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Business MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Driven by China sales, luxury goods challenge slowdown Page 22 India is likely to keep rates on hold: Analysts Page 23 Wary consumers, trade curb US growth in Q2 Page 26 PARIS: Picture shows an illustration made with a figurine and euro coins. Europe’s economic crisis has deepened, with a slump in German confidence, worsening British recession. —AFP BRUSSELS: Over the past couple of years, Europe has muddled through a long series of crunch moments in its debt crisis, but this September is shaping up as a “make-or-break” month as policymakers run desperately short of options to save the common currency. Crisis or no crisis, many European policymakers will take their summer holidays in August. When they return, a number of crucial events, decisions and deadlines will be waiting. “September will undoubtedly be the crunch time,” one senior euro zone policymaker said. In that month a German court makes a ruling that could neuter the new euro zone rescue fund, the antibailout Dutch vote in elections just as Greece tries to renegotiate its financial lifeline, and decisions need to be made on whether taxpayers suffer huge losses on state loans to Athens. On top of that, the eurozone has to figure out how to help its next wobbling dominoes, Spain and Italy - or what do if one or both were to topple. “In nearly 20 years of dealing with EU issues, I’ve never known a state of affairs like we are in now,” one euro zone diplomat said this week. “It really is a very, very difficult fix and it’s far from certain that we’ll be able to find the right way out of it.” Since the crisis erupted in January 2010, the euro-zone has had to rescue relative minnows in Greece, Ireland and Portugal as they lost the ability to fund their budget deficits and debt obligations by borrowing commercially at affordable rates. Now two much larger economies are in the firing line and policymakers must consider ever more radical solutions. If Spain, the euro-zone’s fourth biggest economy and the world’s 12th, loses affordable market financing the next domino at risk of falling is Italy - the eurozone’s third biggest economy and a member of the G7 group of big wealthy nations. A bailout of Spain would probably be double those of Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined, while Italy’s economy is twice as large as Spain’s again. The European Union has already agreed to lend up to 100 billion euros to rescue Spanish banks. One euro-zone official said Madrid has now conceded that it might need a full bailout worth 300 billion euros from the EU and IMF if its borrowing costs remain unaffordable. Deflating life raft The euro-zone does not seem to have enough cash in the current setup to deal with a scenario of Spain and Italy needing a rescue, and a sense of doom is growing among some policymakers. Fighting the crisis, said the euro-zone diplomat, is like trying to keep a life raft above water. “For two years we’ve been pumping up the life raft, taking decisions that fill it with just enough air to keep it afloat even though it has a leak,” the diplomat said. “But now the leak has got so big that we can’t pump air into the raft quickly enough to keep it afloat.” Compounding the problems, Greece is far behind with reforms to improve its finances and economy so it may need more time, more money and a debt reduction from euro-zone governments. If Greek debt cannot be made sustainable, the country may have to leave the euro-zone, sending a shockwave across financial markets and the European economy. Sept. 12 is a crucial date in the European diary. On that day the German Constitutional Court is scheduled to rule on whether a treaty establishing the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, the 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM), is compatible with the German constitution. A positive ruling is vital, because Germany is the biggest funder of the ESM, and the euro zone would be powerless to protect Spain or Italy without the ESM. On the same day, parliamentary elections are held in the Netherlands where popular opposition to spending any more money on bailing out spendthrift euro zone governments is strong. The Dutch vote may complicate talks on a revised second bailout for Greece, which also has to be agreed in September. Athens wants two more years than originally planned to cut its budget deficit to below 3 percent of GDP, so as not to impose yet more spending cuts on a country which is already in a depression. This would mean Greece’s 130 billion euro second bailout package may need to be increased by 20-50 billion