Business

DUBAI — Dubai earned a reputation for delivering luxury for those with cash to splash years ago, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a new mode of travel has become popular — yachts.

"It's more private, you're with only family and friends, and it's the ideal outing during a pandemic," said Nada Naeem, a 36-year-old Saudi citizen living in Dubai.

Dozens of white yachts are seen every day zipping through the emirate's bays, canals and islands, while others are docked along the coast in Gulf waters overlooking the skyline of high-rise towers.

"You feel like you can breathe," Naeem said, adding that she had not left Dubai since the pandemic began last year. "It's like you've travelled."

Unlike so many parts of the world, Dubai opened its doors wide open to tourists just a few months after the coronavirus pandemic took hold last year.

Life in the Gulf emirate — one of the first destinations to welcome visitors again last July — returned to largely normal, with restaurants and hotels up and running and beaches open to the public.

The UAE, made up of seven emirates including Dubai, launched an energetic vaccination drive with some of the highest inoculation rates worldwide, and continues to enforce strict rules on wearing masks and social distancing.

But some are fearful of overseas travel, and wary of crowded places where the risk of catching COVID-19 is higher.

'Secure and safe' 

For those who can afford the price tag, yachts are seen as a safer bet.

"When they eased the lockdown... people preferred something secure and safe with regulations," said Mohammed Al Sayyed, manager of Royal Star Yachts charter company.

"We are providing them with the proper customer service, following all the rules, sanitising the yacht."

For now, yachts are allowed to operate at 70 per cent capacity.

The company has a fleet that includes a 141-foot yacht able to host 80 passengers at full capacity — if you can afford the $4,900 price for a three-hour cruise.

Charter companies said they have seen an increased interest in yachting after coronavirus measures eased, especially among those who want to spend time with friends and family.

"People want to do sightseeing, cruising," said Sayyed, who has been in the yacht industry for eight years. "They want to relax."

Cheaper yachts to hire include the company's "Big Daddy" — capable of normally carrying 65 people, at $1,225 for three hours — down to smaller boats.

Some in Dubai said that when the price was split between a group, the cost was not as steep as it seemed at first.

"It can actually be more affordable than an all-inclusive brunch at a restaurant," said Naeem.

And while some groups have been busted by authorities flouting the rules and slapped with hefty fines, most excursions run smoothly.

Sayyed insisted his company follows all the rules and that even on the most luxurious "party yachts", there are COVID-19 regulations still in place, including the need for passengers to socially distance from each other and wear masks.

Beach to boat takeaways 

Dubai, known for its skyscrapers and mega-projects, boasts the most diverse economy in the oil-reliant Gulf region and has built a reputation as a financial, commercial and tourism hub.

Tourism, which drew some 16 million visitors a year before the coronavirus hit, took a severe downturn in the first few months of the pandemic.

But a flood of arrivals since the beginning of the year has regenerated the industry, and helped many business activities recover.

Other yacht charter companies report an increase in demand for rentals in recent months.

And being out at sea doesn't mean the guests must skimp on takeaway food or drinks. Jet skis and speed boats are on standby — for an extra fee — to take orders and deliver groceries from shore to ship.

"To go on a boat is as simple as being outdoors and being away from strangers, gathering with only those you trust," said Palestinian Jeelan Herz, who has lived in the UAE for more than 30 years.

"It's also something you can enjoy safely with children — go to the middle of the ocean, take part in water activities and take a nice dip."

BEIRUT — Lebanon's currency hit a new low against the dollar on the black market on Monday, continuing its freefall in a country gripped by political deadlock, an economic crisis and increasing shortages.

The pound, officially pegged at 1,507 to the US dollar since 1997, was selling for 15,400 to 15,500 to the greenback on the black market, several money changers said.

After hovering around 15,000 to the dollar in mid-March, the unofficial exchange rate dropped to between 12,000 and 13,000 later that month before soaring back up in recent days.

The latest plunge means the pound has lost more than 90 per cent of its value on the informal market since October 2019, in what the World Bank has called one of the worst financial crunches worldwide since the mid-19th century.

Lebanon has been without a fully functioning government for 10 months since the last one stepped down after a deadly port explosion in Beirut last summer.

