas main at Revesby, and the electrocution of passengers at Lidcombe Station were "future catastrophic events" that were narrowly averted in two bungled rail projects that have cost NSW well in excess of $150 million.

The potential disasters are revealed in a secret RailCorp investigation, obtained by the Herald, that details how the construction of two turning bays last year included such serious electrical engineering flaws that they "could have resulted in death or injury".

The State Government's rail building agency, the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation, failed to follow strict safety guidelines on the design of earthing equipment supposed to insulate passengers from the 1500-volt direct current that powers the CityRail network.

The flaws were picked up at the last minute by RailCorp staff. The Transport Minister, David Campbell, told the Herald yesterday that "the last line of defence worked".

The critical flaw at Lidcombe was discovered only after the construction of an electrical substation, and the one at Revesby, after TIDC had signed off on a design it knew had been developed by an earthing design contractor already banned by RailCorp.

The top-level report reveals TIDC had used the same contractor for previous projects, raising serious questions about whether there are undetected safety problems on the network.

This week, the Premier, Nathan Rees, intervened to order the release of the report after a seven-month battle between the Herald and RailCorp, which is now before the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, to have the document released under freedom-of-information laws.

Source: http://www.smh.com.a...

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30th Oct 2008 Yes, we're in for a short, sharp shock

AUSTRALIA is on course for its first official recession in almost 18 years, according to a growing number of analysts.

Dramatic attempts by the Reserve Bank and Federal Government to stave off recession by slashing interest rates and injecting $10 billion of taxpayer funds into the economy will prove insufficient to stop the economy shrinking, they say.

The investment bank JP Morgan yesterday predicted plunging world growth and commodity prices would spark a short, if shallow, recession over the six months starting this month. Economists at Goldman Sachs JBWere predict Australia is already halfway through an official recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

The predictions came as the dollar gained a foothold above US64 cents yesterday and the local sharemarket recovered 1.3 per cent on speculation the US Federal Reserve will slash its official interest rate in an effort to avoid global recession.

However, the reprieve is not expected to last.

JP Morgan said yesterday it expects a million Australians will be jobless by the end of the decade as businesses shelve or cancel investment plans.

There have been seven recessions in Australia since 1960.

But this recession is not expected to be as long or as deep as its predecessor in the early 1990s, which ran for a full year.

This time the economy will be assisted by the stimulatory impact of a falling dollar, the potential for the Government to run down its budget surplus even further and the Reserve Bank's ability to slash interest rates.

Source: http://business.smh....

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30th Oct 2008 Aqaar and Accor team up to open new hotel

Dubai: Aqaar LLC, real-estate and property development company headquartered in Ajman has signed up with French hotel group Accor Hospitality to manage a world-class business hotel under the company's renowned Novotel brand.

The four-star Novotel Hotel forms part of Phase II of Ajman's premier residential, commercial and hospitality complex - Aqaar's "Ajman 1" development, billed for completion by 2011.

The hotel will comprise of 200 rooms with 70 serviced apartments and a variety of facilities, including restaurants, a wellness retreat, a conference centre and swimming pool.

Novotel Ajman will be conveniently located 20km from the Dubai International Airport and just minutes from neighbouring Sharjah. The hotel will be in Ajman city centre, close to the Ajman free zone and walking distance from Ajman beach.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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30th Oct 2008 Facilities not ready for Dubai Mall opening

Dubai: The highly-anticipated Dubai Mall will not open on Thursday as planned, but has been delayed a second time, until November 4 as the mall and other facilities are not ready.

The opening was originally scheduled for today, but judging by the frenzied activity inside the Dubai Mall on Wednesday, this optimistic opening date was not possible.

"It cannot open like this. It will open slowly, slowly," an onsite source told Gulf News on Wednesday, during an impromptu visit to the site.

There was frantic activity on Wednesday inside the mall, with only a temporary coffee stand finished. Only a couple of shops seen had any merchandise in them, and most of the walls were still boarded up.

Water had covered the end parking spaces in the lower parking level, "perhaps because of a burst pipe", a source said.

In typical Dubai style, the traffic going in and out of the Dubai Mall was slow and disorganised, perhaps the biggest reason for the delay.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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30th Oct 2008 Credit crunch hits construction jobs hard (UK)

Staff losses in the thousands loom across the sector

The UK construction industry has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the credit crunch.

This month alone, thousands of jobs have been reported as being greatly at risk by companies such as Wolseley, Michelmersh and MJ Gleeson.

Yesterday it was announced that up to 8,000 construction jobs could be lost in Northern Ireland because of the economic downturn.

The number of people out of work across all sectors soared to 1.79 million in October, the Office for National Statistics said. The government has made an extra £100m available to retrain workers who lose their job in the economic slump.

One forecast predicted that unemployment could reach 3 million by next Christmas.

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29th Oct 2008 Qld employers struggle for staff

Finding employees and keeping them is the biggest problem facing businesses in Queensland, Commerce Queensland's survey of 25,000 small businesses has revealed.

Staff retention, economic instability and concern at the level of economic demand in the Queensland economy were the issues worrying business in the quarterly Pulse Survey prepared by Commerce Queensland and St George Bank.

Commerce Queensland president Beatrice Booth said the survey showed business had a pessimistic outlook, with confidence lagging for the second consecutive quarter.

"There are real concerns these developments will further undermine domestic consumer and business confidence, leading to lower spending and investment and slower economic growth," Mrs Booth said.

"The survey results indicate 75 per cent of businesses expect conditions to weaken nationally and 62 per cent expect Queensland's economic performance to weaken over the next 12 months."

This is despite Queensland's strong ecomic growth, predicted by Treasurer Andrew Fraser to reach 4.25 per cent earlier this year, and the arrival of 1800 residents each week.

Interestingly, water costs and infrastructure issues were ranked 19th of 20 constraints on local businesses.

The sector believes population growth and competition for skilled staff were factors that would affect labour recruitment as it looks ahead for the next 12 months.

The recent full percentage point rate cut announced by the Reserve Bank earlier this month had pushed interest rates as the main influence on business activity down to fifth spot, according to the survey.

Source: http://smallbusiness...

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29th Oct 2008 Jobs market in for a rocky ride

Australia's jobs market is in for a rocky ride over the next two years, with some economists predicting the unemployment rate rising as high as 11 per cent, as consumer spending is curtailed and economic growth falls.

Many economists think the federal government's $10.4 billion fiscal stimulus package and still strong Chinese economic growth would give Australia some protection from an expected global economic recession.

However, all agree jobs will be lost, as consumers struggle to pay off their debt burden.

The best case scenario is for a jobless rate of 11% by 2010, according to a Sydney academic who has also forecast official interest rates falling to zero over the same time frame.

But on a worst case basis, University of Western Sydney associate professor of economics and finance Steve Keen says one in five people could be out of work by 2010, as sky-high household debt levels weigh on demand.

That would be the highest level since the Great Depression almost 80 years ago, when the jobless rate peaked at 29%.

''That would be a worse-case scenario ... I hope it doesn't hit that level,'' Dr Keen said.

''It could be worse than the Great Depression but I hope not.

''This is a far bigger crisis than the 1990 recession and a far bigger level of debt.''

Australia's unemployment rate stood at 11.1% in 1929, at the start of the Great Depression.

Source: http://smallbusiness...

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29th Oct 2008 Shares set to soar

Australian investors get their turn to join a global relief rally this morning after days of big falls battered many stocks into bargains.

Wall Street staged an amazing afternoon rally with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketing 11% by the close, a gain matched by the broader S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes.

In recent trading, the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange was up 242 points, or about 6.5%, at 4,044.

