Business

AMMAN — The National Society of Consumer Protection (NSCP) has called on the government to abolish the taxes in the renewable energy sector, mainly in the domestic sector. 

The NSCP considered the taxes unjust for citizens and companies who work in this sector; it also demanded that this important sector should not be “conquered by monopolists”, Al Rai Arabic daily reported.

The society highlighted that the imposed tax on renewable energy has forced many citizens and companies operating in this sector to backtrack from their decision to invest in and utilise solar energy instead of electricity.

NSCP President Mohammad Obeidat highlighted the necessity that the government abolishes this decision for its negative economic impacts on citizens amid surging electricity bills due to seasonal demands and increased diesel prices despite government support.

Obaidat added that even though the Ministry of Energy has established a fund to support the domestic sector, the decision is ineffective since it undergoes the policies and regulations of grid companies who at the end of the day are “the decision makers of the whole sector”.

The NSCP president pointed out that the repercussions and negative economic impacts of such a decision were evident in citizens' “reluctance” to use renewable energy and companies refusing to invest in this sector consequently decreasing job opportunities and poverty rate.

CAIRO — With Egypt's economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink.

"It's like we were hit by an earthquake, suddenly you have to let go of everything," said Manar, a 38-year-old mother of two.

"Now whatever semi-humane life people had has been reduced to thinking about how much bread and eggs cost," she told AFP, asking to be identified only by her first name.

The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan agreement.

Official annual headline inflation hit 21.9 per cent in December, and food prices surged 37.9 per cent in the Arab world's most populous nation.

But Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins University who measures inflation based on purchasing power parity and factoring in black market exchange rates, estimated Egypt's real inflation rate at 101 per cent.

The economy, dominated by state and military-owned enterprises, had already struggled after successive blows, from years of political unrest to the COVID pandemic.

But it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine — with both countries key exporters of wheat and sources of mass tourism to Egypt — that set off the latest painful crisis.

The war also unsettled global investors who pulled billions out of the North African country.

According to the World Bank, nearly one-third of Egypt's 104 million people already live below the poverty line, and almost as many are "vulnerable to falling into poverty".

It's not the first time Egyptians have shouldered hardships that come with IMF-backed reforms. 

In 2016, a $12 billion bailout saw the government enact a slate of measures, including a sharp currency devaluation and wide-ranging subsidy cuts.

'Military-grade discipline' 

Since prices began spiralling again last year, social media users have scrambled for cost-saving tips, suggesting grocery list substitutions and personal finance manoeuvres.

But for a 41-year-old translator who is the mother of a six-year-old son, and who asked not to be named, even "military-grade discipline" in the supermarket is no longer enough.

With her husband's salary "losing 40 per cent of its value in six months", she also worries about expenses "like mortgages and car payments and tuition".

The new reality has driven families that were considered part of the middle class to seek help.

Ahmed Hesham of the Abwab El Kheir charity said more and more middle-class Egyptians — "private sector employees making 4,000-6,000 pounds" ($135-202) per month — have been coming in for donations.

"A lot of people had life savings they were keeping aside... Now they're using them for healthcare or daily costs," Hesham told AFP.

"They used to make a good living, now they can't make ends meet. They've never been in this position before, and they're mortified to come to us," he added.

"One man told us he can either feed his kids or put them through school, but not both."

Brain drain 

In a country marked by sharp inequality, the urban middle class is judged to include tens of millions.

According to Soha Abdelaty, deputy director of the Alternative Policy Solutions research project at the American University in Cairo, "it's difficult to define what the middle class is". 

"The concern is that those who were not near the poverty line... could find themselves getting closer and closer," she said.

"These are people for whom life is no longer affordable — but they're still not eligible for social assistance from the government."

For educated Egyptians, said the translator, "the only solution is to find a job abroad. I can't see another way out."

Many young Egyptians have flocked to online sites advising them on job opportunities in wealthy Gulf countries, or on how to have their degrees recognised in Europe.

Those who can try to join the millions of Egyptians already abroad, who sent back $31.9 billion in remittances in the 2021-2022 financial year.

Many families who can't move away, like Manar's, focus on education to improve their opportunities.

With Egypt's public school system marked by notoriously overcrowded classes and outdated curricula, private education is a priority for families who can afford it.