Politicians from all sides have failed to agree on a line-up for a new Cabinet even as foreign currency cash reserves plummet, causing fuel, electricity and medicine shortages.

In recent days, frustrated drivers have waited for hours in long car queues outside petrol stations to fill up their tanks.

Pharmacies went on strike on Friday and Saturday in protest at the central bank allegedly failing to provide them with dollars as a preferable exchange rate so they could continue working.

Electricity cuts have increased in length as the state struggles to secure enough fuel to operate power stations.

People earning salaries in Lebanese pounds have seen their purchasing power drastically reduced as they battle to keep up with price hikes.

The country, where more than half the population now live in poverty, is in desperate need of financial aid but the international community has conditioned any such assistance on the formation of a new government to launch sweeping reforms.

NEW YORK — Investing in Bitcoin and other digital currencies remains a risky game where the rules could change significantly, but the payoff could be big. 

In response to this dilemma, several leading US financial heavyweights are staying on the sidelines, while an increasing number are proceeding cautiously into the growing world of cryptoassets.

"My own personal advice to people: Stay away from it," JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said recently, before adding, "That does not mean the clients don't want it."

JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets, is currently assessing how it can help clients transact in cryptocurrency, Dimon said last month at the bank's annual meeting.

Formerly something of an investment sideshow dominated by computer geeks, cryptocurrencies are sparking greater interest among mainstream investors after a big jump in Bitcoin prices in 2020 and early 2021.

On Thursday, the venerable giant State Street announced the creation of a new digital finance division.

On Wednesday, the head of online trading firm Interactive Brokers vowed to establish online trading of cryptocurrencies on the platform by the end of the summer.

Like its rivals Charles Schwab and Fidelity, Interactive Brokers does not now offer Bitcoin trading on its platform, although it does give clients the option to invest in some assets that include cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin futures.

Investors who want to trade Bitcoin can currently turn to Robinhood or the cryptocurrency specialist Coinbase.

ForUsAll, a platform that manages retirement accounts for small businesses, on Monday announced an agreement with Coinbase that allows clients to invest up to five per cent of their balances in cryptocurrencies.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley in March said it would allow wealthier clients to invest in Bitcoin funds, while Goldman Sachs recently established a team dedicated to trading cryptocurrencies.

The chief executives of Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America said at a congressional hearing in late May that they are approaching the cryptocurrency landscape with caution.

Fidelity Investments, which established a digital assets division in 2018 to execute cryptocurrency trades for hedge funds and other institutional investors, filed papers with US securities regulators for a Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF).

The move could potentially expand cryptocurrency investments to a broader range of individual investors.

 Tougher rules ahead? 

Still, many financial players are reluctant to dive into an investment realm associated with black markets that has sparked interest from US and global regulators.

There is also remarkable volatility, with Bitcoin beginning 2021 at around $30,000 and hitting $63,000 in April before falling back to $34,000 in June.

"Speculators and those suffering from FOMO [the 'fear of missing out'] will surely continue to flock to cryptos in the hopes of achieving huge returns," said Ian Gendler of research firm Value Line.

But Gendler urges clients to avoid cryptocurrency investments, citing the elevated risk and the lack of a tangible asset compared with putting money into commodities or a company. Bitcoin and other digital money is also not backed by governments, he noted.

"Cryptocurrencies are only worth what the next investor is willing to pay," he said.

Still, many in finance do not see cryptocurrency as a transient phenomenon.

"We do believe Bitcoin, and more broadly cryptoassets, are a new and emerging asset class that will likely be here to stay," said Chris Kuiper, vice president at CFRA Research.

CFRA expects "the large banks as well as smaller financial institutions to continue to adopt them, particularly as the infrastructure and legal/regulatory framework continues to be built out", Kuiper added.

The Basel Committee, which coordinates regulation among central banks, this week proposed new rules that would require banks to set aside capital for cryptocurrency investments.

Gary Gensler, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has also said he wants to bolster protections for cryptocurrency investors, telling CNBC that such investors "don't have full protections that they have in the equity markets or in the commodity futures market."

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan announced a budget on Friday of 8.4 trillion rupees ($54 billion) for the next fiscal year, basing it on an ambitious growth target of 4.5 per cent and tripling spending on public sector development with an election just two years away.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin's presentation to the National Assembly drew jeers from opposition lawmakers.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has presented himself as a champion of the poor and pledged to lift the country out of poverty, but Pakistan is heavily indebted and desperate for foreign investment.