The Australian dollar also climbed about 10% overnight against the yen to trade recently at 62.7 yen, while it also surged to 64.33 US cents, or a jump of more than 3 US cents.

''The Dow's jump is certainly the biggest rise we've seen for decades,'' Ausstock senior client adviser and strategist Michael Heffernan said.

"It's an enormous rebound on the market and the anticipation of rate cuts (in the US) tomorrow."

Forecast for rate cuts in the US this week, along with an expected interest rate reduction by the Reserve Bank next week - tipped to be at least 50 basis points - have lightened the mood among investors, he said.

"We might be in a for a little bit of a relief period going ahead for the next few weeks," he said.

"The days of variations by 1% and 2% being exceptional are over."

"Given that the US was up 10%, we could be up 7%."

At home, the market will also be looking for more indications about how the Federal Government's deposit guarantee will play out among mortgage funds and other investments not covered.

Source: http://business.smh....

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29th Oct 2008 8,000 construction jobs may go in Northern Ireland

Industry body says employment in the region is at 'crisis point'

Up to 8,000 construction jobs in Northern Ireland have been lost or are at risk as a result of the credit crunch, the region's leading industry body has warned.

The Construction Employers' Federation (CEF), which represents more than 70% of the industry locally, said yesterday the situation was at “crisis point”.

A survey of 200 housebuilders in the region indicated 3,000 redundancies had been made in the year to 20 June. A further 4,000 to 5,000 jobs are likely to go next year if conditions fail to improve, the body said.

Twelve of the region's leading civil engineering firms said total employment could fall by 45% if the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI) was not brought forward.

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28th Oct 2008 More turmoil ahead

Australian investors will brace for another day of fluctuating trading after a late plunge on Wall Street snuffed out optimism that markets have hit bottom.

After gyrating for much of the day, US stocks ended the day decisively lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.4% and the broader S&P 500 shed 3.2%, sapping a prospective rally for local shares.

The Australian sharemarket is now likely to open flat or lower, with the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange up just 2 points at 3,793 in recent trading. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 share index yesterday sank to a fresh 4-year low, losing 1.6% to 3,809 points.

The Australian dollar also failed to bounce much beyond the 60 US cent mark that it threatened to fall through overnight. It recently bought 60.47 US cents despite reports the Reserve Bank was encouraging currency traders to expect it would intervene again to buy up the currency if it weakens.

Against the soaring Japanese yen, a popular haven during the current bout of financial fear, the Aussie dollar was recently buying 56.5 yen, not far from its record low 55.1 yen reached in recent days.

There are few scheduled events to give investors much direction today.

The Australian Office of Financial Management is due to announce its latest Treasury bond tender result today, while the National Australia Bank will release its business survey for the September quarter.

On the corporate front, Austar United Communications will present its third quarter results, and BT Investment Management Ltd releases annual results.

Source: http://business.smh....

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28th Oct 2008 Dubai Islamic Bank nine-month net profit up 35%

Dubai: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) reported a 35 per cent increase in its net profits to Dh1.73 billion for the first nine months of 2008 compared to Dh1.28 billion during the same period last year, excluding the gain on transfer of interest in a DIB subsidiary.

DIB's total assets increased 17 per cent to Dh86.8 billion as of Sep-tember 30, 2008, compared to Dh74.1 billion at the end of the same period last year.

Financing and investing activity rose 27 per cent to reach Dh52 billion compared to Dh40.8 billion for the first nine months of 2007.

Customer deposits increased 18 per cent to reach Dh68 billion in the nine months ending Sep-tember 30 compared to Dh57.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2007.

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaibani, director-general of the Ruler's Court of Dubai and chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank, said: "Operating in a challenging global economic environment, the bank continues to demonstrate the strength of its fundamentals and the soundness of its long-term strategy of diversifying its operations and revenues.

"Today more than ever, DIB stands at the forefront of the financing sector by providing financial solutions, products and services that help government and semi-government organisations and private-sector firms sustain their own growth even during this period of unprecedented challenges to the stability of the global financial system."

The world's first Islamic bank continues to focus on providing innovative solutions for institutional and retail clients.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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28th Oct 2008 UAE sets ground for tax application

Dubai: The issue of introducing a value-added tax (VAT) in the country is now with the UAE Ministry of Finance, a source said.

With VAT being considered at the higher federal level, it appears considerable progress has been made on the initiative that will be implemented as part of a GCC-wide agreement.

Dubai Customs was earlier conducting a detailed study on VAT's implementation across the country.

Abdul Rahman Al Saleh, Dubai Customs executive director, declined to comment yesterday when asked by Gulf News how far the agency had reached in its study.

However, a person familiar with the VAT project, told Gulf News, "From today this issue has been transferred to the Finance Ministry."

Dubai Customs officials had earlier said the UAE was likely to introduce VAT early next year, becoming the first Gulf country to shed its "tax-free haven" status. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will follow the measure later. Ahmad Butti Ahmad, director-general of Dubai Customs Authority, said in June that VAT will be between 3 and 5 per cent and its introduction will be at a date determined by the federal government. A 2012 deadline has been agreed for applying VAT. The GCC member states are expected to work out a harmonious mechanism for tax collection and revenue sharing by then.

This indirect form of taxation on transactions of goods and services will replace the existing five per cent customs duty, which will be phased out as part of free trade pacts the GCC will sign with a number of key trading partners such as the European Union, China and India.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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27th Oct 2008 World gives Aussie dollar a walloping

GLOBAL financial markets have singled out the Australian dollar for special punishment. Over the weekend the local currency was subjected to its biggest sell-off since it was floated in 1983.

As the gloom darkens over the global economy, the frenzied sell-off on world sharemarkets has spread to currency markets, and the Australian dollar reached a five-year low of 60.57 cents against the US dollar and a record low against the Japanese yen.

The big fall in the Australian dollar prompted London's Financial Times to dub the currency the "whipping boy" of foreign exchange markets.

The dollar closed in US trade at US61.78 cents, down US4.5 cents on Friday night and 37 per cent from the high of US98.49 cents it reached three months ago.

The slump in the currency has confounded even the most seasoned of market commentators. The dollar has even been strongly outperformed by Iceland's hapless krona and Brazil's real over the weekend.

"It's just strange. It's just weird," said the chief economist of BT Financial Group, Chris Caton. Dr Caton said about one-third of the fall in the dollar could be explained by the recent surge in the US dollar, which has risen against major currencies such as the euro and the British pound.

Source: http://business.smh....

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27th Oct 2008 Another tough week ahead

SKITTISH world trading is conspiring against an upturn in the Australian sharemarket today as the futures market points to a slide of about 1%.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 is expected to drop about 37 points on opening.

Trading last week was similar to the week before, with solid gains on Monday and Tuesday eroded by sell-offs in the rest of the week.

Since October 10 - dubbed Black Friday - the market has yo-yoed between 3870 and 4330, but has failed to build momentum for more than a few days at a stretch.

Friday's 3869.4 close was the lowest since late 2004. Because it exceeded the depths of recent weeks, Eley Griffith Group fund manager Ben Griffiths was pessimistic about the week ahead.

"I see the market as troubled as it has been in the past four to five weeks," he said.

"The fact that the ASX200 took out important technical lows last week and the market is now trading in open water is a sign that buyers are well and truly standing back. "I see the same fear etched in the faces of fund managers and dealers as I saw six weeks ago."

Exacerbating the falls is the rush of forced selling because of calls on margin loans once shares sink to critical price levels.

Source: http://business.smh....

