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WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that even as the US economy grows stronger and employment expands, she foresees only "gradual" interest rate increases in the next few years.

Facing sometimes tough questions from legislators, Yellen presented the Fed's required semi-annual report to Congress — possibly for the last time if President Donald Trump decides not to reappoint her for a second term at the helm of the US central bank.

She cautioned that possible changes in the administration's economic policy and spending are a "source of uncertainty" in the country's economic outlook.
Another big unknown is whether stubbornly low inflation will finally move closer to the Fed's two per cent target rate, from the current 1.4 per cent.

Sluggish US inflation and wage increases have baffled and worried economists given the very low unemployment rate, which would normally drive prices and earnings higher.

But Yellen once again expressed the view held by many US central bankers that the low pace of price increases is "partly the result of a few unusual reductions in certain categories of prices", such as cell phone service and prescription medicines.

The Fed is watching developments carefully, she told the House Financial Services Committee during the first of two days of testimony on Capitol Hill. She appears before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

While such low inflation normally would keep the Fed from raising interest rates, it has instead hiked rates twice so far this year, and expects to do so once more.

'Gradual rate hikes'

Yellen cautioned that although the Fed's measure of inflation has been low recently, "it's premature" to say it is not on track to return to 2 per cent.

However, the Fed would reconsider its policy if inflation continues to undershoot, she said.

Amid signs that "growth rebounded in the second quarter", Yellen said, "additional gradual rate hikes are likely to be appropriate over the next few years to sustain the economic expansion". 

But she said the benchmark lending rate probably will not "rise all that much further".

Shortly after her testimony, the Fed released a report on the economy showing most US regions saw "slight to moderate" growth in June, and few signs of price pressures, even while some firms report having to offer higher wages to attract qualified workers.

The anecdotal reports from around the country show most areas expected "modest to moderate gains" in the coming months.

Yellen stressed in the hearing that "monetary policy is not on a pre-set course", and central bankers will adjust their views as more data becomes available.

She noted that there are various sources of uncertainty about the economic outlook, including "possible changes in fiscal and other government policies here in the United States".

Yellen would not comment on specific policies, but economists have noted that Trump's promised burst of infrastructure spending could spur growth, while restrictive trade policies or a rising deficit could have the opposite effect.

AL KHOR, Qatar — A first herd of boycott-busting cows has been airlifted to Qatar to boost milk supplies five weeks after neighbouring Gulf states cut links with the emirate. 

The several dozen Holsteins were flown in from Budapest, the first of 4,000 cattle to be imported by August.

The bemused bovines took to their new surroundings at a farm 80 kilometres north of Doha on Wednesday, despite being the centre of attention from journalists and the pride of Qatar, which sees their arrival as a sign of its defiance in the Gulf crisis.

"We brought in 165 Holsteins, all highly bred Holsteins, especially for dairy," said John Dore, a senior manager at Baladna Livestock Production.

"There are 35 milking cows, that are in milk at present and there's 130 that will calve in the next two-to-three weeks."

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar last month, closed the only land border and halted all exports of food to the emirate.

The Gulf states accuse Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge it denies. Prior to the crisis, Qatar largely relied on dairy imports from Saudi Arabia, especially of milk.

Its population of 2.7 million was dependent on foodstuffs from Gulf countries, which made up almost half of all imports.

However, since the political crisis began Qatar has resorted to importing food from different countries including

Turkey, Iran and Morocco.

Qatar aims to increase by five-fold the number of cattle it has in the country as it looks to lessen its food dependency on imports because of the ongoing crisis.
Dore said the livestock were the first steps in Qatar trying to become "self-sufficient in beef", and it aims to boost cattle numbers in the country from a current 5,000 to some 25,000 in the near future.

The cattle will be farmed for both milk and meat.

"Local supply covers between 10 and 15 per cent at present of Qatar's needs, ‘‘Dore told reporters at the farm, as the cows quietly munched on grass laid down next down to the large pens in which they are housed.
Qatar uncowed 

Moutaz Al Khayyat, the chairman of Qatari firm Power International which bought and imported the cows, said once all the 4,000 cows arrive in Qatar, they will meet around 30 per cent of the country's dairy needs.

He said it could take up to 60 flights to bring all the cattle into Qatar.

Despite their journey of more than 3,700 kilometres and adjusting to new heats of 41oC, the animals seemed unworried by their new surroundings, and certainly unaware of their political significance.

