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The UAE (United Arab Emirates) is recognised as a hub in terms of entrepreneurship and business innovation. Businesses are flourishing, nurtured by the growth of the accessible, flexible, alternative lending landscape that has evolved and is expanding at a considerable rate of knots. Consumers, too, are benefitting from the advantages that this new digital world offers.Growth of Digital Lending in the UAE and the Wider Middle EastThe wider Middle East, of which the UAE is a significant part, has experienced a 52% increase in CAGR in its digital banking scene since 2012. A recent report by Arthur D Little puts the asset value of the area at $3.2 trillion, with the UAE holding the lion's share. Over the past two years, the UAE has seen a growth in CAGR of 8.7%, and by 2029, its holding is projected to reach a total of $175.7 billion.The digital lending sector of the UAE offers consumers and businesses much easier access to loans than does the old traditional banking sector. The new loan and loan comparison platforms we are seeing use advanced data analytic algorithms and the power of artificial intelligence (AI). They are the new disruptive option that has already become firmly established and for which demand is steadily growing. Digital lending and loan tendering are quickly being recognised as integral components of the Fintech infrastructure.The Way in Which Loan Tendering Platforms Help Consumers Reach Smarter Financial DecisionsRather than approaching one particular lender, loan comparison platforms obtain loan proposals on your behalf from a number of different financial institutions. The platforms operating in the UAE are similar to those available in Finland, such as Pika Laina, which offers private loans of up to €70,000 within minutes of you completing your application.Rather than having to wait days or even weeks for a loan offer, which can worsen your financial position and cause more stress, Pika Laina’s rapid response, whereby you’re given up to 30 loan options from different sources, gives you the time you need to make more rational decisions. Also, the user-friendly loan calculator they provide makes it so easy to examine different loan amounts and terms, which facilitates making financially smarter decisions.The Popularity of Instant Loans – Fast and Reliable Cash SolutionsPeople tend to think of the UAE as the home of the wealthy, and yes, to some extent, that is the truth. But it doesn’t apply to everyone. Like any country or region, there are those who are less well off, and even among the more wealthy, there are those who have cash flow problems from time to time.The recent arrival of urgent cash loan apps like Cash Now, LNDDO, and Credy Loan, has been welcomed by the general public, business owners, and entrepreneurs too, who see them as game changers. This is proven by the fact that the uptake of these apps has increased by 20%. They perform a vital role for those who need cash on an urgent basis to cover unexpected emergencies or sudden high bills.A New Gateway for Entrepreneurs and StartupsThe UAE is a great incubator for startups, and in 2024 alone, over 8,600 new businesses were registered. Of this number, more than 750 startups were Fintech companies. According to research undertaken by Startup Genome, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai are the frontrunners, forming incentivised environments.Abu Dhabi has the fastest-growing startups in terms of ecosystems in the MENA region. It com prised a little under USD 6 billion value-wise during 2021-2024. The aforementioned research also reported that early-stage startup funding totalled USD224 million. Of this, venture capital funding between 2021 and 2023 was over $1 billion, thanks to the action of startups operating under Hub 71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem.Finland is also home to one of the most vibrant startup ecosystems in the world. It’s the perfect gateway for entrepreneurs, scale-ups and startups, with loan comparison platforms like this one, which is offering tendering services for business loans up to €8 million. They both offer an easy way of comparing and applying for cheap loans quickly and efficiently.Loans to Fund the Home Renovation Trend in the United Arab EmiratesAs the population in Dubai expands, home renovations are becoming increasingly popular. Renovation trends include:Luxury bathroomsState-of-the-art kitchensIndoor/outdoor livingOpen-plan living areasEco-friendly updatesFor the wealthy, financing such renovations isn’t a problem, but for many, it means borrowing money to cover the cost.It’s not just the UAE where home renovating has become a popular trend. The same applies to Finland, where the spending on renovation and home goods is forecast to hit the €7.1 billion mark by 2028. This is an increase of €0.5 billion or 1.3% from expenditure in 2023. As in the UAE, many people don't have the ready cash to fund these projects, so they turned to the services of credit loan comparison sites, who will tender loan offers from as many as 30 different sources, tailored to the applicant's requests.Consolidation Loans for Those Who Have Overstepped Their BorrowingThe trend of taking out multiple loans and credit cards is something that increased disproportionately with the arrival of COVID-19 and the recent rise in the cost of living. In 2020, UAE inflation was negative at minus 2.08%, but following the pandemic, it rose steadily, and by 2022, it had reached a positive 4.83%, a rise of 6.91%. It meant many people took a number of loans and credit cards and ended up struggling to keep up with the repayments.It was a similar story in Finland, where the cost of living between 2020 and the end of 2022 rose by 9.4%. The only way now that many households can survive is by obtaining a loan to consolidate their debts and save money on repayments.In the UAE, people applied to financial institutions like Mashreq. In Finland, many households find the best consolidation deals by going through online loan tendering agencies. Applying a loan costs nothing and will present you with dozens of loan proposals from €1,000 to €60,000, which can ease your financial commitments and can eventually even result in increasing your credit rating.