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27th Oct 2008 Abu Dhabi ready for major water and power projects

Dubai: With traditional markets firmly in the grip of the current global economic recession, the major players in the power and water sectors are seeking new opportunities.

And emerging markets do not come any bigger than Abu Dhabi, with cumulative investments over the next five years expected to exceed $271 billion (Dh1 trillion).

"The richest city in the world, Abu Dhabi has begun a major infrastructure development programme designed to handle an estimated population growth of over 230 per cent between now and 2030," said Sarah Woodbridge, Group Director of Exhibitions, at IIR Middle East.

"Significantly, the Director of Privatisation at Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) has stated that the industry is facing major challenges to meet growth needs due to the lack of contractors to build new power and water plants, adding that fuel is not the problem, the challenge is to source experienced engineering, procurement and construction providers."

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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24th Oct 2008 Recruitment firms accused of price fixing

OFT accuses recruitment companies of breaching competition law in supply of candidates to construction firms

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has accused eight recruitment firms of price fixing over the supply of candidates to construction firms, in the latest competition scandal to hit the construction sector.

The OFT alleges that the firms, which include recruitment giants Hays Specialist Recruitment and CDI AndersElite, have been involved in breaching competition law by: fixing target fee rates for the supply of candidates to certain construction companies and intermediaries
a collective boycott of entering into contracts with a particular intermediary for the supply of candidates to construction companies in the UK, in order to restrict competition for the supply of skills.

The OFT alleges that the breach took place between late 2004 and the end of 2005 or early 2006, with the exact duration of each individual agency's involvement in the infringement varying between firms.

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24th Oct 2008 Number of firms on 'critical list' soars (UK)

Corporate rescue specialist Begbies Traynor says 1055 construction firms suffered critical problems in the last three months

The number of construction firms with “critical problems” in their businesses has increased six-fold in the last year, according to new research.

Corporate rescue specialist Begbies Traynor said that 1055 construction firms suffered critical problems in the third quarter of 2008, a rise of 547% from the same quarter last year. This also represents an increase of almost two-thirds from the 639 companies reporting these problems in the 2nd quarter of the year.

Construction firms totalled almost a quarter of all of the 4566 companies under the category. Begbies Traynor defined a critical problem as a firm facing a County Court Judgement of over £5,000 against it or a winding-up petition. The survey takes into account all UK incorporated companies with assets of more than £10,000 that have been up and running for more than a year.

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24th Oct 2008 Westpac Property is pleased to provide the latest edition of the Residential Property Monitor.

This three page publication provides a one stop source of economic and market data relating to the residential markets around the country.

As always we welcome any feedback you may have about this or any other publication from Westpac Property.

download document [94 KB]

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24th Oct 2008 Axe hangs over 200 staff at Bovis Lend Lease (UK)

Drop in commercial work threatens staff numbers as credit crunch bites

Bovis Lend Lease is understood to have put up to 200 staff on notice of redundancy as the impact of the drop in commercial work bites the construction firm.

Sources close to the firm stressed that the move was part of a legal process and did not necessarily mean that that number of staff would lose their jobs; however, the move is evidence that the global financial turmoil is starting to hit major contractors.

It is understood that the firm has been particularly suffering in its UK Southern business, which is involved in the 2012 athletes' village project. The division focuses its work around key developers, including Land Securities and Stanhope, all of which have been affected by the credit crunch.

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21st Oct 2008 Oil rises, boosted by expectations of Opec cut

Oil rose on Monday, supported by expectations Opec may cut output this week to boost prices that have fallen more than 50 percent in just three months from a record high above $147 a barrel.

US crude for November delivery was up $1.81 at $73.66 a barrel by 1200 GMT. The contract settled $2 higher on Friday at $71.85. London Brent crude rose $1.79 to $71.39 a barrel.

"In our view, Opec could well announce a 1 million barrel per day output reduction," Merrill Lynch said in a research note.

"Under a catastrophic demand scenario, we believe Opec could be forced to withdraw up to 2.4 million bpd from the market in the next 12 months."

Several Opec member countries have already called for an output cut, including Iran, Qatar and also Chekib Khelil, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But others in the producer group are concerned a big reduction could send the wrong signal to financial markets, still trying to find stability after the shocks of the credit crisis.

"If there is a need to cut 500,000 barrels per day or 1 million barrels per day of the organization's production or not...the decision should be presented in a way that gives confidence to the market and the world and does not give a negative impact," al-Hayat, a Saudi-owned Arab language newspaper said, quoting an Opec source.

The International Energy Agency, which advises industrialised countries, said an Opec output cut could hinder a global economic rebound.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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21st Oct 2008 Buildings to get direct alarm system

Dubai: Civil Defence teams inspected more than 4,000 buildings and establishments in Dubai in August to connect them to the direct alarm system, a senior official said.

Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence, said the direct alarm system has already been installed in 220 establishments and the teams are inspecting other establishments to check their preparedness to be connected to the system.

He said the direct alarm system is connected to Dubai Civil Defence's Operations Room, monitors the changes related to fires and sends direct alerts about smoke, fire or fault at elevators or the firefighting and protection systems. The system also identifies the location of the fault inside the building as well as providing civil defence and maintenance companies with detailed reports about the readiness of the firefighting and combating systems.

Major General Al Matroushi said the project of connecting the buildings with direct alarm system aims at protecting lives and properties by detecting the fire at its early stages.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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21st Oct 2008 Key money market rate drops most in 9 months

Money-market rates fell, extending last week's declines, as governments bailed out banks and policy makers intensified efforts to combat the freeze in lending with cash injections.

The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for three-month loans in dollars slid 36 basis points to 4.06%, the biggest drop in nine months, according to the British Bankers' Association.

The overnight- dollar rate declined 16 basis points to 1.51%, the lowest level in more than four years. The three-month rate for euros fell. The Libor-OIS spread, a measure of cash availability, dropped below 300 basis points for the first time in almost two weeks. Rates on three-month Treasury bills rose to a month high.

``The policies put in place by authorities around the world have clearly reduced the risk of more bank defaults,'' said Nick Stamenkovic, a fixed-income strategist in Edinburgh at RIA Capital Markets. ``I expect interbank rates to continue to gradually decline over the coming weeks as central banks flood the market with cash.''

Policy makers have redoubled efforts to end the 14-month- old credit crunch that's threatening to tip the global economy into a recession. Interbank lending evaporated after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy Sept. 15, shattering confidence among lenders and sending borrowing costs to records.

Source: http://business.smh....

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21st Oct 2008 UK economy already in recession, says analyst

Ernst & Young says British economy is shrinking but downturn will be short-lived

The British economy has already sunk into a recession, according to a leading economic forecaster.

The Ernst & Young Item Club predicted that the UK economy will shrink by 1% next year, with companies investing 5% less over 2009.

But the respected economic analyst said that the downturn would be short-lived, with falling inflation likely to mean the UK would be ripe for recovery in 2010.

During the next year, unemployment rates will soar, said the group, but if inflation falls then the Bank of England will be able to cut interest rates and bring the economy back to health.

Peter Spencer, the group's chief economist, told the BBC: “Even if equity markets stabilise and we begin to see capital flowing around the international financial system again, we are still looking at a domestic and global economy that will be in recession for the next 12 months.”

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21st Oct 2008 Contractors forced to hold down tender prices as input costs soar (UK)

Construction contractors are having to hold down prices to secure tenders despite rising input costs, according to the latest Tender Price Index compiled by RICS’ Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

The price of new construction work in Q2 was the same as the previous quarter, which had itself registered a fall. But costs continued to rise: materials rose 5.5% and wage rates rose 4.4% year-on-year.

New orders for construction fell 8% in Q2 compared with the previous quarter, and 20% compared with the same quarter a year earlier.