"Before, most of the milk in Qatar was imported from Saudi Arabia and the UAE," said Dore. 

"At the moment the gap is being filled by Turkish imports, which are welcome for the present but the quality won't compare with local produce."

Qatari officials have confidently claimed they can withstand the boycott "forever".
The cows were brought in by a Qatar Airways cargo plane on Tuesday.

ISTANBUL — Investment in the oil and gas industry will see a tentative recovery in 2017 after an "unprecedented contraction" in 2016 and 2015 in face of stubbornly low energy prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Tuesday.

The IEA said upstream oil and gas investment — such as in exploration and production facilities — fell 26 per cent in 2016 in nominal terms to $434 billion (380 billion euros), similar to the decline seen in 2015.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told AFP: "We do not expect a major rebound, as many hoped, in order to make up the difference."

Total global energy investment fell by 12 per cent in 2016, with spending on the electricity sector around the world for the first time exceeding the combined spending on oil, gas and coal, the IEA said.

The IEA, an inter-governmental group set up to ensure the reliable supply of energy, released the report at the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul, where energy bosses are debating the consequences of the dramatic plunge in oil prices.

Participants have warned that the sharply lower investment levels seen in the last two years risk compromising security of supply for consumers, as discoveries and development of new oilfields falter. 

According to the IEA, investment in oil and gas in 2016 was little more than "half the peak level of 2014, when oil prices started to fall sharply".

It described the fall in investment in 2015 and 2016 totalling $345 billion as "an unprecedented contraction" and was partly due to reduced drilling activity. 

But asking whether there could now be "light at the end of the tunnel", it said that the oil industry has reacted to the price crisis by drastically ramping up efficiency.

This improved the financial health of companies and their cash flow, creating the chance of a slight recovery in investment in 2017.

It estimated, on the basis of company announcements, that global oil and gas upstream investment in 2017 is set to increase by almost 6 per cent to just below $460 billion in nominal terms. 

But it added: "Many of the largest oil and gas companies are still implementing a cautious approach in scaling up their spending plans."

It said that firms would be less ambitious in their planning were oil to fail to recover to above $50 a barrel.

Birol said that the investment was not evenly spread, with investments "very weak or flat in the Middle East, Russia, and Africa", but up sharply in the US shale sector.

"This shows a two-speed investment picture across the world," he told AFP.

AMMAN — Royal Jordanian (RJ)  President/CEO Stefan Pichler stressed the airline’s commitment to offer compelling ground and air services to its guests, according to a statement received by The Jordan Times on Monday.

RJ has long been known for its high-quality food and beverage offerings to its guests, the statement said.

Pichler asserted that “Royal Jordanian stays constantly in touch with our customers and listens to their suggestions, keen to accommodate their needs. In this regard, RJ has recently substituted the hot meals with sandwiches and snacks meals on short- and medium-haul flights of up to three-hour duration”.

The move follows the industry trend of regional and international full-service air carriers, which offer snacks on such flights while most low cost airlines are charging for food and beverages.

Pichler said: “Following our guests’ remarks and suggestions, RJ is currently coordinating with its catering partner, Dnata Company, to review the food and beverages offered.”

AMMAN — Inflation, measured through consumer prices, rose by 3.7 per cent in the first half of 2017 compared to the figure recorded at the same period of 2016, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday.

According to the Department of Statistics report, an increase in transportation charges was the main cause for the computed rise. 

Prices of vegetables, dried and canned legumes, tobacco and cigarettes, property rents, and charges for cultural and entertainment also went up, contributing to the rise, according to Petra. 

BEIRUT — Syria's six-year conflict has ravaged its infrastructure and caused losses to its economy of $226 billion, according to estimates published by the World Bank on Monday.

The devastating war has killed over 320,000 people and displaced more than half the country's population since it began in March 2011.

The World Bank said the destruction ran much deeper than death tolls or infrastructure damage alone could capture.

"The war in Syria is tearing apart the social and economic fabric of the country," World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem said in a statement.

"The number of casualties is devastating, but the war is also destroying the institutions and systems that societies need to function, and repairing them will be a greater challenge than rebuilding infrastructure — a challenge that will only grow as the war continues," he said.

The World Bank report found that cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses since Syria's conflict erupted "have been estimated at $226 billion, about four times the Syrian GDP in 2010". 

The body estimated that the conflict had damaged or destroyed 27 per cent of Syria's housing stock and about half the country's medical and educational facilities.