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has decided to let lapse a $23bn programme to incentivise domestic manufacturing, just four years after it launched the effort to woo firms away from China, according to four government officials.The scheme will not be expanded beyond the 14 pilot sectors and production deadlines will not be extended despite requests from some participating firms, two of the officials said. Some 750 companies, including Apple supplier Foxconn and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, signed up to the Production-Linked Initiative scheme, public records show.Firms were promised cash payouts if they met individual production targets and deadlines. The hope was to raise the share of manufacturing in the economy to 25% by 2025.Instead, many firms that participated in the programme failed to kickstart production, while others that met manufacturing targets found India slow to pay out subsidies, according to government documents and correspondence seen by Reuters. As of October 2024, participating firms had produced $151.93bn worth of goods under the programme, or 37% of the target that Delhi had set, according to an undated analysis of the programme compiled by the commerce ministry. India had issued just $1.73bn in incentives – or under 8% of the allocated funds, the document said.News of the government’s decision to not extend the plan and specifics about the lag in payouts are being reported by Reuters for the first time.Modi’s office and the commerce ministry, which oversees the programme, did not respond to requests for comment. Since the plan’s introduction, manufacturing’s share of the economy has decreased from 15.4% to 14.3%.Foxconn, which now employs thousands of contract workers in India, and Reliance didn’t return requests for comment.Two of the government officials told Reuters the end of the programme did not mean Delhi had abandoned its manufacturing ambitions and that alternatives were being planned. The government last year defended the programme’s impact, particularly in pharmaceuticals and mobile-phone manufacturing, which have seen explosive growth. Some 94% of the nearly $620mn in incentives disbursed between April and October 2024 were directed to those two sectors.In some instances, some food-sector companies that applied for subsidies weren’t issued them due to factors such as “non compliance of investment thresholds” and companies “not achieving stipulated minimum growth,” according to the analysis. The document did not provide specifics, though it found production in the sector had exceeded targets. Reuters could not determine which companies the analysis referred to. But Delhi had previously acknowledged problems and agreed to extend some deadlines and increase payment frequency after complaints from PLI participants. One of the Indian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters, said that excessive red tape and bureaucratic caution continued to stymie the scheme’s effectiveness. As an alternative, India is considering supporting certain sectors by partially reimbursing investments made to set up plants, which would allow firms to recover costs faster than having to wait for production and sale, another official said. Trade expert Biswajit Dhar at the Delhi-based Council for Social Development think-tank, who has said Modi’s government needs to do more to attract foreign investment, said the country might have missed its moment.The incentives programme was “possibly the last chance we had to revive our manufacturing sector,” he said. “If this kind of mega-scheme fails, do you have any expectation that anything is going to succeed?”The stalling of manufacturing comes as India tries to circumvent the trade war unleashed by US President Donald Trump, who has criticised Delhi’s protectionist policies.Trump’s threat of reciprocal tariffs on countries like India that have a trade surplus with the US means the export sector is increasingly challenged, said Dhar. “There was some amount of tariff protection ... and all that is going to be slashed.”Hits and missesThe programme was introduced at an opportune time for India: China, which for decades had been the world’s factory floor, was struggling to maintain production amid Beijing’s zero-Covid policy.The US was also seeking to reduce its economic reliance on an increasingly assertive Beijing, prompting many multinationals to pursue a “China plus one” policy of diversifying production lines.With its large youthful population, lower costs and a government regarded as relatively friendly to the West, India seemed set to benefit.India has become a global leader in pharmaceutical and mobile-phone production in recent years.The country produced $49bn worth of mobiles in the 2023-24 fiscal year, up 63% from 2020-21, government data show. Industry leaders like Apple now manufacture their newest and most sophisticated cellphones in India, after having started with low-cost models.Similarly, pharmaceutical exports nearly doubled to $27.85bn in 2023-24 from a decade ago.But the success was not repeated in the other sectors, which include steel, textiles and solar panel manufacturing. India faces fierce competition from cheaper rivals like China in many of those fields.In the solar industry, for instance, eight of the 12 companies that signed up to PLI are unlikely to meet their targets, according to a December 2024 analysis of the sector prepared by the renewable energy ministry and seen by Reuters. The eight firms included units of Reliance, Adani Group and the Indian conglomerate JSW.The analysis found that the Reliance entity would only meet 50% of the production target it had been set for the end of the 2027 fiscal year, when the solar PLI scheme will expire. It also said that the Adani business had not ordered equipment it needed to manufacture the solar panels and that JSW had not “done anything yet.”JSW declined to comment, while Adani did not respond to questions.The commerce ministry said in a January letter to the renewables ministry seen by Reuters that it would not agree to its counterpart’s request to extend the scheme beyond 2027 as doing so “will result in unfair benefit for non-performers.”The renewables ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that it was committed to “fairness and accountability,” as well as “ensuring that only those who meet their targets are rewarded.”In the steel sector, investment and production also lag targets. Fourteen of the 58 projects approved for PLIs have been withdrawn or removed due to lack of progress, according to the undated programme-wide analysis. – Reuters