BCIS said new work output is expected to fall 2% in 2008 and 3% in 2009, with private housing and private industrial being hit the hardest, and private commercial also suffering in 2009.

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21st Oct 2008 Hotel giant Jumeirah unfazed by credit crunch

Dubai-based developer's confidence in global expansion plans is undented

Jumeirah, the Dubai-based hotel giant, has said it will carry on with plans to launch 30 new hotels across the world before 2012 in defiance of the global financial crisis.

The firm has 30 hotels either open or in development, and plans to double that tally in the next five years. As many as 20 of those hotels will be in Asia, according to Jumeirah executive chairman Gerald Lawless.

Lawless told the Financial Times: “The luxury market is still holding up very strongly. If you try to get a room in our hotels in Dubai, it is not that easy.”

InterContinental Hotels Group, the largest in the sector, warned last week that its pipeline of new developments would be affected by the turmoil in the financial sector.

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20th Oct 2008 QS firms to axe hundreds of staff in bid to save cash

UK’s biggest quantity surveyors plan to cut staff as drop in private sector work causes fees to plunge

Some of the country’s biggest QSs are making dramatic staff cuts, signalling the increasing impact of the credit crunch on the sector.

Gardiner & Theobald has put employees on notice of redundancy as part of a consultation that could culminate in up to 99 workers – about 9% of UK staff – losing their jobs.

Faithful + Gould, Capita Symonds and DBK are also cutting jobs as funding for private developments dries up and fears grow that public spending will be cut.

EC Harris said it was considering redundancies and Davis Langdon, which got rid of 13 staff last month, is understood to be looking at further cuts.

The news comes in the week that the UK unemployment total rose at its fastest rate for 17 years to 1.79 million.

Gardiner & Theobald said its decision followed a decline in fee income in some parts of its UK business. Tony Burton, a partner, said: “We have quite responsibly commenced a process that allows us to consider a reduction in staff. The legal process in progress allows us to consider a range of 20 to 99 in number. No decision has yet been taken about any redundancies and cannot be until the process is complete.”

Faithful + Gould, the QS arm of Atkins, announced it was cutting about 40 jobs (3% of UK staff) as a “necessary response to the downturn in the commercial property market”. Capita Symonds has let 13 go in its structural engineering team in Cheadle Hulme and DBK is cutting about 24 staff (15%).

QSs are facing a decline in fees as clients ask for discounts and firms desperate to win work drop their prices. Currie & Brown said it was losing out to bargain-basement tenders – up to a third cheaper than its own bids.

A G&T employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It is a very sensitive time. People know there is a full-blown redundancy process going on but nobody knows who is going.”

The RICS urged the government not to let job cuts affect the drive to build up skills in the sector. Policy officer Damian Cleghorn said: “We need to focus on the long-term goals.”

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20th Oct 2008 Engineers appointed for world's tallest tower

Consultancy firm WSP Group has been appointed structural engineer for Nakheel’s project to build the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, the company announced on Wednesday.

UK-based WSP said it was already working on plans for the more than one-kilometre high structure, which Nakheel unveiled last week as part of the multi-billion dollar Nakheel Harbour and Tower development.

WSP revealed it was also playing a major role in Meraas Development’s $95 billion Jumeira Gardens scheme, Dubai’s first master planned urban regeneration development, also launched last week.

Source: http://www.arabianbu...

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20th Oct 2008 Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding to build 1km tower

A company owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Sunday it has launched plans to build in Saudi Arabia the world's tallest tower which will be at least 1,000 metres high as part of a $26.7 billion project.

The news comes just days after Dubai developer Nakheel said it was going ahead with a $38 billion development including a "more than one kilometre high" tower in Dubai's Arabian Canal area. Architects privately told Arabian Business that the building would be 1,200 metres tall.

Kingdom Holding Co. said the Kingdom City and Kingdom Tower projects are worth total investments of more than 100 billion riyals.

Source: http://www.arabianbu...

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20th Oct 2008 QS firms to axe hundreds of staff in bid to save cash (UK)

UK’s biggest quantity surveyors plan to cut staff as drop in private sector work causes fees to plunge

Some of the country’s biggest QSs are making dramatic staff cuts, signalling the increasing impact of the credit crunch on the sector.

Gardiner & Theobald has put employees on notice of redundancy as part of a consultation that could culminate in up to 99 workers – about 9% of UK staff – losing their jobs.

Faithful + Gould, Capita Symonds and DBK are also cutting jobs as funding for private developments dries up and fears grow that public spending will be cut.

EC Harris said it was considering redundancies and Davis Langdon, which got rid of 13 staff last month, is understood to be looking at further cuts.

The news comes in the week that the UK unemployment total rose at its fastest rate for 17 years to 1.79 million.

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17th Oct 2008 Oil plummets as US supplies surge

Oil briefly plunged below $US69 a barrel, bringing its price to less than half its July record high after the government reported massive increases in US crude and gasoline supplies.

Investors took the news as more evidence that a global credit crisis and a shaky economy are curbing demand for oil, which at one point Thursday fell to its lowest level in nearly 16 months.

The selloff in crude came despite an announcement by OPEC that it was moving up by almost a month an emergency meeting to discuss oil's rapid drop in value, including whether or not a production cut is needed. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will now meet October 24 at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, instead of November 18.

Oil market traders ignored the statement, convinced that prices are headed lower.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery dropped as low as $US68.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before paring some of its losses to trade down $US3.14 at $US71.40. It was crude's lowest trading level since June 27, 2007.

Crude has now fallen 52% since surging to a record $US147.27 on July 11. Some energy analysts have predicted oil could fall as low as $US50.

Source: http://business.smh....

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17th Oct 2008 Sex on Jumeirah Beach pair found guilty (UAE)

Dubai duo sentenced to three months in jail, but intend to appeal

Two British expatriates have been sentenced to three months in jail in Dubai after being found guilty of having sex in public.

The pair, Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer, were arrested in July on Jumeirah Beach after a champagne brunch at Le Meridien hotel. They were found guilty yesterday of public indecency and having unmarried sex.

They have each been fined AED1,000 (£160) and will be deported following their release from jail. Lawyers for the pair said they would appeal.

Acors and Palmer had both denied charges of having sexual intercourse on the beach, but had admitted drinking alcohol.

Although the sentence is comparatively lenient in Gulf terms – the pair had been expected to face up to six years in jail if found guilty - it will be seen as fresh evidence of the Islamist government cracking down on the perceived immorality of the 120,000 British workers currently living and working in the Gulf.

The government has also taken a hardline stance against drugs, with a British DJ recently sentenced to four years in prison after being found with 2 grams of cannabis on his person.

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17th Oct 2008 Construction output to fall 3% in 2009

Experian issues bleak prediction, with housing activity suffering biggest decline of 14%

The construction industry is facing a decline in output of more than 3% next year, according to revised forecasts from Experian.

The forecasts predict a 3.1% decline next year, compared with a 1.1% growth forecast back in January. Housing is set to experience a 14.1% decline, private commercial work 8% and repair and maintenance 1.4%.

However, the bleak figures were countered to some degree by a buoyant infrastructure market, forecast still to grow – albeit at a slower pace than this year. Experian estimates the sector will increase by 10% in 2009 and 10% in 2010, compared with 15% this year.

In a statement accompanying the forecasts, Experian said: “The economic situation has deteriorated markedly in recent months… Evidence for the third quarter points to a substantial further loss of momentum and there is little doubt that the UK has entered its first recession since the early 1990s.”