Rising inflation has left many struggling with higher food prices and energy bills.

Tarin said the budget earmarked some 3 trillion rupees to retire or service current debt.

"We were on the verge of default because of past governments' bad governance but now we have overcome that crisis," Tarin said.

The budget earmarks 2.135 trillion rupees on public development, including job-creating infrastructure projects — a huge increase from this year's 1.532 billion.

"The weaker segment of society has been yearning for prosperity for many years and now sustainable growth is needed," Tarin told legislators, saying the budget would be nearly 4 billion rupees in deficit.

"We expect trickle-down effects with our budgetary measures," he said.

Spending on the military — which has swallowed a huge chunk of Pakistan's riches since the country came into being with the partition of India in 1947 — will rise 6 per cent to 1.4 trillion rupees.

Tarin said Pakistan's current account was in surplus for the first time in years on the back of unprecedented remittances and rising exports.

To fund the budget, the government has set a tax revenue collection target of nearly 6 trillion rupees, compared with 4.5 trillion this year.

The finance minister said some 140 billion rupees had been set aside to vaccinate the 220 million-strong population against COVID-19.

Mohammad Sohail, financial manager and CEO of Topline Securities, said the budget was a "confidence-building exercise".

"The biggest challenge will be to deal with IMF [International Monetary Fund] and rising commodity prices," he said.

Independent economist Shahid Hasan Siddiqui was more dismissive.

"This whole budget is based on erroneous figures and false hopes," he said.

"This budget will further distance the country from economic autonomy."

FRANKFURT — European Central Bank (ECB) chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday said it was "too early" to consider winding down pandemic support, even as the economic recovery gathers steam and inflation surges past the bank's target.

The ECB held interest rates at record lows and made no tweaks its 1.85-trillion-euro ($2.2 trillion) pandemic emergency bond-buying scheme, aimed at keeping borrowing costs low to spur spending and investment.

Former French finance minister Lagarde said it would be "too early and premature" to discuss tightening monetary policy, saying continued support was needed to cement the rebound.

Keeping the cheap money taps open throughout the pandemic crisis "remains essential to reduce uncertainty and bolster confidence", she told reporters.

The outlook for the 19-nation zone has brightened considerably on vaccination progress and booming post-lockdown demand as businesses reopen.

"We expect economic activity to accelerate in the second half of this year," Lagarde said.

An uptick in consumer spending, strong global demand and fiscal and monetary stimulus "will lend crucial support to the recovery", she added.

But she warned that the economic healing remained fragile and strongly depended on how the pandemic evolves.

In updated forecasts on Thursday, the ECB said it now expected the eurozone economy to grow by 4.6 per cent this year, up from 4.0 per cent previously.

Inflation overshoot 

Optimism about the economic recovery is complicated however by a recent surge in inflation, a problem faced by central bankers around the world.

Lagarde reiterated that the jump in eurozone consumer prices is likely to be temporary, and that the longer-term outlook for headline inflation remains subdued.

Eurozone inflation hit 2.0 per cent in May, its highest level in nearly three years and overshooting the ECB's benchmark of "close to, but below" 2.0 per cent.

The price increases have been fuelled by higher oil prices and temporary factors including shortages of raw materials and pent-up demand as different sectors emerge from shutdowns.

Core inflation, which strips out energy and other volatile items, remains muted.

The ECB's newest projections raised the inflation estimate for 2021 from 1.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent on Thursday. 

The bank expects inflation to fall back, hitting 1.5 and 1.4 per cent over the following two years.

No US comparison 

The United States is facing a similar dilemma, where concerns are growing that the Federal Reserve could be forced to reduce or "taper" its bond-buying scheme, or lift interest rates earlier than planned to prevent the economy from overheating.

US inflation spiked to five per cent in May, according to data released during Lagarde's press conference.

Lagarde said that although the ECB was "attentive to the global situation", the eurozone was at a different point in the recovery than the US.

"If the inflation situation in Europe is not as dramatic as in the US, those are quite unusual waters for the eurozone," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a Swissquote analyst.

Still, she said, "European businesses need support, and the ECB is here to provide them the support they need."