Bowlers have been allowed to use saliva to shine the ball in the Indian Premier League but it is the batters who will be salivating at the prospect of breaching the 300-mark when the world’s richest Twenty20 league gets under way on Saturday.Lifting the saliva ban, a Covid-19 legacy, will allow the fast bowlers to try and generate some reverse swing in a format which treats them as cannon fodder.But the continuation of the Impact Player rule, which allows teams to play an extra batter substituting a bowler in a match, will ensure it will rain fours and sixes across 13 venues over the next two months.Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 263-5 against Pune Warriors stood as the league’s highest total for a decade but that 2013 mark was bettered four times in last year’s IPL – three times by Sunrisers Hyderabad alone.Hyderabad’s 287-3 against Bengaluru is the new benchmark but Nathan Leamon, a strategy consultant with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, is among those who believe 300 is achievable.“We have already seen a huge escalation in scores over the last two years,” the former England lead analyst told ESPNcricinfo.“It would be naive to think that we have got to the fullest extent of that – of teams learning how to take advantage of the new laws.“You have seen several games where 260 has been scored, which never used to happen. You have seen several games where teams score 100 in the powerplay ... So something has changed.”RCB, who face Kolkata in today’s IPL opener at Eden Gardens, are likely to be involved when the 300-mark is breached given the traditionally flat pitch and small boundaries in Bengaluru.RCB’s Rajat Patidar is one of five new captains in the 18th edition of the tournament, which will culminate with the May 25 final in Kolkata.Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed Kolkata captain after the departure of Shreyas Iyer, who will spearhead Punjab Kings’ bid to win their maiden IPL title.All-rounder Axar Patel will lead Delhi Capitals after the franchise released stumper-batter Rishabh Pant, who will skipper Lucknow Super Giants.The double header tomorrow includes a mouth-watering clash between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the IPL’s most successful teams with five titles each. While there are no overwhelming favourites this year, South Africa great AB de Villiers backed his former club RCB to shed their under-achiever’s tag. “It’s an incredibly good, balanced team,” de Villiers, who played more than 100 Tests for South Africa, said ahead of the tournament. “I do feel this squad has got what it takes to go all the way.”

Whoever succeeds Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today will need to be “cool under fire” with some members believing the very existence of the Olympic Movement is at stake.Seven candidates are vying to become the most powerful person in sport governance and replace Bach, who steps down after a stormy 12-year tenure when he had to contend with Covid, a Russian doping scandal as well as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.“I believe this is the most significant Olympic election in nearly half a century,” Michael Payne, a former head of IOC Marketing, told AFP.“Some IOC members are even predicting that the very future of the Olympic Movement is at stake.”Payne, who in nearly two decades at the IOC was credited with renewing its brand and finances through sponsorship deals, said the Movement has “never been stronger” thanks in part to “perhaps the greatest Games ever” in Paris last year.However, he added the “future outlook is fraught with risk.”“The IOC has not faced such a troubled geopolitical outlook in many years,” the 66-year-old Irishman said.“How the IOC navigates an ever more fractured political world, maintaining universality and how the IOC engages with a rapidly changing marketing and broadcast market will define the Movement’s future.”Martin Sorrell – who founded advertising giant WPP and sat on the IOC’s Communications Commission – said the next president required a particular skillset as there is “immense volatility in the world”.With the next Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028, Bach’s successor will have to deal with the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump.“The next IOC president is going to have to possess political savvy, tact, a strong temperament and a steady hand,” Sorrell told AFP. “The next president will have to be able to go to the White House and kiss the ring.“He or she will also have to be cool under fire as there are three big geographical and geopolitical challenges ahead – Russia/Ukraine, China and the Middle East with Iran.”‘Big damn deal’For another former IOC marketing executive, Terrence Burns, the next president must meet the challenge of “politicians’ predilections to use the Olympic Games as a political tool.”“I think the next IOC president must pass what I call the ‘joint press conference test,’ meaning, who can you envision sitting across or next to today’s world leaders and holding their own?” he told AFP.“The IOC must remain independent, and I think that is going to be more and more challenging.”While Payne believes Trump will be “incredibly supportive” of the LA Games, he envisages “sleepless nights” ahead for the IOC president.“(Trump’s) foreign policy and sudden executive orders counting down to the Games risk creating issues,” said Payne.“It is going to take special diplomatic and political skills and agility to ensure that all 205 nations turn up in LA in 2028 and protect the universality of the Olympic Movement.”Sorrell says the “two big buckets are geopolitics and technology” and “we are seeing it in spades here.”“I would not underestimate the political and technological shifts the new president will have to deal with,” said the 80-year-old Englishman. Burns, who since leaving the IOC has been a member of six victorious Olympic Games hosting bids, concurs with that.“AI (Artificial Intelligence) is – not probably, but is – upending everything from education to governance,” he said. “A few years ago, the stable economic and geopolitical construct that ushered in the modern, peaceful world was a ‘given’ – now it is not.”Burns add that this ups the ante for the challenges that lie ahead for Bach’s successor.“All this to say the next IOC president will face challenges as well as the pace of them that his/her predecessors could never have imagined,” he said.“So, yes, this election is a big damn deal in the Olympic world and for global sport in general.”Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry are the frontrunners among the seven candidates to replace Bach.