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17th Oct 2008 Abu Dhabi buys 20% of London Array

Abu Dhabi has taken a 20% stake in the London Array - the £3bn project to build the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Thames estuary.

Masdar, part of Abu Dhabi's multibillion-pound drive to develop green energy technologies, is buying part of the 50% stake in the project held by the German-based utility E.ON.

The link-up, which came as the government committed the UK to slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, was welcomed by the prime minister, Gordon Brown.

"This is an excellent example of the partnership we need between oil-producing and oil-consuming countries to develop new energy sources and technologies, diversifying their economies and reducing our dependence on carbon," Brown said. "The scale and vision of the London Array is ground-breaking and places the UK at the forefront of offshore wind development."

The 1,000-megawatt London Array is a key part of the government's plans to increase the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources.

Initially, it was to have been developed by E.ON, Dong Energy and Shell, but Shell pulled out this year, arguing that the scheme did not meet its financial rates of return. The remaining partners subsequently raised their 33% stakes to 50%.

Source: http://www.guardian....

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17th Oct 2008 Westpac Residential Monthly

Westpac Property is pleased to provide the latest edition of the Residential Property Monitor.

This three page publication provides a one stop source of economic and market data relating to the residential markets around the country.

As always we welcome any feedback you may have about this or any other publication from Westpac Property.

download document [91 KB]

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16th Oct 2008 Market prepares for bloodbath

The Australian share market is expected to open significantly lower after US stocks slumped overnight as economic reports there showed the economy is headed for a recession, if not there already.

At 6.58am, the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange was down 337 points at 4048, pointing to a loss of more than 6% for the spot market when it opens.

The Australian dollar also dived overnight, retreating towards the lows reached during last week's market turmoil. It recently bought 66.1 US cents and also 66.1 Japanese yen, down from 70 US cents and 72 yen in afternoon trading in Australia yesterday.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia releases its Bulletin for October.

In company news, Ten Network reports its annual results.

Woodside Petroleum releases its third quarter report.

Asciano chief financial officer Peter McGregor will address the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia on ''Rail's Place in Australia's Freight Future''.

Finders Resources and Keybridge Capital hold their annual general meetings in Sydney.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed back in the red, in sharp contrast to Tuesday's euphoria, but contained its losses to less than 1%.

The domestic market took its downwards lead from a weaker Wall Street still concerned by the global credit, and falls in domestic resources stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 35.2 points, or 0.81%, on Wednesday at 4300, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 39 points, or 0.9%, to 4272.5.

Source: http://business.smh....

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16th Oct 2008 Oil prices fall to 13-month lows

London: Oil prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest in 13 months, dragged down by expectations that economic weakness will cut further into demand for crude.

US crude was down $3.76 a barrel at $74.87 by 1504 GMT. It touched a session low of $74.62, its lowest since September last year.

London Brent crude was $4.03 down at $70.50 a barrel.

Stock markets also fell sharply and the dollar weakened against the yen as global recession fears returned to centre stage after governments around the world pledged trillions of dollars for bank bailouts.

A weak performance from US retailers provided evidence of the slowdowon.

The retailers suffered their biggest monthly drop in sales in more than three years in September.

Recession in the world's top consumer the United States and other key markets could further dampen oil demand.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) cut its forecasts for world demand for crude next year in its latest monthly report. "Even if governments are successful in calming equity markets and unfreezing credit markets in the near future, the fallout on the real economy from financial market headwinds is expected to be considerable," it said.

Opec is due to hold an emergency meeting in Vienna next month to review the impact of the global financial crisis on the oil market.

The impact of the credit crisis has contributed to around a 50 per cent drop in oil prices from a record peak in July above $147 a barrel.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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16th Oct 2008 Fears of recession grow

Dubai: Global equities and oil tumbled as the fear of the financial crisis metamorphosing into a global recession gripped the markets on Wednesday.

In the UAE and the Gulf markets, investors took profits after stocks ended lower overnight on Wall Street and Asian stocks retreated as a global market rally ran out of steam.

The Dubai Financial Market, which surged more than 22 per cent over the past two days, closed down 7.44 per cent as the Abu Dhabi index which also gained 15 per cent over same period dropped 2.13 per cent.

Analysts and fund managers said that profit-taking will keep the market volatile in the weeks ahead.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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16th Oct 2008 Property market slows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Report says recent market slowdown is much more than the usual seasonal drop-off

Dubai and Abu Dhabi's real estate markets have started to show signs of slowdown, according to fresh figures from the Dubai-based Better Homes property group.

A new report from Better Homes says the slowdown is not caused solely by the present widespread economic woes but that a combination of Dubai government's corruption probe, new mortgage laws and a regular seasonal slowing are all adding to the worries.

According to Niraj Masand, director of commercial operations at Better Homes, the summer and Ramadan are typically the slowest parts of the business year, but activity this quarter is clearly down on the same period in recent years.

“To a certain extent the Dubai property market was anyway overheated and a slight correction was round the corner. The global crisis has made investors slightly more cautious,” he said.

Investor worry about the market situation has not made the Gulf immune from any potential price falls, said Masand. “An estimate would be around a 15% drop for residential prices. A drop is likely in the value of those properties to be delivered two to three years down the line,” he said.

Distress among short-term investors too is showing already, says the report. It cites an example of a commercial building at Dubai Waterfront being sold at a negative premium as global markets squeeze liquidity and local banks rein in any lucrative financial deals. The report says more of this type of sale are likely.

But the drop may only be temporary, depending on market situation. “Anything that will be ready in 2009 will sustain and see even premiums being demanded,” Masand said.

The demand for office space in Dubai outpaced Abu Dhabi during the quarter - especially in sought-after business districts such as Meydan, Dubai Waterfront and Jumeira Lake Towers.

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16th Oct 2008 Zero interest rate a possibility

Australian interest rates are tipped to fall to the lowest level since the aftermath of the September 2001 terror attacks as the central bank worries about a recession. One academic predicts they will fall to 0% by 2010.

One Sydney academic is even forecasting an unprecedented zero interest rate by 2010 on the premise tbat debt-laden consumers will close their wallets and threaten to push the economy into a deep economic contraction.

Macquarie Group interest rate strategist Rory Robertson said the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would cut the cash rate, now at 6%, to 4.25% over the next year as global financial market turmoil put the economy under pressure.

That would be equal to where the cash rate was in December 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Interest rates have not fallen below that level since the RBA began publishing a target interest rate in January 1990.

Source: http://business.smh....

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15th Oct 2008 Recession fears snuff out Wall St rally

US stocks fell as fears that the global economy may not avert recession slammed shares of technology and consumer companies, eclipsing a government rescue plan for banks.

A day after the Dow leaped 936.42 points in its biggest one-day point gain ever, investors looked past the US pledge to pour $US250 billion into major banks and instead focused on the dismal outlook for earnings and the economy.

A disappointing outlook from PepsiCo further fueled those worries, especially given that soft drinks and snacks are usually seen as safer bets when the economy falters. PepsiCo's shares had their worst day since the 1987 stock market crash.

The Nasdaq underperformed throughout the day. Intel was among the top drags on the Nasdaq as investors worried about the chipmaker's quarterly results, which are due after the closing bell. Intel lost 6.2% to $US15.93 on Nasdaq, while an index of semiconductor stocks slid 5%.

Financial shares rose, however, after the US Treasury's latest step to stabilize the financial system in hopes of averting further damage to the economy. Citigroup jumped 18.2% and Bank of America climbed 16.4%.

''While a lot of news has been focused on financials, there is a slow motion tsunami coming our way as far as the economy is concerned,'' said Steve Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co.