Those calculations were based on cross-checked satellite imagery of certain cities and areas and extrapolated based on a conflict intensity model.

The World Bank found an average of 538,000 jobs had been lost annually between 2010 and 2015. It said more than three in four Syrians of working age — or about 9 million people — were neither employed nor enrolled in any form of school or training. 

"The long-term consequences of this inactivity will be a collective loss of human capital leading to a shortage of skills in Syria," it said.

The damage to the health sector has also had devastating effects, with the World Bank saying more people were estimated to have died from deficiencies in the medical system than directly from fighting in the war.

"The breakdown of the systems that organise both the economy and society, along with the trust that binds people together, has had a greater economic impact than the destruction of physical infrastructure," the World Bank said.

The report estimated that if the conflict were to end this year, GDP could regain 41 per cent of its pre-conflict level within four years.

That figure shrinks however for each year the conflict continues, the institution found.

AMMAN — The Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) issued 2017 instructions on corporate governance for listed shareholding companies which firms must abide by, according to a JSC statement received by The Jordan Times on Monday. 

Previously, companies did not have to abide by former JSC governance instructions, issued in 2009, as they only represented guidelines for them, according to the JSC statement. 

JSC Chief Commissioner Mohammad Hourani said the instructions, which he described as in line with international practices, would further protect investors and improve the investment climate in Jordan.

Hourani underscored the importance of the instructions issued, pointing out that previously, many shareholding companies faltered because such instructions were not there to assist them.

Currently, corporate shareholders might face some difficulties in applying all new governance provisions. Under the JSC regulations, companies would not have to adopt them in full until April 2018, Hourani indicated.  

DOHA — Qatar on Sunday announced it was establishing a committee to pursue compensation claims potentially worth billions of dollars over the country's "blockade" by Gulf states.

Attorney General Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri said the Compensation Claims Committee would deal with cases including major companies, such as Qatar Airways, and individual Qatari students who have been expelled from the countries where they were studying. 

"This committee will receive all claims, whether from the public sector, private sector or individuals," Marri told journalists at a press conference in Doha.

Potential plaintiffs such as Qatar Airways, banks or individuals will be able to file claims over what Doha has labelled a "siege" in courts at home and abroad, including in Paris and London, Marri said.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced they had cut all ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting extremists. 

The four countries pulled their diplomats from Qatar, suspended all flights to and from Doha and ordered all Qataris to repatriate within 14 days. 

Qatar has said thousands of its citizens have been affected by the isolation measures in what has emerged as the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the Gulf in recent years. 

Doha's National Human Rights Committee in June said the sanctions represented a violation of the rights of some 140 Qatari pupils studying in the UAE, Saudi and Bahrain.

Qatar Airways has made Doha a global hub in just a few years, but experts say neighbouring Gulf states barring it from their airspace threatens its position as a major transcontinental carrier.

On June 22, the four Arab states issued a 13-point list of demands, including downgrading ties with Iran and shutting down broadcaster Al Jazeera, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions. 

Doha refused to comply with the demands and denies accusations of ties to extremist groups.

The Compensation Claims Committee will be overseen by Marri, as well as officials from the ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of justice.

HAMBURG — The World Bank on Saturday launched a public-private loan programme aimed at providing over $1 billion to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries, a project first initiated by US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.

The event put a spotlight on the powerful political role Ivanka Trump plays in the White House, where she has a formal job as an adviser to her father, and has frequently met with world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The World Bank said initial funding of $325 million was coming from donors including Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and would be matched by hundreds of millions of dollars in additional private capital.

"This is going to be what we hope will be a multi-billion dollar fund to support women entrepreneurs," World Bank President Jim yong-kim said at a launch attended by six of the 20 world leaders meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

"This is not a cute little project. This is going to be a major driver of economic growth in the future... and it's going to drive gender equality at the same time," he said.

The programme, which aims to start awarding loans before year end, will work with governments "to improve laws and regulations that are stifling women entrepreneurs" and push banks to free up funds for female-owned businesses.

It will also create an online mentoring tool to match women business owners in developing countries with advisers such as Ivanka Trump, Kim said. 

Women business owners at the event said it was important to tackle legal barriers that prevent women from owning property and limit their access to funds.

"The empowerment of women is absolutely essential," United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told participants, decrying what he called regression in women's rights even in industrialised countries.

Merkel said she was impressed how quickly the bank had realised the project, which was first initiated five months ago.

"If everything went as quickly at the World Bank — then we would be much more efficient," she said.