Thomas Bach focused on how peace is the essence of the Olympics but also how fragile it is in a speech yesterday at the opening of the final International Olympic Committee session he will preside over after 12 years in power.The seven candidates vying to succeed the 71-year-old German as IOC president were in the audience gathered in a marquee as the rain poured at Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics.Bach’s successor will be elected tomorrow but he will remain till June to ensure a smooth handover, something not accorded to him when he replaced Jacques Rogge in 2013.“The Olympic Games and the values they represent have endured for millennia,” said Bach.“And yet, the course of human history reminds us of their fragility.”Bach himself has had a turbulent ride including a Russian doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, Russia’s invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 and the Covid pandemic.The latter forced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games to 2021 and affected the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.Bach, speaking at a ceremony which mixed speeches by Greek dignitaries and entertainment including a rousing rendition of “Zorba The Greek”, said the rain was a good omen.He said the heavy rain at the Paris 2024 Games opening ceremony was followed by a successful fortnight of competition.“Nothing can go wrong,” he said drily, referring to the Session.Bach’s more serious message was about the original Olympic Truce (the ekecheiria), how warring nations laid down arms for just over two weeks and how the concept was revived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, seen as the creator of the modern Games.“Then as now, the idea of promoting peace through sport was in stark contrast to the prevailing Zeitgeist,” said Bach.“When we see today how Coubertin went against all the divisive and bellicose trends of his time, we can only admire even more his courage and audacity.”Bach, who won fencing team gold in the 1976 Montreal Games, had to balance the strong emotions aroused over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when it came to Russian participation in Paris last year.Ultimately some were permitted to – if they met certain conditions – but only as neutral athletes.“The athletes even came together before the opening of the Olympic Games to make a moving call for peace,” he said.“This call for peace included athletes whose countries are presently divided by war and conflict.“The athletes showed us how our world would be, if we all were to live in this Olympic spirit of peaceful co-existence.”

Banks in Qatar exhibit sufficient profitability and robust capital strength, with both Tier 1 and capital adequacy ratio (CAR) surpassing the mandated regulatory thresholds, a report by EY has shown.Domestic funding avenues are predicted to adequately finance credit expansion in Qatar this year with the completion of major infrastructure projects and increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, ‘EY GCC Banking Sector Outlook 2024 report’ said.“The expansion of gas production in Qatar will underpin the resilience of local banks this year,” it said.According to the report, GCC banks will continue to benefit from strong capital levels, supporting their overall performance in 2025. Credit growth in most GCC countries is broadly based on a strong project pipeline, with aggregate contract awards driven by infrastructure development, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.The positive trajectory is expected to continue in the near future. This outlook is supported by rising lending volumes, increased fee income, stable margins and effective cost management. As the cost of lending turns more favorable, GCC countries might expand their investments globally.EY MENA Financial Services leader Mayur Pau noted, “As we go into the first quarter of 2025, the GCC banking industry should remain strong due to considerable capital cushions, healthy asset quality indicators and adequate profitability. Furthermore, resilient economies, the region’s economic diversification efforts and enabling policies will support higher consumption and investment, further boosting the sector’s performance.“The upcoming financial year looks to be a transformative period, with advancements in technology, shifts in consumer behavior and regulatory changes shaping the future of banking.”Non-oil growth remains a bright spot: GDP growth in the GCC is projected at 3.5% in 2025. Interest rate cuts, together with further investment and structural reform initiatives, will mean non-oil growth of over 3.4% in the region’s two largest economies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE.As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the current account surplus is expected to be 8.2% of the GDP in 2025. On the fiscal front, a surplus of 3.9% of the GDP is forecast for 2025.Global oil demand is forecasted to increase by 1.6mn bpd to 104.5mn bpd in 2025, reflecting the end of the post-Covid-19 pandemic release of pent-up demand, challenging global economic conditions and clean energy technology deployment.Non-OPEC+ producers are likely to account for the bulk of the increase if OPEC+ voluntary cuts remain in place. High oil prices – with the average for 2024 estimated at $81 per barrel – and favorable economic growth have supported the GCC banks’ healthy finances.GDP growth in the GCC is forecast to rebound to 3.5% in 2024, up from 1.4%, as oil production gradually increases, providing a boost to the region's economies, EY said.Hydrocarbon growth is likely to be 3.3%, while non-hydrocarbon sectors are forecast to grow at 3.4%, supported by strong domestic investment momentum.GCC banks have shown sustained growth in credit facilities during 2024, supported by economic transformation plans, robust project pipeline, healthy demand and resilient economic conditions. The banks are well-capitalised with strong asset quality indicator and are likely to uphold this strong performance trajectory throughout 2025.“To fortify their profitability and improve cost optimisation in the current landscape, GCC banks should consider how to best to navigate a new normal that not only addresses regulatory fragmentation and national interests, but fully harnesses the power of technology and its multiple scopes such as digitisation, generative AI (GenAI), open banking and APIs, and the digital currency revolution – all while committing to a sustainable future. This will ensure they remain competitive and agile to better counteract the pressure of contracting margins,” Pau said.Ends

The University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) hosted an insightful keynote session addressing the evolving landscape of language education and the growing impact of artificial intelligence. The session, attended by faculty and students, explored the transition from a digital divide to one increasingly shaped by AI advancements.President of UDST Dr Salem Al-Naemi said: “At UDST, we recognise the transformative power of artificial intelligence in education and the necessity of preparing our students and faculty for the opportunities and challenges it brings.”Dr Mohammad Etedali, senior lecturer at LUT/LAB University in Finland, discussed the rapid technological shifts that have redefined education, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. He emphasised how the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital solutions, much like AI is now shaping new paradigms in teaching and learning.The session sparked meaningful discussions on the opportunities and challenges AI presents, highlighting UDST’s commitment to equipping students and educators with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in an AI-driven world.