''Techs are cyclicals and have heavy exposure overseas, and the global economy is feeling a greater brunt of the slowdown,'' Goldman said.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 76.62 points, or 0.82%, at 9310.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 5.34 points, or 0.53%, at 998.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 65.24 points, or 3.54%, at 1779.01.

Source: http://business.smh....

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15th Oct 2008 Rebound tempered by fear of recession

INVESTORS were warned yesterday about the still-looming prospects of a domestic recession, despite the biggest two-day gain on the Australian sharemarket in 33 years sparked by the global bail-out of the financial sector.

With the Federal Government yesterday following up its version of the gradually accelerating worldwide rescue of the banking sector with a $10.4 billion economic stimulus package, buyers waded into the market for the second day in a row, sending the All Ordinaries index up another 4 per cent.

The 169.6 point rise to 4311.5 was matched by the 3.7 per cent increase in the benchmark ASX 200 index, which ended the day 154.5 points ahead at 4335.2. Boosted by a $US250 billion ($353 billion) US Government-sponsored recapitalisation plan for the American banking industry expected to be announced last night, and similar packages for their European counterparts worth up to $3.9 trillion unveiled early yesterday, the gains took the overall value of the ASX up $92 billion since Monday.

That was the biggest two-day jump since February 1975 and provided a much-needed fillip to confidence after the dramatic falls of last week.

The rise in Australia followed a dramatic 936 point, 11 per cent surge on Wall Street on Monday night, the blue-chip Dow's biggest points gain on record and its sharpest percentage rise since 1933 - and huge jumps in London, Frankfurt, Paris and elsewhere in Europe.

London's FTSE 100 index was up another 4.27 per cent in early trading last night, adding to its 8 per cent lift on Monday.

Japan's Nikkei index surged back more than 13 per cent yesterday, one of its biggest gains, after plunging 11 per cent in its last trading session on Friday.

The Australian dollar continued its resurgence, jumping more than US4c or 6.5 per cent from its Monday close of US66.75c to US71.09c.

Source: http://business.smh....

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15th Oct 2008 Mohammad Bin Rashid orders Dh70b fund transfer to pump liquidity into banking sector

Dubai: The UAE bourses reported record gains on Tuesday following the order from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transfer Dh70 billion to the Ministry of Finance to inject liquidity into the national banking sector.

With this, the UAE has pumped Dh120 billion into the banking sector in the past month. The Ministry of Finance and the UAE Central Bank will oversee the infusion of liquidity into the banking sector.

Buoyed by the news, the Dubai Financial Market Index closed up 10.76 per cent, its biggest single-day rise ever, and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose 7.5 per cent to close at 3,602.45 points.

Similar decisions to inject liquidity by the US and across Europe in recent days have strengthened investor confidence across the Gulf and global markets.

The US government on Tuesday announced that it would use $250 billion of its $700 billion bailout programme to buy into American banks. Nine large banks agreed to the plan to give the government equity stakes in exchange for new capital, officials said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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15th Oct 2008 Dubai stock market records biggest one-day gain ever

Dubai: Dubai market ended 10.76 per cent higher at 3,703 points, posting its largest one-day gain in its lifetime for the second trading session in a row.

Real estate stocks led the gains, with Emaar Properties and Union Properties ending 14.92 per cent and 14.61 per cent higher respectively.

Recent losses means Emaar Properties is now Dubai's third-largest company by market capitalisation, with Mashreq Bank and Emirates NBD taking over the first two spots.

Construction firm Arabtec and mortgage lenders Tamweel and Amlak Finance all soared around 15 per cent.

In Abu Dhabi, Etisalat is the top gainer of the day, ending 9.8 per cent higher, but property stocks and banks also feature heavily among the bourse's biggest winners.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, First Gulf Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank all ended around 10 per cent higher. Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate ended 9.85 per cent and 9.94 per cent respectively.

The index ended 7.53 per cent higher at 3,602 points.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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14th Oct 2008 US shares rocket

US stocks staged the biggest rally in seven decades on a government plan to buy stakes in banks and a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the global financial system with dollars.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rebounded from its worst week in 75 years with an 11.6% advance, its steepest since 1939, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 936 points.

Morgan Stanley soared 87% after sealing a $US9 billion investment from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Alcoa, General Motors and Chevron climbed more than 20% each as all 10 industries in the S&P 500 added more than 7%.

The S&P 500 rose 104.13 points to 1,003.35. The Dow increased 936.42, or 11%, to 9,387.61, eclipsing its previous record 499-point gain in March 2000 and posting its best percentage advance since March 1933. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 194.74, or 12%, to 1,844.25. Thirteen stocks gained for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: http://business.smh....

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14th Oct 2008 Brimming with confidence

Dubai: Share prices on the UAE and Gulf bourses surged on Monday as governments took decisive action to restore investor confidence in the markets and the financial system.

The UAE on Monday announced it would guarantee all bank deposits including those with foreign commercial banks that have significant retail operations in the country. The new announcement follows the decision on Sunday by the Cabinet to protect deposits with the local banks.

In a related development the Cabinet on Monday authorised market watchdog Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) to ease restrictions on share buybacks in an effort to boost stocks after weeks of decline.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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14th Oct 2008 Mohammad endorses design of Ferry Dubai

Dubai: Ferries plying along Dubai Creek will soon provide an alternative mode of transport that will also help address the issue of traffic congestion on the city's roads.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has endorsed the Ferry Dubai concept and the project will have an outlay of Dh178 million. Each ferry will be capable of carrying 100 passengers.

"This project is part of the master study and the strategic plan developed by the RTA [Roads and Transport Authority] to upgrade marine transport in the emirate," Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board and executive director of the RTA, said during a press conference held yesterday to unveil the project.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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13th Oct 2008 Talk of construction industry demise exaggerated

Talk of the construction industry's demise is exaggerated according to trade association and market intelligence provider The Builders' Conference.

The trade association admitted the sector faces a bumpy ride ahead, but added that according to its latest figures, an industry-wide panic is "premature and, possibly, exaggerated".

Chief executive Neil Edwards said: "According to our latest figures, the number of projects submitted for tender between January and August 2008 is actually up by around 13 per cent on the same period last year.

"The same figures do, however, reveal that the value of these tenders is down by around 10 per cent during the same period, which will force construction companies to seek greater efficiencies."

He added: "The tender value of projects in sectors such as air transport, communications, schools, colleges and universities, and water and sewerage are all significantly above those for the same period in 2007.

"Even more significantly, the value of tenders for health and welfare related projects has almost doubled."

Mr Edwards said that as the barometer of the UK economy, construction was always likely to be the first to feel the effects of a downturn.

But he added: "Construction companies that are fleet of foot and responsive enough to switch sectors should be able to maintain their workload levels.

"I am still of the belief that the current situation is a correction rather than an all-out collapse and while there will sadly be job

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13th Oct 2008 Dubai unveils state-of-the-art new airport terminal

Dubai authorities showcased a state-of-the-art airport terminal on Thursday, vowing "not to blink" in face of the global financial turmoil and to press ahead with their US$4.5 billion (A$6.7 billion) expansion plans.

"We are in front, and we intend fully to stay there. This is not a time to blink," Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports, told reporters after guiding them on a tour of the new terminal due for a soft opening next Tuesday.

"Emirates Terminal 3", dedicated to the Gulf city state's Emirates airline, adds a capacity of 20 million passengers a year to Dubai international airport, taking total capacity to 60 million while construction goes on at another airport intended to be one of the world's largest.

Dubai airport will have handled around 40 million passengers by the end of the year, about five million more than in 2007, Griffiths said.

Dubai, which is part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, "is in a unique geocentric position where we have by default become the world's most significant hub," Griffiths said.

