Abu Dhabi’s GDP grew 4.1%

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi’s economy grew 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2024, according to preliminary government estimates, driven by non-oil sectors as the city-state accelerates efforts to diversify away from hydrocarbons. The United Arab Emirates capital’s gross domestic product (GDP) in Q2 reached 297 billion dirhams ($80.87 billion), according to the government statistics centre, and the contribution of non-oil sectors stood at over 55 percent, the highest in about 10 years, at 164.2 billion dirhams. Non-oil GDP surged 6.6 percent in Q2, vastly outperforming overall GDP growth, led by increases in construction, manufacturing, and finance and insurance activities. — Reuters

Pakistan delays bidding for PIA

ISLAMABAD: The bidding for Pakistan’s national airline PIA has been delayed to Oct 31, a spokesman for the privatization ministry said on Tuesday. A Pakistani parliamentary committee of privatization had earlier been informed that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would go under the hammer on Tuesday. The spokesman said the bidding will now take place on Oct. 31 and the date has been approved by the ministry. — Reuters

Fed sees no ‘hurry’ to cut rates

NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated on Monday the US central bank would likely stick with quarter-percentage-point interest rate cuts moving forward and was not “in a hurry” after new data boosted confidence in ongoing economic growth and consumer spending. “This is not a committee that feels like it is in a hurry to cut rates quickly,” Powell told a National Association for Business Economics conference, even though the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its easing cycle with a larger-than-expected half-percentage-point reduction at its Sept. 17-18 meeting. — Reuters

Ireland unveils budget giveaway

DUBLIN: The Irish government handed voters 10.5 billion euros of tax cuts and spending increases in a pre-election budget on Tuesday that also outlined how it will use a 14 billion euro ($15.6 billion) Apple tax windfall to improve creaking infrastructure. Prime Minister Simon Harris must call an election by March but most analysts see November as the most likely date, when voters will start to benefit from the latest budget splurge resulting from Europe’s healthiest set of public finances. — Reuters

His government distributed 10.5 billion euros to pensioners, parents, renters, workers and welfare recipients in the biggest non-pandemic budget since Ireland’s Celtic Tiger years, equivalent to about 2,000 euros for every man, woman and child. – Reuters

PARIS: Targeted tax rises and spending cuts will be required to narrow France’s gaping budget deficit, Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Tuesday as he outlined his new government’s policy plans to parliament. Barnier, appointed last month, faces the challenging task of plugging a huge hole in public finances at a time when the fragmentation of parliament and infighting in his minority government will make it hard to push through reforms. At stake is France’s credibility with its European Union partners and in financial markets, as its borrowing costs have surged. “The sword of Damocles hanging over us is our colossal financial debt,” Barnier told lawmakers, ignoring heckles from the hard-left France Unbowed.

France’s deficit was making it weaker in Europe, he added. France’s biggest companies will be asked to contribute more to the deficit reduction effort through higher taxes, as will the country’s wealthiest individuals, Barnier said, without giving further details. “The situation of our public finances today requires a targeted effort, limited in time,” Barnier said. According to Le Parisien newspaper, Barnier was considering tax hikes of 15 to 18 billion euros ($17-20 billion).

They reportedly included an additional 8 billion euros through taxes on corporations, and the imposition of an additional 3 billion euro levy on energy companies and share buybacks. The plans also include raising income taxes for top earners to bring in some 3 billion euros, and increasing electricity taxes for another 3 billion euros, Le Parisien said, without citing sources. Barnier’s office did not reply to a request for comment on the figures. Barnier said he would push back the target date for reaching the euro zone’s common 3 percent deficit goal to 2029 from 2027. It risks hitting 6 percent this year, his government has said. — Reuters

Barnier, a conservative, was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron nearly two months after a snap election delivered a hung parliament. For now, his government of centrist and conservative ministers has the tacit support of the far-right National Rally, and depends on it.

A leftwing alliance won most seats in the election but without an absolute majority and Macron chose not to appoint a prime minister from its ranks. France Unbowed lawmakers, who say the vote was “stolen” and that there should be a leftwing prime minister, brandished their voter cards as Barnier started speaking and frequently shouted him down during his speech. “The French did not vote for you,” some yelled. — Reuters