Germany has just announced another “Zeitenwende”: a turning point when long-held beliefs are abandoned in favour of new, more promising strategies. That term was what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used to describe the situation on February 27, 2022, days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when he promised to mobilise resources to support the Ukrainians and the democratic values for which they were fighting. Yet as important as this announcement was, it was not accompanied by a reset of Germany’s fiscal regime and monetarist orthodoxy.Hampered by the “debt brake,” a rule restricting annual borrowing to 0.35% of GDP that was added to Germany’s constitution only in 2009, the country was stumbling along. It prided itself for fiscal prudence as Ukraine was battered, as its own infrastructure crumbled, and as its previous climate commitments fell by the wayside. While many observers recognised that Germany’s self-imposed neoliberal straitjacket had become one of its biggest problems, efforts to break free were blocked, including by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had been instrumental in establishing the debt brake in the first place.Fortunately, the CDU has finally had a change of heart. The impetus was not the party’s electoral victory last month, but Donald Trump’s inversion of US foreign policy. As if US Vice-President JD Vance’s open disdain for Europe at the Munich Security Conference in February had not been bad enough, he and his boss then browbeat Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, before rudely showing him the door.This dismaying spectacle prompted CDU leader Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, to proclaim that Europe must end its dependency on the United States. He is fully on board with establishing a new European security network and departing from Germany’s fiscal regime. On March 4, the CDU, together with its junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, announced a softening of the debt brake. Germany will raise hundreds of billions of euros to invest in its neglected military and infrastructure.But as bold as this might sound, it falls well short of the obvious solution: scrapping the debt brake altogether. There is no reason to bind governments’ hands as they pursue necessary increases in military and infrastructure spending. Moreover, what will happen when future needs require still more investments, including for other purposes, but the supermajority needed for constitutional reforms lies beyond reach?The debt brake grew out of neoliberal distrust of government – and of the people who put governments in power. The more that power over money and finance can be moved from the people and their elected representatives to markets and independent agencies, the better.Obviously, this impulse is deeply anti-democratic, since it deprives the polity of one of its most formidable prerogatives: power over the public purse. Ironically, the German plaintiffs who have repeatedly tried to rein in the European Central Bank’s monetary policies, often with the blessing of Germany’s Constitutional Court, have made the same point when rallying against the ECB. And yet, German neoliberals openly embraced the anti-democratic impulse of the debt break.Fortunately, the Court of Justice of the European Union did not take the bait in these cases. If it had, the ECB would have been deprived of the power to loosen the money supply during financial and public-health crises. Worse, the combination of rigid fiscal and monetary policies would have left austerity as the only option – a recipe for the kind of political radicalisation that gave us Brexit.This brings us to a second taboo that needs to fall: the aversion to monetary financing. Widely disparaged as a recipe for inflation and irresponsible government, monetary financing has, in fact, helped many countries cope with huge, unexpected expenditures. In a paper on the “dysfunctional taboo” against monetary financing, Will Bateman of the Australian National University and Jens van ’t Klooster of the University of Amsterdam show that such occasions have included wars, financial crises, and pandemics.Curiously, the policy paper that Merz’s incoming government offered to support its proposed fiscal Zeitenwende makes no mention of monetary financing. It explains how the United Kingdom deprived itself of the capacity to mobilise effectively against Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s, because it prioritised fiscal prudence over defence capacity; but it says little about how the victorious powers financed the war. True, in the US, taxes went up, ordinary citizens bought war bonds, and financial intermediaries invested in Treasuries. But without the Federal Reserve buying significant amounts of US short-term debt and managing interest rates, these solutions would not have sufficed.The question, then, is whether the ECB is ready to backstop government-debt financing of investments in defence and other critical needs. Given governments’ difficulties raising taxes in a world of capital mobility, this will be crucial.Fortunately, the ECB has come a long way since the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath, when it refused to refinance Irish and Greek debt. During the Covid-19 crisis, it proved its mettle by providing liquidity when no-one else could. Since these measures did not face serious challenges in court, the ECB should recognise that it has more policy and legal flexibility than it had previously.It took a pandemic and the threat of war to get here, but at long last Germany might be able to dispense with the two taboos – debt and monetary financing of budgets – that have strangled governments for decades. Rigid dogmatism should be replaced with more pragmatic management of fiscal and monetary affairs. This moment demands what economist Isabella M Weber of the University of Massachusetts calls “anti-fascist economic policy.” — Project Syndicate• Katharina Pistor, Professor of Comparative Law at Columbia Law School, is the author of The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality.

The regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Hanan Hassan Balkhy, has revealed that there is ongoing collaboration between the WHO and Qatar in numerous pioneering initiatives to advance critical health sectors in the Eastern Mediterranean.She highlighted that the initiatives include upgrading of health infrastructure and the enhancement of medical education to qualify medical practitioners, combat addiction, and improve emergency medicine.She hailed the significant support Qatar provides for the organisation's operations, whether in the Eastern Mediterranean or through WHO, or through direct support to nations.In conversation with Qatar News Agency (QNA) marking her visit to Doha, Balkhy emphasised that Qatar is a key supporter of the WHO's initiatives in the region, highlighting that her current visit intends to explore new fields of co-operation, along with the possibility of backing additional initiatives that contribute to beefing up public health in the region.She commended the positive role Qatar performs in this regard, as the nation has successfully hosted the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in Doha in 2024.The Sport for Health initiative launched by Qatar and WHO marking the hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was among the foremost successful initiatives, she underlined, emphasising WHO's desire to capitalise on the Qatari experience in the upcoming major tournaments.Balkhy pointed to the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), which Qatar has been hosting for many years, affirming that there is close collaboration between the organisation and WISH, as both sides strive to significantly bolster this initiative.Qatar plays a pivotal role in combating epidemics and infectious diseases, as well as strengthening health security at both the regional and global levels, she said, noting the collaboration includes financial and technical support for a substantial number of countries in the region.The figures of material support Qatar provides underscore its profound commitment to backing global health efforts, thereby bolstering the nations' capabilities in addressing a variety of health challenges, Balkhy stressed.She shone the spotlight on Qatar's efforts to support the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, emphasising that the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) collaborated with WHO alongside the health group to distribute medical supplies to health facilities in Rafah, in addition to providing the QRCS's medical supplies to the Jerusalem field hospital, in support of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Rafah.In addition, Qatar hosted roughly 1,500 injured Palestinians who needed urgent medical care that was not available in Gaza, in co-ordination with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, WHO, and UNRWA, Balkhy highlighted, praising Qatar's role in providing treatment, including the fitting of prosthetics and medical rehabilitation for patients.She pointed out that there is significant co-operation between WHO and several Qatari entities such as QRCS, Qatar Charity, and Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD), which offer concrete efforts on the ground in support of humanitarian health issues.Balkhy, who assumed her position in early February 2024, underscored the importance of shoring up regional co-operation to navigate the health challenges faced by the regionShe reiterated that her visit to Doha primarily aims to extend gratitude to Qatar for its unwavering support for the region and WHO, particularly in the area of medical education, featuring meetings with several key players and officials to deliberate on an array of critical initiatives.The discussions revolved around new initiatives pertaining to providing healthcare, medical paraphernalia and medicines, in addition to enhancing medical security in the region, she said.She highlighted the latest initiatives being discussed with Qatar, including fostering emergency medicine programmes, augmenting the number of trained medical practitioners, and conducting scientific research on combating addiction.Qatar's experience in converting all its municipalities and educational cities into health cities can serve as a role model, she said.Balkhy highlighted the efforts being made to eradicate poliomyelitis, emphasising that Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only remaining countries worldwide where the wild poliovirus is still active. She stressed that reaching out to children in remote and mountainous areas, along with the security risks associated with these tasks, represents the formidable obstacle to eliminating the disease.She further noted that geographic challenges, rather than funding, are the primary impediment to the complete eradication of the disease in those two countries.Part of the visit to Qatar was dedicated to discussing avenues for backing these efforts, especially with respect to solidifying health infrastructure in remote areas to ensure fundamental vaccinations reach the children, she said.Balkhy added that she discussed with the officials in Qatar on bolstering emergency medicine through training health practitioners and hosting a strategic dialogue to augment their numbers in the region, in addition to collaborating in combating narcotics through scientific research and setting strategies that inhibit the proliferation of this phenomenon, which significantly affects the people's welfare and productivity.She lauded Qatar's experience in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.She underlined that WHO is determined to work side by side with the region's nations to strengthen health preparedness and alertness, acknowledging the existence of epidemics that necessitate taking appropriate precautions, such as quarantine and prevention, as the key to combating the potential prevalence of communicable diseases.Commenting on the health situation in the Gaza Strip, Balkhy highlighted that for two decades, Gaza had not registered any polio cases, but it is currently grappling with formidable health challenges due to the complete crumbling of infrastructure in the aftermath of the recent war.The menace of the resurgence of diseases includes the contamination of water and sewage on streets in the Strip, coupled with sharp reduction in vaccination rates since October 7, 2023, which led to the severe decline in children's immunity, she outlined.WHO had conducted an extensive polio vaccination campaign in Gaza last July, and despite the significant challenges, it was able to successfully conduct this campaign, she said adding that the organisation launched another campaign last month to curb the spread of the disease.Balkhy reiterated her special thanks to Qatar for its enduring support for the WHO's efforts. She extended her profound gratitude to Qatar and all its partners for their political, logistical, technical and material support whether through WHO, or through direct support to the region's nations.Such kinds of partnerships represent the sole way to rebuild the capacities of the Eastern Mediterranean and restore its health stature, she said. (QNA)

