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Experts: Suez Canal $3.6 Billion in Due Certificates to Remain in Banks

A cargo ship passes through the New Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, January 17, 2016. (Reuters)
A cargo ship passes through the New Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, January 17, 2016. (Reuters)
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Experts: Suez Canal $3.6 Billion in Due Certificates to Remain in Banks

A cargo ship passes through the New Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, January 17, 2016. (Reuters)
A cargo ship passes through the New Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, January 17, 2016. (Reuters)

Analysts and bankers said that most of the Suez Canal certificates of deposits due on September 4 will not be withdrawn from banks after their due date. They will instead be reinvested in new certificates because the certificate holders are wary of taking risks.

In 2014, the Suez Canal Authority made more than EGP60 billion (USD3.61 billion) from issuing investment certificates for Egyptians for five years with a revenue of 12 percent end of 2016 to around 15.5 percent.

The revenue was invested in building the new Suez Canal and a number of tunnels.

Back then, Egypt permitted the purchase of investment certificates for Egyptians only by individuals, companies and authorities, such as funds.

Mona Mostafa, director of trading at Arabeya Online, told Reuters that 80 percent of due certificates in September would be linked to new certificates because most of the subscribers of Suez Canal certificates are clients of banks and not adventurous investors.

Egypt announced in August 2014 plans to set up the new Suez Canal in addition to the current canal under a project worth several billions of American dollars. The project aims to expand trade along the fastest route of navigation between Europe and Asia.

Egyptian officials hope the new canal would push annual revenues to USD13.5 billion by 2023 from more than USD5 billion.

The Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, and its length is around 160 km. It is the shortest maritime route between Asia and Europe. The canal is Egypt’s largest income source of hard currency alongside tourism, gas and oil exports and workers’ transfers from abroad.

Further, Suez Canal revenues reached USD5.7 billion in 2018, rising from USD5.3 billion in 2017.

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Business

Saudi Aramco Reportedly Sells Oil from Jafurah Field as Huge Project Starts

Saudi Aramco's Jafurah project. Photo: Aramco
Saudi Aramco's Jafurah project. Photo: Aramco
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Saudi Aramco Reportedly Sells Oil from Jafurah Field as Huge Project Starts

Saudi Aramco's Jafurah project. Photo: Aramco
Saudi Aramco's Jafurah project. Photo: Aramco

Saudi Aramco sold oil from its $100 billion Jafurah project in the first reported export from the massive natural gas development, Bloomberg reported.

Jafurah is Aramco’s first unconventional field, developed using the type of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, techniques pioneered in the US shale patch.

The deposit, which Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser calls the company’s crown jewel, will produce massive amounts of natural gas once at capacity, expected in 2030. It also has plentiful volume of liquid fuels that will boost the company’s returns, Nasser has said.

The oil that Aramco sold is condensate, a light oil liquid that’s often found in gas deposits, according to traders with knowledge of the purchases. It will go to buyers in Asia for loading later this month or in early March, Bloomberg quoted the traders as saying.

Business

Industry Ministry: Saudi Arabia Saw 220% Surge in Mining Licenses in 2025

The surge highlights the appeal of the mining investment environment in the Kingdom. SPA
The surge highlights the appeal of the mining investment environment in the Kingdom. SPA
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Industry Ministry: Saudi Arabia Saw 220% Surge in Mining Licenses in 2025

The surge highlights the appeal of the mining investment environment in the Kingdom. SPA
The surge highlights the appeal of the mining investment environment in the Kingdom. SPA

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has announced record growth in the number of new mining exploitation licenses issued in 2025, showing a remarkable increase of 220% compared to 2024.

The surge highlights the appeal of the mining investment environment and the ministry's ongoing efforts to promote the exploration and utilization of the Kingdom's mineral resources, which are valued at over SAR9.4 trillion.

Jarrah Al-Jarrah, the ministry’s spokesperson, revealed that total investment in these new licensing projects has exceeded SAR44 billion, focused on the extraction of high-quality mineral ores, including gold and phosphate.

Al-Jarrah emphasized that the ministry is dedicated to facilitating mining investments and streamlining the process for both local and international investors, thereby supporting sector development and maximizing returns.

This effort aligns with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to position mining as the third pillar of national industry and a key contributor to economic diversification.

The Saudi mining sector made significant progress in the 2024 annual survey of mining companies conducted by the Fraser Institute of Canada.

The Kingdom improved its position in the Mining Investment Attractiveness Index, moving up from 114th place in 2013 to 23rd place globally. This achievement underscores the effectiveness of regulatory and legislative reforms within the sector.

Business

UK Economy Barely Grew in Q4 as Budget Uncertainty Weighed

The financial district of the City of London (Reuters)
The financial district of the City of London (Reuters)
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UK Economy Barely Grew in Q4 as Budget Uncertainty Weighed

The financial district of the City of London (Reuters)
The financial district of the City of London (Reuters)

Britain's economy barely grew in the final quarter of 2025 as activity fared worse than initially estimated during the run-up to finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget, official figures showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew by 0.1% in the October-to-December period, the same slow pace as in the third quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

Economists polled by Reuters, as well as the Bank of England, had forecast 0.2% fourth-quarter growth compared with the ‌previous three months.

The ‌period was marked by rampant speculation about tax increases ‌ahead ⁠of Reeves' budget ⁠on November 26. The ONS revised down monthly GDP data for the three months to November to show a 0.1% contraction rather than 0.1% growth.

Some more recent data have suggested that uncertainty has lifted for consumers and businesses.

"Looking at various surveys, there were some tentative signs that sentiment turned a corner and started to improve after the budget last year, which could help deliver a pick-up in activity this ⁠year," Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at Aberdeen, said.

"However, recent ‌political uncertainty may see that sentiment bounce reverse."

Prime ‌Minister Keir Starmer has had to fight to keep his grip on Downing Street this ‌week due to fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Thursday's figures underscored why ‌investors think that the Bank of England is more likely than not to cut interest rates again in March.

The monthly GDP data showed a sharp downward revision to growth.

The data suggested hesitancy on the part of businesses during the fourth quarter as their investment fell ‌by almost 3% - the biggest quarter-on-quarter drop since early 2021, driven largely by volatile transport investment.

Economist Thomas Pugh at ⁠tax and consultancy ⁠firm RSM said the overall weakness in business investment suggested budget uncertainty held back investment and spending.

Manufacturing was the biggest driver of the increase in output, despite the fact that car output was still recovering from September's cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, while the dominant services sector was flat. Construction output contracted by 2.1%.

In 2025 as a whole, Britain's economy grew by an annual average 1.3%, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with 0.9% in France, 0.7% in Italy and 0.4% in Germany.

British economic growth per head contracted by 0.1% for a second quarter, although it rose by 1.0% for 2025 as a whole.

In December alone, the economy grew by 0.1%, the ONS said, as expected in the Reuters poll. That left the size of the economy back at its level of June 2025.