Libya News

Japan is monitoring foreign exchange moves with a sense of urgency and will consider timely action if the yen’s moves become volatile, its top currency diplomat said Wednesday after the yen hit a fresh 10-month low against the US dollar overnight.

“We could see speculative moves (in the forex market) and we are closely monitoring the situation, with a high sense of urgency,” Japan’s News Agency (Kyodo) quoted vice finance minister for international affairs Masato Kanda as saying.

“If such moves continue, the government will take appropriate measures, and all options are on the table,” Kanda added.

The yen briefly weakened to the 147.80 level against the dollar on the New York market Wednesday, hitting its lowest level since early November, as market participants sold the Japanese currency for the dollar amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive interest rate hikes.

“Sharp market swings are happening,” Kanda said, while also warning about the potential for a negative impact on households, such as through a rise in gasoline prices.

Japanese authorities repeatedly issue verbal warnings before they intervene in the currency market. The last time Japan conducted a yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention to arrest the Japanese currency’s decline was in October.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The US dollar held near a six-month peak on Wednesday as jitters over China and global growth weighed on risk appetite, while the yen was close to a 10-month low.

Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar was at 104.80, not far off the six-month high of 104.90 touched overnight.

The yen was at 147.66 per dollar in Asian hours.

The euro was little changed at $1.0721 in Asian hours; while Sterling was last at $1.25759.

The Australian dollar was down 0.17% to $0.637.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Qatar Stock Exchange index rose 51.51 points, or 0.51%, at the beginning of Wednesday’s trading, to reach the level of 10,117.82 points, compared to yesterday’s closing.

The positive performance of QSE general index was supported by a rise in five sectors: Industrials by 1.35%; Transportation by 0.44%; Real Estate by 0.30%; Banks and Financial Services by 0.28%; and Telecoms by 0.01%. On the other hand, the index saw a decline in Insurance by 0.33%; and Consumer Goods and Services by 0.17%.

At 10:00 am, Qatar Stock Exchange recorded 3,809 transactions worth QR 90,781,163.14, distributed to 45,361,602 shares.

Source: Qatar News Agency

HE Jordan’s Minister of Investment Kholoud Al Saqqaf stressed the importance of the large Qatari investments in Jordan, especially in the banking and energy sectors.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency , HE Minister Al Saqqaf pointed to intensive efforts currently taking place with the relevant authorities in Qatar to study the possibility of increasing Qatari investments in Jordan, by identifying investment opportunities and incentives available to Qatari businessmen.

She noted that the Ministry of Investment is working in harmony with the economic modernization vision launched by the Jordanian government in July 2022, which aims to attract more investments to Jordan.

The State of Qatar is one of the most prominent countries investing in Jordan with investments exceeding $4.5 billion in real estate, hotels, tourism services, banking, health, and energy, in addition to the industrial and oil derivatives sectors. They include investments amounting to $550 million from the Qatari private sector, $950 million in the financial market and the Amman Stock Exchange, while the rest of investments are distributed among a variety of sectors.

The Qatari investments in the field of energy in particular have expanded over the past years, most notably the Amman East Power Plant, and the photovoltaic power station “Shams Ma’an Solar Power Plant” which is implemented by Nebras Power. The project is a Qatari-Japanese investment that extends over 2 million square meters.

As part of the efforts to promote economic and investment cooperation between Qatar and Jordan, the private sector in both countries works to enhance the bilateral cooperation in various business sectors, and the two sides exchange visits on a regular basis in order to build real economic partnerships that reflect the strength of the bilateral relations and meet the aspirations of the two brotherly people.

HE Minister of Investment Kholoud Al Saqqaf highlighted the Ministrys tireless efforts to make Jordan an attractive investment environment for investors and businessmen, pointing to several initiatives that have been launched in this regard, which include completion of the legislative framework for the law, regulations and instructions related to investment, in addition to the investment promotion strategy which comes within Jordans plans for the next ten years with the aim of achieving an economic growth rate of 5.5%, and creating new job opportunities for 1 million workers.

She added that the Ministry of Investment launched the “Invest in Jordan” platform as part of the investment promotion strategy. The platform contains all necessary information of interest to investors, including the legislation regulating the investment process, and the free trade agreements signed with Jordan, in addition to the investment map. The Minister indicated that 21 investment opportunities were launched within the terms of the platform, at a value of 1 billion Jordanian dinars, focusing on priority sectors for Jordan.

Source: Qatar News Agency