euros, according to estimates by some euro zone officials and economists, and there is no appetite in the euro zone to give Greece yet more extra money. More importantly Greece needs to bring its debt, which is equal to 160 percent of its annual economic output, under control. This means euro zone governments, which own roughly two thirds of it, may need to write part of it off. Private creditors have already suffered a huge writedown in the value of their Greek debt holdings but so far euro zone taxpayers have not lost a cent on any of the bailouts. Last chance options Policymakers are working on “last chance” options to bring Greece’s debts down and keep it in the euro zone, with the ECB and national central banks looking at also taking significant losses on the value of their bond holdings, officials said. If governments swallowed the bitter pill by also accepting a cut in the value of their contributions to loans already made to Greece, this would break a taboo and could provoke demands for similar treatment from Ireland or Portugal. Peter Vanden Houte, chief economist at ING bank, said euro governments might be forced to accept a halving of the value of their Greek debt - known in the business as haircut. “If Greece is to be saved, we must see some debt forgiveness from euro zone governments in the coming years because otherwise Greece is never going to come out of the situation it is in now,” he said. “We are talking about potentially a 50 percent haircut, which would still mean the Greek debt Lexus unveils 2013 ES 350 and ES 250 in Kuwait Page 25 Continued pressure for bailout fund Euro-zone crisis heads for September crunch Market relief no cure for Spain’s economy MADRID: Vows of support for the eurozone calmed financial worries about Spain this week but could not polish its economy, whose recession is set to deepen as unemployment nears 25 percent. European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi delighted investors Thursday when he vowed “to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro,” which implied the bank may ease credit conditions by buying bonds or making cheap loans. “We hope Draghi’s words will last and will serve as an oxygen tank for the financial markets in the coming weeks,” said analysts at brokerage Link Securities in a report. But they added: “This does not mean the problems of the economies of southern Europe are over.” After Draghi’s comments, Spain’s sovereign interest rates eased back from danger levels and Madrid’s stock market shot up on Thursday and Friday, recovering some of the huge falls of previous days. The government Friday dismissed warnings that Spain might need a full international bailout as economists have warned. But Spain’s economic and financial problems run deep, the legacy of a decade-long real estate boom that went bust in 2008 with the debt crisis. The International Monetary Fund warned Friday that the Spanish recession would be worse than previously thought, forecasting a contraction of 1.7 percent this year and of 1.2 percent in 2013. Spain’s economic growth figures for the second quarter were due to be released on Monday by the national statistics office. The Bank of Spain last week estimated the contraction in growth has accelerated in the second quarter to 0.4 percent, after falls of 0.3 percent in each of the previous two quarters. Under pressure from European authorities who have agreed to bail out Spanish banks, Spain’s conservative government has approved tens of billions of euros’ worth of spending cuts, tax hikes and other measures to cut the deficit and restructure the economy. Critics say the the poor will suffer unfairly from moves such as a public sector bonus cut and a rise in sales tax that together will hit consumption. “All the spending cut policies they are taking are restrictive and run counter to growth,” said Alberto Roldan, an analyst at Spanish brokerage Inverseguros. “Raising the fiscal pressure in a country with 25 percent unemployment is absolutely regressive.” Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have marched noisily in the street over recent weeks in protest at the measures. Labour unions have threatened a general strike and have called for fresh demonstrations on September 15. Figures from the national statistics office Friday showed Spain’s jobless rate rose in the second quarter to 24.63 percent and a huge 53 percent among the under-25s, despite the tourist season which usually boosts jobs. The job losses “are further blows for households already struggling to cope with poor real income developments and the prospect of a sharp VAT hike,” wrote Raj Badiani of analysis group IHS Global Insight. “Very low consumer confidence will weigh down heavily on spending in late 2012 and 2013, adding further tensions to a faltering economy,” he added. The Spanish government’s latest unemployment forecast is for a rate of 24.6 percent at the end of 2012, easing to 24.3 percent in 2013 and 23.3 percent in 2014, but some economists made darker forecasts. Analysts at financial group Citi forecast unemployment would average 24.7 percent in 2012 and climb to 26.1 percent next year. Badiani forecast the rate would top 25 percent in late 2012 and early 2013. Economists were waiting for the European Central Bank’s next policy meeting on August 2 to see if it announces concrete measures. “The crisis in the eurozone is as much about growth as it is about debt,” wrote John Higgins of consultancy Capital Economics. “Buying sovereign bonds does nothing to address the fundamental problem of a lack of competitiveness that plagues troubled euro-zone countries.” —AFP DUBAI: Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar Properties said yesterday it posted an 82 percent surge in net profits in the first half of 2012 as retail and hospitality grew, costs fell and a write-off was not repeated. The developer of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, saw its net profit in the first six months rise to 1.22 billion dirhams ($332.4 million), compared with 671 million dirhams ($182.8 million) in the corresponding period last year, a company statement said. Net profits in the second quarter of 2012 more than doubled to 614 million dirhams ($167.3 million), compared with 250 million dirhams ($68.1 million) in the second quarter of 2011, when the company wrote off 172 million dirhams ($46.87 million) investment in its loss-making Dubai Bank. Revenues in the first half stood at 3.921 billion dirhams ($1.06 billion), two percent down from 4.014 billion dirhams last year, while costs dropped to 1.723 billion dirhams ($469.48 million), compared with 2.023 billion dirhams ($551.2 million). The hospitality and retail sectors contributed 51 percent to revenues, with rental and retail businesses, mainly malls, generating earnings of would be (proportionately) around the euro zone average.” The euro zone would want concessions from Athens. “Most probably in exchange, euro zone partners will be more strict on Greek compliance with structural reforms and may ask Greece to give up some sovereignty,” said Vanden Houte. While no official discussions are underway on another Greek debt restructuring, euro-zone officials say privately it may be necessary if Greece is to have a fighting chance. “The Greeks might say they are in such a mess that to survive they we need to ease up the austerity a bit, and to still regain debt sustainability they will have to default on 30-40 percent of the loans,” one euro-zone official said. “There would be a lot of people saying this is understandable, so maybe this makes sense and maybe we could have a reasonable discussion among the member states on how Greece can move forward,” the official said. The official speculated that euro-zone debt forgiveness for Greece could be made dependent on progress in structural reforms or that it could be reviewed once Athens has to start paying back the capital of the loans in 10 years. “Maybe we could agree to give debt relief of, say, 25 percent to make possible some changes in the programme. Then we implement that for six months or a year and maybe we find out that we need to give them another 25 percent and at the end of the day we might get to a stable situation,” the official said. —Reuters Dubai’s Emaar’s H1 profits surge 82% 1.3 billion dirhams ($354 million), 23 percent up from the same period last year. Dubai Mall hosted around 30 million visitors in the first six months of 2012. Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said that Dubai’s property is turning around after crashing in 2009 because the global financial crisis dried up available finance for the overheated sector. “The real estate market in Dubai is turning around, led by the robust performance of key growth sectors including aviation, retail, hospitality, tourism and foreign trade,” he said. “The city’s appeal to high net worth individuals as the ideal destination for a home is also gaining strength. Emaar’s financial results for the first half of the year reflects the growing strength of Dubai’s economy,” he added. The company said it recorded sales exceeding 1.6 billion dirhams ($436 million) in the first half of 2012 in Dubai, approximately five times more than the same period in 2011. A major developer throughout Dubai’s five-year real estate frenzy, Emaar has succeeded in diversifying its business, focusing on hospitality and retail, while also spreading its real estate business activities abroad. —AFP
EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD .2797210 .2851140 GB Pound/KD .4341140 .4424830 Euro .3390920 .3456290 Swiss francs .2822760 .2877180 Canadian Dollar .2747220 .2840180 Australian DLR .2880150 .2935680 Indian rupees .0050240 .0051200 Sri Lanka Rupee .0021460 .0021880 UAE dirhams .0761870 .0776560 Bahraini dinars .7422620 .7565720 Jordanian dinar .3956460 .4032730 Saudi riyals .0746120 .0760500 Omani riyals .7268320 .7408440 Egyptian pounds .0466200 .0475190 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2812000 .2833000 GB Pound/KD .4364080 .4396670 Euro .3408850 .3434300 Swiss francs .2837680 .2858870 Canadian dollars .2761740 .2782360 Danish Kroner .0458160 .0461580 Swedish Kroner .0405370 .0408400 Australian dlr .2895380 .2917000 Hong Kong dlr .0362490 .0365200 Singapore dlr .2233160 .2249840 Japanese yen .0035930 .0036200 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0050880 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0021740 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0030080 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034780 UAE dirhams .0765900 .0771620 Bahraini dinars .7461850 .7517580 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .4007070 Saudi Riyal/KD .0750070 .0755670 Omani riyals .7306740 .7361310 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0067920 Bahrain Exchange Company 22 BUSINESS Driven by China sales, luxury goods challenge slowdown PARIS: Fuelled by surging demand in China, luxury goods makers are bucking the global economic slowdown and reaping huge profits on sales of highend handbags, expensive jewellery and posh perfumes. Results for the first-half of 2012 released this week showed major brands, including world leaders LVMH, PPR and Luxottica with rising profits driven by growing sales in emerging markets. The results beat analyst expectations and allayed fears that the cooling down of China’s economy would dampen luxury sales. Company bosses even expressed confidence that year-end figures would show continued growth. Paris-based LVMH, whose assets include jeweller Bulgari, fashion house Louis Vuitton and a string of brands, said Thursday its net profit was up 28 percent in the first half at 1.68 billion euros ($2.06 billion). Sales were up 26 percent, with 29 percent of revenues coming from Asia outside Japan, the group’s largest market. “We approach the second half of the year with confidence,” company CEO Bernard Arnault said, with LVMH noting the “global market (is) experiencing strong growth” despite “an uncertain economic environment in Europe.” Another leading French luxury and retail group, PPR, said the same day its first-half net profit was up 5.9 percent to 477 million euros, following a 17 percent jump in sales. PPR’s sales of luxury goods, which Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen 3.553 Indian Rupees 5.072 Pakistani Rupees 3.053 Srilankan Rupees 2.141 Nepali Rupees 3.173 Singapore Dollar 220.090 Hongkong Dollar 36.173 Bangladesh Taka 3.425 Philippine Peso 6.439 Thai Baht 8.876 Malaysian Ringgit 89.338 Companies optimistic on year-end growth Credit Suisse cuts back ME private banking research DUBAI: Credit Suisse has moved the head of its Middle East private banking equity research division to Geneva, two sources told Reuters yesterday, the latest European bank to scale back research roles in the region. Kamran Butt will support private banking sales in Switzerland with market research after spending six years in Dubai, two people familiar with the matter said. “Other analysts from outside the Middle East will be covering the local market here,” one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public, said. Credit Suisse could not immediately be reached for comment. The Swiss bank unveiled measures this month to boost its capital base in response to criticism from the central bank, and also announced new cost cuts, including at the investment bank, although some analysts have called for even more radical steps. Leading global investment banks have been cutting research staff in the Middle East to save costs amid tough global conditions and a dearth of work in the region. In the past year, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have cut top equity research jobs while Japan’s largest bank Nomura has shut down its research department, sources told Reuters. Middle East private banking staffing is down about 30 percent in the last two years due to redundancies and relocating staff to other regions, the second source said. — Reuters include fashion brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and jeweller Boucheron, were up by nearly a third, compensating for a 9.2 percent drop in sportswear sales dragged down by its Puma brand. “Business in greater China remained extremely buoyant, with sales climbing by an overall 21.5 percent, fuelled by a 24.4 percent surge in mainland China,” the company said of its luxury division. Italy’s Luxottica, the biggest eyewear GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 74.883 Qatari Riyal 77.158 Omani Riyal 729.380 Bahraini Dinar 745.850 UAE Dirham 76.464 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.250 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.466 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.309 Tunisian Dinar 176.65 Jordanian Dinar 396.190 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.884 Syrian Lier 4.899 Morocco Dirham 32.64 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 280.700 Euro 354.52 Sterling Pound 441.820 Canadian dollar 274.79 Turkish lire 152.400 Swiss Franc 295.01 US Dollar Buying 279.500 GOLD 20 Gram 293.000 10 Gram 148.000 5 Gram 75.250 maker in the world, said its first-half profits jumped 20.6 percent to 195.5 million euros. The company, which produces Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses as well as eyewear for Chanel and Prada, said sales rose by just one per- SHANGHAI: A woman leaves a luxury shopping mall. Chinese shoppers are increasingly buying luxury goods in mainland China, turning away from high-end stores abroad and in Hong Kong. — AFP cent in Europe but were up 35 percent in emerging markets. The results echoed similar figures released earlier this month by French luxury goods group Hermes, which reported first-half COUNTRY SELL CASH SELL DRAFT Australian dollar 292.700 291.200 Bahraini dinar 751.680 751.680 Bangladeshi taka 3.730 3.449 Canadian dollar 278.700 277.200 Cyprus pound 555.100 Czek koruna 46.000 Danish krone 46.900 Deutsche Mark 167.800 225.400 Egyptian pound 48.140 46.571 Euro Cash 345.600 344.100 Hongkong dollar 37.140 36.990 Indian rupees 5.330 5.050 Indonesia 0.032 0.031 Iranian tuman 0.161 Iraqi dinar 0.237 Japanese yen 3.710 Jordanian dinar 400.540 400.510 Lebanese pound 0.191 0.190 Malaysian ringgit 91.700 91.700 Morocco dirham 43.600 Nepalese Rupees 4.340 3.180 New Zealand dollar 224.900 223.400 Nigeria 1.831 sales up 21.9 percent to 1.59 billion euros, with Asian sales excluding Japan up 25 percent. Analysts say China now accounts for about 40 percent of the global luxury goods market and that Chinese appetites are driving sales not only in the country but abroad, as Chinese tourists often rack up sales while on foreign trips. Despite high taxes on luxury goods in mainland China, companies are also increasingly expanding into its retail market, with PPR alone opening 22 stores in China in the first half of the year. Still, analysts are warning that some sort of slowdown in luxury goods sales is to be expected if China’s red-hot economic growth continues to cool. China’s economy grew by a still-strong 7.6 percent in the second quarter, but the expansion was at its slowest pace in more than three years as global economic problems started to hit the world’s second-largest economy. Thomas Mesmin, an analyst at CA Chevreux, said it was inevitable that a global economic downturn would have an impact on luxury goods. “Saying that luxury goods are resistant to the crisis sounds good, but it’s wrong. There is a fairly strong correlation between the development of the global economy and the luxury market,” he said. “We are accustomed to caviar, but we’re probably going to have to eat a little more salmon,” he said. Poor S African kids unlikely to escape poverty: World Bank JOHANNESBURG: Inequalities in South Africa are threatening economic growth, with children born into poor families unlikely ever to escape poverty or reap the rewards of living in Africa’s largest economy. The World Bank’s sobering assessment released last week found that a child’s gender and ethnicity at birth, combined with a lack of education, largely determine that person’s chances of success in lifeeven 18 years after the end of apartheid. “South Africa, the continent’s largest economy by far and its only G-20 member, displays strikingly high and persistent inequality and marginalization for an upper middle-income country,” said the report. Although South Africa has made great strides in transforming the economy, which has produced one of the continent’s fastest-growing black middle classes, poverty levels and unemployment remain high outside urban centres. South Africa is often compared to Brazil, which also has a huge income gap, but while the Latin American country