"The schools are a disaster," Manar said, forcing families to pay 20,000-40,000 pounds ($675-1,350) per year for basic elementary schooling.

"You have to be ready to sell everything you have to give your kids an education, in hopes that tomorrow things will be better for them."

But, she said, "the problem is that we don't know if this is as bad as it gets." 

"The way things are, all you can do is take it one day at a time."

ZURICH — Credit Suisse could slash more than 10 per cent of its investment banking staff in Europe, The Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported, with the beleaguered Swiss lender declining to comment on Monday.

Switzerland's second-biggest bank "already let hundreds of staff go in London and Zurich last month", the British financial daily reported on Saturday.

The Zurich-based bank declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

"Consultations over the next round of redundancies started before Christmas, with more than 10 per cent of investment banking jobs in Europe under discussion," the FT said, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the talks.

"A final decision is expected next month," the newspaper said.

Credit Suisse launched a vast restructuring plan in October, including shedding 9,000 jobs by 2025 — more than 17 per cent of its workforce.

Shaken by a string of scandals, the bank intends to refocus on the most stable parts of its business and radically overhaul its investment banking arm, which has suffered heavy losses.

Among the changes, it is reviving its First Boston brand, named after a US investment bank it absorbed in 1990, where its capital market and advisory activities will be brought together.

Credit Suisse is due to release its annual results on February 9. But the bank has already said it expects a pre-tax loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.6 billion) in the fourth quarter.

The bank is pinning the loss on restructuring costs, shocks on the capital markets which will weigh on its investment bank, and on customers withdrawing capital.

Credit Suisse shares were up 0.74 per cent at 3.15 Swiss francs at 0920 GMT, while the Swiss stock exchange's main SMI index was up 0.44 per cent.

RABAT — Morocco's economy is projected to grow by 3.3 per cent in 2023, a government agency said on Thursday in a scaled down forecast for the country battling historic drought.

Agriculture is a key sector in the kingdom's economy, one of Africa's most dynamic.

"Assuming recovery of agricultural activities, the national economy should show a 3.3 per cent increase in 2023," said Ayache Khellaf, secretary general of the government's High Commission for Planning (HCP).

The HCP in July had projected a 3.7 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product this year after just 1.3 per cent in 2022. 

The coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine sent inflation spiralling to 8 per cent last year with price hikes on fuel and food.

Morocco had returned "to 2014 levels of poverty and vulnerability" last year, the HCP said previously.

In early December protesters turned out in Rabat to denounce the government and high cost of living but the country's history making semi-final run at the football World Cup gave citizens some temporary relief from economic pain.

The 2023 annual state budget, presented in October by the government of liberal Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, factored in a 4 per cent GDP growth.

"Uncertainties linked primarily to the progress of the war in Ukraine, interest rates and epidemic and climatic risks" will decide how much the economy actually grows in 2023, Khellaf said at a press conference in Rabat.

The HCP noted in its economic forecast a "probable" risk of a return to drought, despite "relatively abundant rainfall" in December and said key drivers of growth are "in decline".

Last year, the North African country saw its worst drought in four decades.

"The shocks suffered over the past three years by the Moroccan economy, despite its relative resilience, have caused lasting damage," Khellaf said.

Morocco is also hoping to convert its raised profile from the World Cup into economic gains, especially for tourism. The sector is one of the country's top employers.

ABU DHABI — The president of this year's COP28 climate talks, who heads a major oil company, on Saturday urged a focus on lower emissions to reduce global warming, warning that energy needs were set to accelerate.

Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' special envoy for climate change and CEO of oil giant ADNOC, said less-polluting fossil fuels would remain part of the energy mix, along with renewables and other solutions.

"As long as the world still uses hydrocarbons, we must ensure they are the least carbon intensive possible," Al Jaber told the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, two days after his unveiling as COP president.

"We're working with the energy industry on accelerating de-carbonisation, reducing methane and expanding hydrogen. 

"Let's keep our focus on holding back emissions, not progress."

Al Jaber's nomination on Thursday prompted protests from climate activists concerned that a senior figure from the oil industry has little incentive to reduce the use of hydrocarbons.

The Gulf monarchy argues that oil remains indispensable to the global economy and is pushing the merits of carbon capture — removing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.

