Citigroup economists doubt that the MPC’s decision to leave rates on hold at the August Inflation Report meeting signals that the tightening cycle is ended. Rather, we expect that, having just hiked in July, the MPC will wait a month or two before hiking again. “We expect that the Inflation Report will project that some

Ericsson has been awarded an expansion contract by PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk (XL) to expand its GSM/GPRS and WCDMA/HSPA in Indonesia. Under the three-and-a-half-year frame agreement, Ericsson will supply both best-in-class 2G and 3G radio access network and MINI-LINK transmission equipment, as well as deployment of its proven Mobile Softswitch Solution. This is a step

DigiPhoto, the Gulf region’s leading  souvenir imaging service provider, has opened its Entertainment Imaging centre at the new Toys’R’Us outlet in Dubai Festival City, providing kids and adults alike an unforgettable shopping and leisure experience. The new DigiPhoto centre is part of an ongoing program to enhance the company’s market presence by creating strategic partnerships with prominent

Nokia and the International Basketball Federation, FIBA, announced their cooperation to create mobile services for FIBA, FIBA Europe, and for some of the most important basketball championship events in 2007. The new mobile FIBA service will provide basketball enthusiasts with the opportunity to catch up on the latest scores, news, schedules, and interviews when and

The outlook for Egypt‘s banking system is stable, reflecting continued progress with the reform programme together with an improving operating environment, Moody’s Investors Service said in its latest Banking System outlook for the country published Monday. “Considerable progress is being made, with a number of the issues that have been problematic in past years currently

Importers and exporters in Serbia will have more opportunities to finance their foreign trade business under a EUR 2 mln trade finance line granted by the EBRD to Privredna Banka, a small to medium-sized commercial bank in Serbia. The facility will be used for guarantees in order to support trade in the region. This is the

The recent UK flood events in late June and mid-July across selected areas of the North of England and South England / Midlands are likely to have no impact on UK non-life insurers’ credit ratings, according to a Special Comment published by Moody’s. Although the two events look set to have a significant impact on

Pension obligations continue to represent significant financial risk for certain banks and will continue to require proactive risk management for many years to come, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services noted in a report entitled “Defined-Benefit Pension Obligations: Massive Reductions In Deficits For Western European Banks Mask Underlying Risk.” “Even though favorable market conditions during 2006

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned Baa3/Prime-3 long-term and short-term foreign currency deposit ratings and a D+ bank financial strength rating (BFSR) to Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD. The BFSR translates into a Baseline Credit Assessment of Ba1. At the same time, Moody’s has assigned Global Local Currency (GLC) deposit ratings of Baa1/Prime-2 to the Sofia-based bank with

The Cyprus House of Representatives has unanimously approved an amendment sent back to the House by President Tassos Papadopoulos, placing a maximum cap of CYP 10.000 or EUR 17.000 as stamp duty on transactions over CYP 5 mln or EUR 8.5 mln. Papadopoulos said the amended Company Law wasn’t compatible with the relative EU directive,