Britain’s government wants to tame its ballooning bill for supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions which, despite the cost, leaves many claimants distressed or struggling to find work.Annual spending on incapacity and disability benefits already exceeds the country’s defence budget and is set to top £100bn ($129bn) by 2030 according to official forecasts, up from £65bn now.Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned this week that the welfare arrangements he inherited from the previous government were “indefensible economically and morally” and he wanted to see more people back in work. His government is expected to propose changes next week.Broadcaster ITV has reported that the reform would include £6bn pounds of cuts, alarming some lawmakers from Starmer’s left-leaning Labour Party.Finance minister Rachel Reeves is keen to find ways to reduce the benefits bill as official forecasts due on March 26 may otherwise show the government will miss its debt-reduction goals.Welfare experts say the government will nevertheless struggle to ensure that a push for quick savings does not jeopardise longer-term efforts to boost employment.“Trust is very low,” said Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, adding that many disabled people on benefits feared losing money or facing a tough time with a work coach if they considered employment.Asked about potential cuts, a spokesperson for Britain’s department for work and pensions said it had “a duty to put welfare spending on a more sustainable path ... through meaningful, principled reforms rather than arbitrary cuts to spending”.Chelsea Shubert, 23, is the type of person the government wants to encourage.Diagnosed with autism and living with anxiety, dyslexia and other conditions, she left school without key qualifications and received unemployment and disability benefits.In 2021, a government employment adviser urged her to do an unpaid six-month stint at a charity shop, which did not lead to a job.But she has now passed an English exam and began her first paid job as a school crossing guard in January.“It’s very rewarding and gets me out, even though it’s only half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening,” she said.Eventually she hopes to work with children for longer hours so she is not so reliant on benefits.“Being someone that’s living with a disability and a health condition, this world that we live in is horrible. There’s not enough support out there,” she said.Bad experiences with Britain’s benefits system are common, said Ben Baumberg Geiger, professor of social science and health at King’s College London.His recent study based on a survey of nearly 4,000 claimants found two in five felt they would be better off dead or wished to commit an act of self-harm.“We have a very dysfunctional benefit system that simultaneously is spending a lot of money ... and at the same time doesn’t feel like it’s providing support,” he said.While Britain’s unemployment rate is low by European standards at 4.4% of the workforce, 10% of the working-age population claim incapacity or disability benefits, up from about 8% before the Covid-19 pandemic.Other European countries have not seen the same rise, which analysts suggest may reflect the gap between the levels of unemployment and disability benefits in Britain.Most single jobless people get £393 a month plus some housing costs, while those deemed too sick to work receive £810.In addition, disabled people – in work or not – can receive a separate benefit averaging £586 a month to cover extra disability-related costs.The Resolution Foundation’s Murphy said the government was right to consider narrowing the gap between unemployment and incapacity benefits and whether regular lump-sum payments truly reflected extra costs caused by health conditions.But she was concerned tighter eligibility rules for future claimants could see the brunt of cuts borne by an unlucky minority of disabled people.Short-term budget pressures must not distract the government from getting more people back into work, Murphy said.Geiger said Britain might learn from countries like the Netherlands, where employers are liable for initial costs if a staffer is no longer able to work due to ill health, increasing their incentive to retain the worker.European countries with higher rates of employment for disabled people had achieved this through better working conditions rather than a benefits crackdown, he added.In Britain, fewer than one in 100 people receiving the higher rate of incapacity benefit return to work each month – half the proportion in 2012, according to the Resolution Foundation.One organisation which says it can help turn that round is the Shaw Trust, a charity which receives government contracts to prepare people with poor health to return to work or stay in their job by offering intensive, specialist support.This costs more than £2,000 per person and secures lasting employment for fewer than half those helped.But the charity says it delivers an average return on investment for the taxpayer of £2.42 per pound spent in the first year, rising to £9.22 after three years.The Shaw Trust’s chief commercial officer, Richard Clifton, hopes these figures ensure its work is spared from any public spending cuts.“In reality these programmes give you payback within the year,” he said.

Global oil supply could exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels per day this year, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, due to growth led by the US and weaker than expected global demand.The outlook of ample supplies despite US sanctions on major exporters Russia and Iran highlights the challenge for Opec+, or the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, in balancing the market.“The US is currently producing at record highs and is forecast to be the largest source of supply growth in 2025,” the IEA, which advises industrialised countries, said in a monthly report.“The latest round of sanctions on Russia and Iran has yet to significantly disrupt loadings, even as some buyers have scaled back purchases.”Last month, the IEA had suggested a slightly narrower surplus of around 500,000 bpd, according to Reuters calculations based on the agency’s data.World oil demand is now expected to rise by 1.03mn bpd in 2025, the IEA said on Thursday, down 70,000 bpd from last month’s forecast, with growth driven largely by Asia and specifically China. “Asian countries will account for almost 60% of gains, led by China where petrochemical feedstocks will provide the entirety of growth as demand for refined fuels reaches a plateau.”Growing consumption of petrochemical feedstocks, the IEA added, accounts for almost all demand growth gains since the Covid-19 pandemic.Oil ticked lower after the report’s publication. Brent oil futures traded at $70.85 at 0926GMT, compared with $71.01 at 0900 when the report was published.The report highlights the headwinds Opec+ faces this year as growing global trade tensions could impact demand against a backdrop of robust supply growth.Opec+ decided earlier this month to start unwinding its most recent layer of output cuts from April. The 2025 surplus could grow by a further 400,000 bpd if Opec+ extends its unwinding of cuts and fails to rein in overproduction, the IEA said.“The macroeconomic conditions that underpin our oil demand projections deteriorated over the past month as trade tensions escalated between the US and several other countries,” the IEA said, prompting it to revise down its demand growth estimates for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.In its own report on Wednesday, Opec kept its view for 2025 oil demand growth unchanged at 1.45mn bpd, and flagged a 363,000 bpd rise in Opec+ output in February led by Kazakhstan.The IEA sees 2025 global supply growth doubling relative to the 2024 pace of growth, to around 1.5mn bpd, assuming Opec+ does not unwind its cuts further beyond April.It added that Opec+ may actually only add around 40,000 bpd of oil to the market, less than the nominal 138,000 bpd April increase, from Saudi Arabia and Algeria, because overproduction from other member states leaves no room to open taps further.Global supply gains will be almost all driven by non-Opec growth, primarily the record US output as well as gains from Canada, Brazil and Guyana.Proposed US tariffs on Mexican and Canadian oil could impact flows, the IEA said, however it said it was too early to assess the impact given negotiations are ongoing, as well as a lack of clarity around the scope and scale of the measures.

