Day: 17 August 2023

A Senate session, chaired by its president, Faisal Fayez, and in the presence of the Cabinet, on Thursday approved a bill amending the 2023 Real Estate Property Law, as sent from the Lower House. During the debate, Senate declined a proposal to return the draft to its competent committee to launch further dialogue, especially Article 3 amending Article 11 of the original law, to end fears related to ownership transfer of state lands to other parties. This effort came after the bill allowed transfer of state land ownership to wholly- owned government investment funds or companies , and opened the door to offer some plots as in-kind shares in investment projects. The senators recommended the government to consider the Upper House’s deliberations on amending Article 11 as a reference to issue future regulations to implement the law’s provisions, referring to steps aimed to set controls that prohibit the investor from running real estate as property. On a related context, the Senate called on the government to study all ownership forms worldwide, which end with restoring land ownership to the state after a period of time, urging efforts to outline a study on similar projects in the Kingdom and send their details to the Upper House.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday, extending losses to a fourth consecutive session on fears of slowing growth in China and possible further US interest rate hikes weakening fuel demand in the world’s two biggest economies.

Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.44%, to $83.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 39 cents, or 0.49%, to $78.99 a barrel.

China’s central bank unexpectedly cut key policy rates for the second time in three months this week but analysts worry it may not be enough to arrest the economy’s downward spiral.

Minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting released on Wednesday also weighed on oil prices, as they showed that the central bank’s officials continued to prioritize the battle against inflation.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July 2023. The CPI of July 2023 reached 106.87 points showing an increase of 0.37% when compared to CPI of June 2023. Compared to CPI of July 2022, Y-o-Y basis, an increase of 3.11% has been recorded in the general index (CPI) of this month.

When comparing the main components of CPI for the month of July 2023, with the previous month June 2023 (Monthly change), it is found that, there was an increase in five groups, other five groups decreased, and remain two groups unchanged.

The groups showed increased as a follow: “Recreation and Culture” by 3.52%, “Food and Beverages” by 1.63%, “Communication” by 1.30%, “Transport” by 0.96%, and “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.17%.

A decrease has been recorded in “Restaurants and Hotels” by 3.49%, followed by “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.64%, “Health” by 1.28%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 0.70%, and “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.13%, “Tobacco” and “Education” remained flat at the last months price level.

This Y-o-Y price increase primary due to the prices rising in eight groups namely: “Communication” by 15.85%, “Recreation and Culture” by 6.84%, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 4.49%, “Education” by 4.06%, “Transport” by 2.53%, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 2.13%, “Food and “Beverages” by 1.54%, and “Health” by 0.33%.

A decrease has been shown in price levels in “Restaurants and Hotels” by 4.65%, “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.31%, and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 0.08%. No changes recorded on “Tobacco”.

The CPI of July 2023 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 109.59 point, recorded an increase by 0.62% when compared to the index of June 2023. Compared with its counterpart in 2022, the CPI of July index increased by 2.77%.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Gold prices touched five-month lows on Thursday, as the US dollar and Treasury yields gained momentum after recent upbeat economic data added weight to expectations that the Federal Reserve would carry on with its policy tightening.

Spot gold reached $1,891.70 an ounce, logging its weakest levels since March.

US gold futures shed 0.3% to $1,921.80.

In other metals, spot silver jumped 0.2% to $22.42 an ounce, and platinum reached $882.50, having touched its lowest levels since October. Palladium lost 0.3% to $1,205.70.

Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields hit a 10-month high, boosting the dollar to its highest level since mid-June and drawing investors away from non-interest-bearing gold.

Source: Qatar News Agency