Al Jaber said the UAE would organise this year's United Nations climate summit with "humility, a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency".

He said the world's population, currently eight billion, was on course to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and would need "50 per cent more energy than what is available today".

'Living in a dream' 

"We are way off track. The world is playing catch up when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees [Celsius]," he said.

"And the harsh reality is that in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall 43 per cent by 2030."

COP27, held in Egypt in November, concluded with the adoption of a hotly contested text on aid to poor countries affected by climate change, but failed to set new ambitions for lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The UAE, a leading crude producer and one of the world's biggest polluters per capita, will host the next edition in Dubai in November and December. It had the largest contingent of oil and gas lobbyists at last year's talks.

At the Global Energy Forum, whose audience included US climate envoy John Kerry, Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al Kaabi accused critics of "demonising" oil and gas companies.

"If I can just be a little bit blunt... the community that was driving the green [agenda] was living in a dream that they realise they can't achieve," said Kaabi, who is also the chief executive of state gas firm QatarEnergy.

"It's very important that we achieve these goals but we need to be realistic about what we can achieve," he added. "We can't be driven by just the agendas of people wanting to be elected."

Products as varied as coolers and clothing rely on hydrocarbons, Kaabi said. "I know we need to do a lot of work there but let's not forget the reality of what we need."

DUBAI — The head of the United Arab Emirates' national oil company was named on Thursday as president of this year's COP28 climate talks, prompting fierce criticism from environmental activists.

Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), will be the first CEO to take the role at the UN summit, said a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.

"I sincerely believe that climate action today is an immense economic opportunity for investment in sustainable growth," he was quoted as saying, promising a "pragmatic" approach.

Jaber, the UAE's minister of industry, is also the Gulf state's special envoy for climate change and has taken part in more than 10 COP meetings.

He is CEO of Masdar, the UAE's renewable energy company, and has "played a key role in shaping the country's clean energy path", the statement said.

But climate activists were quick to criticise his appointment. Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, said it "poses an outrageous conflict of interest".

Teresa Anderson, global lead on climate justice at ActionAid, an NGO, said: "This appointment goes beyond putting the fox in charge of the henhouse."

And Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School of international affairs at Tufts University in the US, warned: "The incoming COP president has a dilemma.

"The UAE is competing to be the most efficient and lowest-cost source of fossil fuels as global production must diminish through the energy transition," she said.

"It will be challenging as COP president to unite countries around more aggressive action while at the same time suggesting that other producers stop producing because UAE has you covered.

"We don't have the planetary space for mixed messages," she added.

Too hot for humans 

COP27, held in Egypt in November, concluded with the adoption of a hotly contested text on aid to poor countries affected by climate change, but failed to set new ambitions for lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The UAE, one of the world's biggest crude producers, will host the next edition in Dubai in November and December. It had the largest contingent of oil and gas lobbyists at last year's talks.

The Gulf monarchy argues that oil remains indispensable to the global economy and is pushing the merits of carbon capture — removing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.

"Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC will require significant reductions in emissions, a pragmatic, practical and realistic approach to the energy transition and more help for emerging economies," the UAE's statement said, referring to the goal set at previous COP summits.

The UAE is one of the countries at the sharp end of climate change as it lies in one of the world's hottest regions, with summer temperatures nudging 50ºC.

According to a study published in 2021, parts of the Gulf could become too hot for human habitation by the end of this century.

The UAE has announced ambitious environmental initiatives, including plans for 20 gigawatts of installed solar capacity by 2030 and a fully operational nuclear power station by 2024.

But the Gulf state also forecasts that the oil and gas industry would need to invest more than $600 billion every year until 2030 to keep up with expected demand.

Former UN climate chief Yvo de Boer offered support for the UAE and Jaber, saying his work in "green growth strategy" and renewable energy give him the "understanding, experience and responsibility" to make COP28 a success.

With its high use of air-conditioning and desalinated water, and ubiquitous SUVs plying 10-lane highways, the UAE was the world's fourth biggest polluter per capita in 2019, according to the World Bank.

It is aiming to develop enough renewable energy to cover half of its needs by 2050, when it is targeting domestic carbon neutrality — which excludes emissions from its exported oil.