South Korea’s birthrate, the lowest in the world, rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, as more couples tied the knot after pandemic delays, and as policy efforts to incentivise companies and Koreans to embrace parenthood start to pay off. Nam Hyun-jin, 35, who had her second daughter last August, said she has seen a social shift, driven largely by the government’s broadened policy support and more companies joining the efforts. “The society as a whole is encouraging childbirth more than five years ago when we had our first child,” Nam said. And, more importantly, “it’s the company culture of encouraging childbirth that is providing huge help,” said Nam, whose employer – Booyoung – started to give out 100mn won ($70,000) from last year to its employees for childbirth bonus. That shift in societal norms could prove pivotal in a country that over the past decade has seen its birthrate plummet to the lowest in the world, as women prioritised career advancement over marriage or parenthood due to the rising cost of housing and raising a child. The stakes are high, as the demographic crisis has become the biggest risk to growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and its social welfare system, with the country’s population of 51mn on track to halve by the end of this century. In 2024, however, the glum statistics on South Korea’s fertility rate turned a corner. It rose to 0.75, still a global record-low, from 0.72 in 2023, after eight consecutive years of declines from 1.24 in 2015 despite billions of dollars spent by the country to try to reverse the trend. While the rise mostly reflected an increase from pandemic-disrupted marriages, other numbers suggest it could be more than just a Covid blip and that government policies are having an effect. Quarterly data showed the number of second newborns, such as Nam’s, jumped 12% in the second half of 2024, versus an 11% rise in first-born babies. “There is a high possibility of further rises (in fertility rate) in coming years, and we are right at the inflection point,” You Hye-mi, presidential secretary for population policy, told Reuters. Last year, now-impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol proposed a new ministry devoted to tackling the “national demographic crisis”, aiming for a broader approach from earlier years of less-effective cash-focused support. Interviews conducted by Reuters over the past week with policymakers, industry experts, economists and Korean mothers credited the government’s policy support – in three areas of work-family balance, childcare and housing – and a campaign to encourage business to incentivise employees on parenthood for the positive turn. The government plans to spend 19.7tn won ($13.76bn) in the three focus areas this year, up 22% from 2024. “Korea faces some of the world’s most challenging demographics. The government didn’t overstate the case when it declared a national demographic emergency in June,” says Kathleen Oh, Morgan Stanley’s chief Korea and Taiwan Economist. “The good news is that the sense of urgency appears real, with authorities moving toward structural reforms and away from short-term fixes.” Policy changes over the last year include employees being paid 100% of their salary for a maximum of six months, if both parents take parental leave, compared with a maximum of three months earlier. Additionally, the maximum period was extended to 1-1/2 years, from 1 year, if both parents take leave. Paternity leave has also been extended to a maximum of 20 days from 10 days. The government will pay employees at small and medium sized enterprises (SME) their wages during the leave. From this year, the government is making it mandatory for listed companies to include their childcare-related statistics in regulatory filings, with incentives for government projects and financial support for SMEs. The policies appear to be bearing fruit. In 2024, marriages rose even more sharply, at the fastest pace on record, after climbing in 2023 for the first time in 12 years on a post-pandemic boost. In last year’s government survey, 52.5% of South Koreans expressed positive views about marriage, the highest since 2014. “The government has prepared as much as it could at an institutional level, and now we need more companies embracing it,” said Shin Kyung-ah, sociology professor at Hallym University. Last year Booyoung saw a surge in childbirths among employees after the construction firm announced the bonus scheme. “After all, it is for companies to survive. We build apartments, and they will be sold only if there are enough people to live in,” said Kim Jin-seong, human resources director at Booyoung. Booyoung’s move was later followed by more incentives from the government, such as tax exemption on childbirth bonuses, and similar efforts by other companies, including game developer Krafton which is also planning a 100-mn-won scheme. “We need to make sure to keep the spark alive, which was hard to make, by quickly filling in the blind spots of low-birth policies, such as free-lancers and the self-employed,” Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister who is currently serving as acting president, said this month. For some, however, especially among the younger generation, the “spark” is missing. “I think it is not that welcomed, because it is difficult and costs a lot of money to get married, have a baby and family in the Korean society,” said Kim Ha-ram, 21, a student. South Korea’s last baby boom was in 1991-1996. It now aims to raise the fertility rate to 1 by 2030, which is still far below the rate of 2.1 needed for a steady population. Hallym University’s Shin sees South Korea’s temporary workers, the second-highest rate among Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries at 27.3%, compared with the average of 11.3%, as a demographic challenge. “The gap is huge between big and small companies in South Korea, and between those employed permanently and temporarily, so the government needs to be more creative to have the system established for all,” Shin said. Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of social welfare at Seoul Women’s University, endorsed Shin’s view that companies should do more to complement government efforts. “Childcare systems are well established now at a society level through government investments, but we still need companies to change to become more family-friendly, which makes it a job half done,” Jung said.