#Dubai court orders KPMG to pay $231mn for #Abraaj fund audit failure | Financial Times

Dubai court orders KPMG to pay $231mn for Abraaj fund audit failure | Financial Times

A court in Dubai has ordered KPMG Lower Gulf to pay more than $231mn to a group of investors who claim they lost money because of poor-quality audit work by the firm on a fund they were invested in. 

The judgment, issued late last month, found that the Big Four firm breached international auditing standards by approving the financial statements of an infrastructure fund managed by collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group. 

The award is one of the largest ever against an accounting firm and exceeds KPMG Lower Gulf’s revenues of $210mn in its most recent financial year. 

An official translation of the court ruling said: “The court has concluded from the papers, documents and the report of the appointed expert committee that it is confident that the auditing company had committed many violations when it audited the financial statements of the investment fund.”

#Qatar banks record strongest lending growth among Gulf peers in Q4-2022: Kamco Invest

Qatar banks record strongest lending growth among Gulf peers in Q4-2022: Kamco Invest

Qatar banks saw the strongest lending growth among the Gulf lenders during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022 despite hard interest rate regime, according to Kamco Invest, a regional economic think-tank.

The GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) central banks data showed that after months of marginal activity, Qatari banks reported the biggest lending growth at 3.5% during Q4-2022 compared to a decline in lending during the previous quarter.

Aggregate credit facilities in Qatar reached QR1.3tn at the end of Q4-2022 mainly backed by 9% growth in lending to the real estate, followed by 5.5% and 5.4% growth in lending to services and public sector. A decline in lending to industry (-4.4%) and consumption (-2.5%) partially offset the overall growth in domestic lending.

Saudi Arabia continued to report strong growth at 1.4%, but the pace declined considerably and was the smallest since June-2019.

The growth in the case of Kuwaiti banks was also modest at 0.9% quarter-on-quarter and was the smallest growth since Q4-2020, while credit growth reported by Oman central bank came in at 1.2% during Q4-2022.

OPEC+ Cuts Intensify the ‘Siege’ on Oil Consumers, IEA Warns - Bloomberg

OPEC+ Cuts Intensify the ‘Siege’ on Oil Consumers, IEA Warns - Bloomberg

OPEC+ production cuts are likely to drive up oil prices and inflict more pain on consumers already squeezed by high inflation, the International Energy Agency said.

Global oil markets — already on track for a supply deficit before Saudi Arabia and its partners unveiled the surprise curbs — will tighten more than previously expected, forcing hefty inventory withdrawals of about 2 million barrels a day on average in the second half of the year, according to the agency.

“Oil market balances were already set to tilt into a substantial deficit,” the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly report on Friday. “The latest cuts risk exacerbating those strains” and “consumers currently under siege from inflation will suffer even more from higher prices.”

Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ partners shocked crude traders and sent prices rallying when they agreed to fresh output curbs of more than 1 million barrels a day on April 2. Brent futures are trading near $86 a barrel, shoring up revenues for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries while reviving inflationary pressures for the world economy.