"You haven't got to look very far around the region to see airports and airlines that would love to take some of the market share that Emirates and Dubai Airports are achieving."

Dubai boasts the biggest airline and busiest airport in the Middle East, but neighbouring Qatar is using its vast gas wealth to expand its national carrier and build a new airport.

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13th Oct 2008 UAE banks will not be exposed to credit risks

Dubai: The UAE economy and its banking sector got the ultimate confidence boost on Sunday as it received the highest reassurance from President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"The UAE economy and banking system are strong and sound," Shaikh Khalifa said after a briefing on the latest developments on the global financial crisis by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

During a meeting chaired by Shaikh Mohammad, the Cabinet approved a set of preventive steps and measures to serve the national interest and protect the national economy, UAE's official news agency WAM reported on Sunday.

One of the measures is that the federal government will ensure that no UAE national bank is exposed to credit risks. It will guarantee deposits and savings in all national banks and all lending operations between banks operating in the UAE. It will also pump sufficient liquidity into the financial system if and when necessary.

"We are determined to protect our financial and banking system to preserve the interests of our country and people," Shaikh Mohammad said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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10th Oct 2008 Investors hit panic button

UPDATE US stocks dived and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 9,000 points for the first time since 2003 as higher borrowing costs and slower consumer spending spurred concern carmakers, insurers and energy companies will be the next victims of the credit crisis.

A year ago today, the Dow closed at a record high above 14,000.

The slump is set to hit Australian markets when they reopen this morning. The share price index futures were trading down 4.2% or 180 points to 4120, a discount of 200.9 points to Thursday's close in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 of 4320.9.

In the US, General Motors tumbled 31% and Ford slumped 22% as the outlook for car sales worsened. XL Capital Ltd. lost 54% and led a gauge of insurers to a 13-year low on concern investment losses will curb results. Exxon Mobil Corp.'s biggest drop in 21 years accelerated the Dow's decline in the final hour of trading as oil retreated below $US85 a barrel.

Morgan Stanley plunged 26% as short sellers returned to the market after a three-week ban.

''The sickening slide in the market is unbelievable,'' said Jerome Dodson, a fund manager who oversees $US1.7 billion at San Francisco-based Parnassus Investments. ''Investors are worried about the freezing up of the credit markets.''

The S&P 500 retreated for a seventh day, losing 74.93 points, or 7.6%, to 910.01 to cap its longest streak of daily declines since 1996. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 678.91, or 7.3%, to 8,579.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 5.5% to 1,645.12.

Twenty stocks fell for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: http://business.smh....

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10th Oct 2008 Dubai airport, Emirates CEOs shrug off global crisis amid rapid expansion plans

Dubai: The heads of Dubai airport and the emirate's flagship airline say they are pushing ahead with ambitious growth plans even as much of the world's economy crumbles.

The rapidly expanding emirate to open the first phase of a new US$5 billion terminal on Tuesday. The Dubai carrier Emirates will move all its local operations to the facility by year's end.

Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths shrugged off concerns that the financial crisis could scuttle further work on the project.

He said that "this is not the time to blink" and that the global crisis won't stop even larger airport being built on the other side of the city-state.

Emirates CEO Tim Clark says the crisis isn't affecting the carrier's business plans either.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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9th Oct 2008 Market faces more gloom

The Australian share market is expected to open lower again after receiving a mixed but overall negative lead from Wall Street.

US stocks closed lower despite a concerted rate cut by central banks around the world aimed at easing credit and calming roiling markets.

At 7.07am, the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange was down 12 points at 4336. The benchmark S&P/ASX-200 share index lost 5% yesterday, its second-worst day this year.

Today in economic news, the Melbourne Institute Survey of Consumer Inflationary Expectations for October and the Australia Bureau of Statistics labour force data for September will be released.

In equities, the Bank of Queensland releases its annual results.

Companies holding annual general meetings include ARB Corporation, United Group, Gage Roads Brewing and Helix Resources.

The Financial Services Symposium begins in Melbourne, with speakers including finance minister Lindsay Tanner.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed at a fresh three-year low, plummeting 5% as the continuing fallout from the global credit crisis wiped $56 billion from the value of stocks.

It was the biggest one-day fall for both major stock exchange indices since January 22 this year.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 230.6 points, or 5%, lower at 4388.1, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 228.1 points, or 5%, to 4369.8.

Source: http://business.smh....

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9th Oct 2008 Market mayhem continues

Dubai: Local markets suffered another day of mayhem at the hands of panicky investors who continued to sell, pressured by worries about the local and global financial turmoil that seems unending.

The UAE Central Bank's repo rate cut by 50 basis points, following the US Fed cut, was a bit too late to staunch the day's slide, but traders and analysts hope it will have a positive impact on the market today.

Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses suffered this week's worst declines on Wednesday. While the Dubai Financial Market General Index plunged 284 points or 8.43 per cent to close at 3,085.02, extending the four-day loss to almost 29 per cent, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index plummeted 6.43 per cent to end at 3,176.94.

In just four days almost Dh150 billion have been wiped off the markets.

"No one in their right mind is going to look to call a bottom on the market," said Ali Khan, director of capital markets for Arqaam Capital.

"But the ferocity of selling we have seen and the one term that I have been using is that there has been a cloudburst of selling, and by its very nature it tends to be very dramatic, very short-lived. Hopefully, there will be flatter performance, if not on Thursday, then by Sunday. That doesn't necessarily mean we are talking about a bottom, but some sort of stability. "

The days of easy credit seem to be over in the UAE, adding to the concerns of the investors.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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8th Oct 2008 Market braces for plunge

Australian shares are set for another pounding this morning, after Wall Street closed more than 5% down on growing fears that the spiraling credit crisis would drag the US economy into a recession.

At 7.07am, the December Share Price Index futures contract on the Sydney Futures Exchange was down 266 points at 4422.

The expected drop comes one day after the Reserve Bank's surprise full percentage point rate cut lurched the S&P/ASX 200 upward to close 1.7% higher.

''Yesterday's gains will all be eroded today in one hit,'' said Rick Klusman of Aequs Securities. ''We're looking for a 150 point down day.''

Overnight, the global banking crisis continued to deepen, he said, with British banks seeking a government bailout.

''Rumours are also swirling around Deutsche Bank as well,'' Mr Klusman said.

''The flow of capital has just dried up all around the world, no bank trusts any other bank any more.''

Overnight, the Dow Jones sank 508.39 points, or 5.11%, to end unofficially at 9447.11, losing more than 1400 points or 13% over the past five sessions, the biggest five-day point loss ever on Wall Street.

Sentiment was also battered after a Federal Reserve report showed borrowing by US consumers unexpectedly declined in August for the first time in more than a decade as banks shut off access to loans.

Source: http://business.smh....

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8th Oct 2008 Palm Deira plots for sale

Dubai: Nakheel is going ahead with the sale of some plots on the Palm Deira in November as company officials of the Dubai-based developer allayed speculation that the global financial turmoil has dampened investor interest.

The biggest of the palm-shaped artificial islands in Dubai, the 42-square-kilometre project located between the mouth of Dubai Creek and Port Hamriya, has been 36 per cent reclaimed and is on track to welcome the first batch of residents in the next two to three years, company officials said yesterday.

"The Palm Deira is alive and on track," said Gavin Boyd, the project's development division director.

The project is expected to draw 1.3 million residents, and will be almost as big as Manhattan, 7.5 times bigger than the Palm Jumeirah and five times bigger than Palm Jebel Ali. About 55 per cent of the development will be allotted for residential use, 28 per cent for commercial and 17 per cent for mixed use.

