BankMuscat (SAOG), the nation's leading financial services institution, announced the preliminary results for the period ended September 30, 2008.

BSF has posted SR2,236m net income for the nine months of 2008, SR165m (+8%) more than the net income at the end of nine months of 2007 where income posted was SR2,071m.

Fitch Ratings has today affirmed HSBC Bank Middle East's (HBME) ratings at Long-term Issuer Default (IDR) 'AA-' (AA minus), Short-term IDR 'F1+', Individual 'B' and Support '1'. The Outlook remains stable.

Kuwait-based Gulf Holding Company (GHC) K.S.C. (holding) announced a net profit of KD5.78m ($21.61m approx) for the financial year 2007-08, with earnings per share at 7.51 fils, total shareholder's equity at KD96.10m and total value of assets at KD185.00m.

Abu Dhabi Financial Services (ADFS) has acquired a 70% stake in Egypt’s Al Salam Borkerage. ADFS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The deal’s completion is pursuant to the approval from the Egyptian Capital Markets Authority and the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah revised Lebanon’s projected GDP growth for 2009 to 3 percent from 5 percent in light of the global financial crisis and the expected economic slowdown in the oil-rich Gulf Arab states. The minister also projected inflation to reach 5 percent this year.

The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Government of Dubai, held its inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai from 7 to 9 November 2008.

Private sector salaries in the Gulf region increased at an average rate of 11.4% over the last year, according to figures released today by GulfTalent.com, the Middle East’s leading online recruitment firm. In its fourth annual survey of salary trends in the region entitled “Gulf Compensation Trends 2008”, GulfTalent.com revealed the following increases in basic salary by country, over the twelve-month period to August 2008:

The unfolding financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, is now affecting the real economy, with lending at a trickle, unemployment rising and retail sales falling, William R. Rhodes, Senior Vice-Chairman, Citigroup; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Citibank NA, Citi, USA, warned participants in a session on the risks to global growth at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008.

Bahrain's position as a regional leader for foreign investment has been confirmed after it was ranked number one in the GCC for inward foreign direct investment in the World Investment Report announced recently at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva.

His Excellency Sheikh Fahad Bin Faisal Al Thani, Deputy Governor, Chairman National Anti Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee has responded positively to the findings of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) review of Qatar's anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and has reiterated Qatar's commitment to fighting money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

Colliers International, the global real estate consultancy, today launched its Q2 2008 International House Price Index for Dubai.

In an environment where soaring oil prices have led to the massive accumulation of surplus cash for the oil-producing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, it might have appeared earlier in the year that the global credit crunch would simply pass them by.