has narrowed the divide over the last decade, here the chasm is as deep as ever, the World Bank said. The richest 10 percent of South Africans account for 58 percent of the nation’s income, while the bottom 10 percent accounts for 0.5 percent, the Bank said. The bottom half earns less than eight percent of the nation’s income. The country will struggle to grow the economy until its riches are spread more evenly, the Bank said. Sharp economic and social inequalities were especially visible along racial lines, said the report, with whites largely shielded from economic hardships thanks to privileges inherited from the fallen apartheid regime. “Peering past the first-world living conditions of urban South Africa, it is not too hard to see the downcast situation of townships, informal settlements, and former homelands,” said Sandeep Mahajan, who headed the report. “Our results show that a South African child not only has to work harder to overcome the disadvantages at birth due to circumstances, but having done so, finds that these reemerge when seeking employment as an adult,” he said. The report said residents of these areas were usually unemployed or lacked the means to look for jobs, as they were disconnected from the job market. Unemployment in the first quarter of 2012 rose to 25.2 percent, up from 23.9 percent in the previous quarter, and black people form the bulk of the jobless. Modest economic growth, which averaged 3.2 percent since 1995, had proved “insufficient to absorb the wave of new entrants to the labour market from dismantling apartheid’s barriers”, the report said. Labour analyst Andrew Levy said challenges of inequality were “deep rooted and not unique to South Africa”. — Reuters Norwegian krone 47.700 Omani Riyal 734.190 734.010 Pakistani rupees 3.100 3.002 Philippine peso 6.980 6.715 Qatari riyal 78.180 77.750 Saudi riyal 75.470 75.470 Singapore dollar 225.390 225.390 South Africa 36.490 36.490 Sri Lankan rupees 2.692 2.155 Sterling pound 442.000 440.000 Swedish krona 41.500 Swiss franc 287.700 286.200 Syrian pound 4.400 4.400 Thai bhat 9.290 9.100 Tunisian dollar 198.290 UAE dirham 77.060 76.960 U.S. dollars 283.000 282.600 Yemeni Riyal 1.360 GOLD 10 Tola 1,705.960 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE Sterling Pound 440.000 US Dollar 282.600 UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 294.51 294.00 Canadian Dollar 281.95 282.00 Swiss Franc 289.17 288.00 Euro 345.07 344.00 US Dollar 282.00 282.85 Sterling Pound 441.81 442.50 Japanese Yen 3.68 3.63 Bangladesh Taka 3.455 3.580 Indian Rupee 5.030 5.295 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.161 2.380 Nepali Rupee 3.168 3.650 Pakistani Rupee 2.990 3.150 UAE Dirhams 76.85 77.35 Bahraini Dinar 750.87 750.00 Egyptian Pound 46.52 48.10 Jordanian Dinar 401.76 399.00 Omani Riyal 733.93 736.00 Qatari Riyal 77.87 78.00 Saudi Riyal 75.41 75.65 Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer Selling Rate US Dollar 282.400 Canadian Dollar 282.280 Sterling Pound 438.165 Euro 344.215 By Hayder Tawfik O n Swiss Frank 286.125 Bahrain Dinar 747.650 UAE Dirhams 76.865 Qatari Riyals 77.515 Saudi Riyals 75.270 Jordanian Dinar 398.085 Egyptian Pound 46.538 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.151 Indian Rupees 5.053 Pakistani Rupees 2.991 Bangladesh Taka 3.451 Philippines Pesso 6.705 Cyprus pound 692.730 Japanese Yen 4.605 Thai Bhat 9.010 Syrian Pound 4.400 Nepalese Rupees 3.265 Malaysian Ringgit 88.875 MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Fragility of euro needs daily encouragement Thursday, the European Central bank, president said that “The ECB will do everything in its power to preserve the euro”. Very encouraging statement. Investors around the world pushed global stock markets higher and the Euro bounced back by a mere 0.5 percent! What the ECB president said is very clear, that they Hayder Tawfik will do everything at their disposable to “Preserve” the euro, not the value of it or come to the help of the euro nations who need further financial help. Is it a coincidence that the ECB president comes out with such statement a day after Moody’s, the credit rating agency put Germany on its credit watch for a possible downgrade! I think it is not a coincidence as I said on so many occasions the ECB is not acting as an independent central bank for the whole euro-zone members. The reaction of the European stock markets and the good performance which followed in the US and on Friday in Asia shows how nerves investors are of missing a long waited bull market rally. I am a strong believer that most of the bad news is discounted already and any hints of some financial or economic measures are welcomed