"If you flip the island into the city, it goes beyond the Dubai airport and reaches up to uptown Mirdif, which is 12.5km away," said Abdullah Bin Sulayem, operations director of Palm Deira.

In an interview, Bin Sul-ayem said the credit squeeze is not discouraging them from launching the sale of Palm Deira plots next month, and added that investors continue to show a huge appetite for new properties in Dubai.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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7th Oct 2008 House prices fall for 11 straight months

Nationwide reports 12% annual fall overall but points to signs that decline may be slowing

House prices fell by 1.7% during September, the 11th monthly fall in a row, according to the latest data from the Nationwide.

The building society's figures show that prices are now 12.4% lower than a year ago, leaving the average UK home priced just £161,797.

It said market weakness was “not surprising given ongoing turmoil” and that prices would continue to fall in the short term as the credit crunch continues to squeeze mortgage lending.

However, Nationwide pointed to signs that the house price decline is no longer accelerating and said that longer-term prospects for the housing market “are more sound”.

Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: “House prices have now fallen for eleven consecutive months, but the monthly rate of fall has been almost unchanged in the last three months.

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7th Oct 2008 Commercial work shrinking at record rate (UK)

CIPS/Markit UK purchasing survey shows declining activity across all construction sectors, with new orders sharply down

The UK construction market is contracting rapidly, with commercial activity in particular falling at a record rate, according to data from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) and Markit UK.

Their latest purchasing managers' index shows that the construction economy shrank more strongly in September than in the previous month, with housing and commerical sectors both falling faster. However, in civil engineering - once again the best-performing sub-sector - the decline slowed to only a marginal contraction last month.

In the building sector overall, new orders, purchasing and subcontractor usage were all strongly down, alongside employment, with construction firms cutting staff numbers at a record pace.

Most survey participants attributed the continuing industry decline to the wider financial crisis and poor global economic conditions. These conditions have left firms are struggling to win new work, and the seasonally adjusted new orders index posted its second-lowest reading in the survey history.

Gemma Wallace, economist at Markit said: "There can be little doubt that the UK construction economy is now mired in a recession, and one that is likely to prove difficult to recover from.”

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7th Oct 2008 Oil falls below $US89 on demand fears

Crude oil fell below $US89 a barrel for the first time since February as the credit crisis deepened in Europe, adding to concern that global economic growth will slow and reduce demand for fuels.

Oil dropped as low as $US87.56 a barrel in New York as European leaders pledged to bail out troubled banks and protect depositors. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the price slide will continue next year, and Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state oil company, cut its prices to Asia and the US.

''The negative sentiment that's growing in Europe is definitely having an impact,'' said Gene McGillian, an analyst at TFS Energy. ''The dollar going up helped oil start on a down note. People are looking at how far it will drop rather than looking at a technical rebound.''

Crude oil for November delivery fell $US5.73, or 6.1%, to $US88.15 a barrel at the close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it touched the lowest since February 7. Futures have fallen 40% from the record $US147.27 reached July 11.

New York oil prices declined 12% last week as reports showed US fuel demand the previous four weeks was the lowest in almost seven years and manufacturing shrank in September at the fastest pace since the last recession in 2001. The Labor Department reported a bigger-than-expected 159,000 drop in payrolls in September last week.

''With the stream of economic distress signals continuing unabated, the oil market is betting that demand will really suffer,'' said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Bache Commodities. ''A further push towards $US85 is looking highly likely in these feverish conditions.''

Source: http://business.smh....

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7th Oct 2008 Meraas Development launches Dh350b Jumeira Gardens project

Dubai: Meraas Development, a new real estate developer, has burst on to Dubai's property stage with the announcement of its first-ever project worth a staggering Dh350 billion and involving one of the world's tallest buildings - with varied microclimates and a mini-Manhattan.

Jumeirah Gardens will be a fully integrated, mixed-use development project located in the old Satwa area west of Shaikh Zayed Road and flanked by Al Diyafa Street and Safa Park.

The project aims to cater to a population of 50,000 to 60,000 residents.

The announcement comes amid a global market crash that has shattered investor confidence worldwide, but goes on to show that Dubai is determined to continue with the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The development will redefine living in one of the most popular neighbourhoods of Dubai, currently undergoing demolition to pave the way for the new project.

The project will comprise seven distinct areas, taking up approximately 110 million square feet of land, including the islands. One section will host Dubai Park, which will be half the size of Safa Park.

Phase one of Jumeirah Gardens will cover around 820,000 square metres. It will comprise six main blocks of high-, mid- and low-rise office, retail and residential buildings, two hotels and a high-end shopping area.

Source: http://www.gulfnews....

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2nd Oct 2008 Oil back below $US100 as US supplies jump

Crude oil fell after a US government report showed a bigger-than-forecast increase in supplies as fuel consumption dropped to the lowest since 2001.

Inventories rose 4.28 million barrels to 294.5 million last week, the Energy Department said today. Stockpiles were forecast to climb 2.75 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Imports and refinery operations increased after storms curtailed supplies last month. Fuel use over the past four weeks averaged 19 million barrels a day, the lowest since October 2001.

''Things are going to get worse as far as the bulls are concerned,'' said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. ''Imports will remain high and refineries are coming back. Prices are now headed for $US90.''

Crude oil for November delivery fell $US2.22, or 2.2%, to $US98.42 a barrel at the close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 33% from the record $US147.27 a barrel reached on July 11.

Crude-oil imports increased 26% to 8.99 million barrels a day, the biggest one-week percentage gain since November 1997. Imports averaged 7.14 million barrels a day in the week ended September 19, the lowest since January 2000, because ports were shut along the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Refineries operated at 72.3% of capacity last week, up 5.6 percentage points from the previous week, the report showed. It was the biggest weekly rise in utilization since October 2002.

Source: http://business.smh....

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2nd Oct 2008 Global credit market squeeze tightens

The cost of borrowing in dollars overnight in London rose the most on record after the US Congress rejected a $US700 billion ($885 billion) bank-rescue plan, putting an unprecedented squeeze on the global financial system.

The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for such loans climbed 431 basis points to an all-time high of 6.88% today, the British Bankers' Association said. The euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, for one-month loans jumped to a record 5.05%, the European Banking Federation said. The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge of the scarcity of cash, also increased to an all-time high.

``This is unheard of, the money markets should be the engine driving the financial system but they have broken down,'' said Kornelius Purps, a fixed-income strategist in Munich for UniCredit Markets and Investment Banking, a unit of Italy's largest lender. ``Any institution that hasn't completed its 2008 funding needs by now is going to be in very serious trouble. More banks are going to need to be bailed out.''

The seizure in the credit markets is tipping lenders toward insolvency, forcing governments to rescue five banks in the past two days, including Dexia SA, the world's biggest provider of loans to local governments, and Wachovia Corp.

Money-market rates climbed even after the Federal Reserve more than doubled the size of its dollar-swap line yesterday with foreign central banks to $US620 billion. In Europe, banks borrowed dollars from the ECB today at almost six times the Fed's benchmark interest rate.

Source: http://business.smh....

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2nd Oct 2008 Realty to witness 'profit correction'

Dubai: Property prices in Dubai are not going to decline by 2010, as predicted by recent reports, but profits will correct, according to top officials at Dubai Land Department.

While many analysts and reports are predicting a depressing future for Dubai's booming property sector, there are still optimists who believe Dubai's success has only just begun.

"There will be a correction in some places, but a correction in profit only," Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) CEO Marwan Bin Galita said. "Rather than making 20 per cent profit, maybe investors will make five per cent profit. What have they lost?" B