immediately. I think investors are aware of this and they just need reassurance and encouragement on daily basis. Long term inventors should divorce themselves from the animal herd mentality and take advantage of the sell off and accumulate top quality stocks which are trading way below their intrinsic value. The crisis in Europe are not going away by daily statements from central bankers or some politician who have no idea how to tackle the problems apart from keep pumping money into the system. At last, maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Is Europe waking up after spending years, borrowing money on a big scale then spending it without any accountability? We remember the days of borrow and spend and when faced with crisis, just devalue and to hell with investors. Hopefully, those days are over. I am not that optimistic at all. However, investors around the world have said what they think and warned and now they are carrying out their warnings. European politicians should take note of this. We have to be fair to history too. Banks around the world in particular in Europe and US have played a big part in creating the mess we are all in now. They were the facilitators and in doing so made huge profits and warmed up to politicians for personal benefits now some of them paying the price for it. How do we know that politicians are waking to the fact? Because whatever decisions taken by politicians are immediately rejected. Just look at the daily demonstration taking place in Spain, Italy and Greece even in Germany and France. They call the crisis in Europe a financial one. I totally disagree. It was created by politicians and now it requires those same politicians to solve them. Central bankers have done most of what is required from them. Literally short term interest rates in Europe and US are zero. Even long term rates are just above 1 percent. How much more they can do? People in Europe have lost trust in politicians to solve their problems. I have doubt in trusting these politicians to come up with solutions, because they don’t know themselves where to start. The crisis is too big for them to handle. They need men or women who have great vision and who prepared to take decisive actions. Unfortunately not many of them around these days, at the same time people need to accept the facts and start changing their behaviour. I always say that good economics start at home. Politicians should be determined and tell the truth and stick with it. Part of this truth is that some people and countries have benefited a lot out of the euro crisis and now they should come to the rescue and help, because otherwise the snow ball will engulf everyone. They should put self interest aside and work together for the benefit of all. Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency Rate per 1000 (Tran) US Dollar 282.400 Pak Rupees 2.984 Indian Rupees 5.060 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.160 Bangladesh Taka 3.454 Philippines Peso 6.750 UAE Dirhams 76.990 Saudi Riyals 75.460 Bahraini Dinars 750.700 Egyptian Pounds 46.545 Pound Sterling 443.800 Indonesian Rupiah 2.990 Nepali rupee 3.205 Yemeni Riyal 1.550 Euro 348.800 Canadian Dollars 285.000 Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 281.700 Euro 349.200 Pound Sterling 444.850 Canadian Dollar 281.710 Japanese Yen 3.655 Indian Rupee 5.095 Egyptian Pound 46.443 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.140 Bangladesh Taka 3.440 Philippines Peso 6.735 Pakistan Rupee 2.995 Bahraini Dinar 750.140 UAE Dirham 76.800 Saudi Riyal 75.300 *Rates are subject to change
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Page 3 and 4: INGREDIENTS KUWAIT: The Regency’s
Page 5 and 6: LOCAL Liberal bloc divided over swe
Page 7 and 8: MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 JERUSALEM: Wh
Page 10 and 11: INTERNATIONAL In Cyprus, a new gene
Page 12 and 13: NEWS MADHYA PRADESH: Dharamveer Kam
Page 14 and 15: sports Park wins Evian Masters FRAN
Page 16 and 17: sports Chiefs to face Sharks in Sup
Page 18 and 19: London 2012 Olympic Games 19 Rhode
Page 22 and 23: PARIS: Vintage cars pass by the Con
Page 24 and 25: KUWAIT: Toyota Motor Corporation’
Page 26 and 27: LONDON : After being caught spying
Page 28 and 29: Australian kids can’t run, jump,
Page 30 and 31: I ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society, Ku
Page 32 and 33: Classifieds DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT IN
Page 34 and 35: Keeping Queen’s secret ‘a hell
Page 36 and 37: By Lori Johnston A guest bedroom wh
Page 38: MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Olympic opene

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