The ECB has for years maintained an ultra-loose monetary policy in a bid to drive up anaemic inflation and boost economic growth.

As well as record-low and even negative rates, it has offered super cheap loans to banks to encourage lending and investments.

On top of the PEPP bonds, it is also hoovering up 20 billion euros a month in government and corporate bonds under a pre-pandemic asset purchasing scheme.

The ECB announced in March that it would accelerate the monthly pace of PEPP purchases, to calm market jitters about rising bond yields at the time.

Observers expect the faster pace to be maintained until September, when the ECB could start reducing the purchases. The emergency scheme is set to run until the end of March 2022. 

Asked whether ECB governors had already broached the topic of when to start "tapering" the purchases, Lagarde said it was "too early" for such a discussion.

ATHENS — Thousands of demonstrators marched in Greece on Thursday as a 24-hour nationwide strike against a new labour reform shut down transport and public services.

Over 16,000 people took part in separate demonstrations in Athens organised by unions and opposition parties, police said, with leftist, socialist and communist party leaders also attending the rallies.

"No matter what the government does, this bill is condemned by workers," Dimitris Koutsoumbas, head of the communist KKE party, told reporters.

"It belongs in the trash heap," he said.

Another 10,000 marched in Thessaloniki, and protests were held in other major Greek cities.

Critics have labelled the reform, which promotes working hour flexibility, "modern-day slavery".

"Hands off the 8-hour (working day)," read a banner carried by pro-communist protesters in the capital.

"Slavery is not progress," said another.

The government says the reform -- to be put to a vote in parliament next week -- introduces optional working hour flexibility, sets rules on remote work, improves parental leave and includes safeguards against workplace sex harassment.

The Greek economy has reopened after a second six-month pandemic lockdown. State data last week showed output grew by 4.4 percent in the first three months of the year, compared to the previous quarter.

Labour Minister Costis Hatzidakis has said the new rules allow staff to personally negotiate with management the option of working more hours during part of the year, and subsequently take more time off.

A working day of up to 10 hours is permitted under the reform, in return for additional paid leave.

But unions and opposition parties say it undermines collective bargaining, disrupts employees' personal lives and formalises overtime exploitation by employers -- especially large businesses -- which has already been going on for years.

"Workers cannot pay for their rent, (the needs of) their children, their shopping with paid leave," the main opposition Syriza party's speaker against the bill, Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, told parliament.

"Once personal contracts are formalised, they will proliferate...and become the norm," she said.

Unions are also opposed to the reform setting stricter rules on calling strikes.

The government's majority in parliament already approved the bill at a first reading on Wednesday, ahead of a plenary vote next week.

The 24-hour walkout sidelined ferry services and trains, forced flight rescheduling and snarled most public transport in Athens. 

Public services shut down and most journalists also went offline for the day.

LONDON — Barry Ivens, who has been driving London's iconic black taxi cabs for a quarter of a century, has never experienced anything like the past tumultuous year in the British capital.

As waves of coronavirus swept the country and lockdowns wrought havoc on his industry, the 53-year-old said the financial and mental anguish had "taken its toll".

"It's been really hard," Ivens told AFP from behind the wheel, as he plied the still-quiet streets of central London looking for customers.

He has relied on everything from repayment holidays on his mortgage and cab to government financial support schemes, and feels lucky to be alive given COVID-19 has caused nearly 128,000 deaths in Britain.

However, Ivens — one of 15 members of Black Taxi Tour London, a collective offering bespoke guided tours alongside regular rides — has also sorely missed the social side of his work. 

"You're almost a showman for London," he said. "You miss that all the time, so your mental health has really gone through it."

"All I keep thinking is: I'm still here, I'm still driving the cab, my family's alright, let's keep going. 

"It's like the wartime attitude that my nan [grandmother] used to have."

As Britain gradually eases its restrictions and customers slowly return, London's thousands of cabbies are praying the worst is finally behind them.

Ivens believes business is back at around two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels, but notes that is barely sustainable.

"That's my profit margin — that top one-third pays for life, basically," he said. 

Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA), said the industry is "hopeful" and can see "the green shoots".

But drivers have drained any savings to survive the past year, he said. 

"Any slack's gone," he added. "And any slack's gone for [Prime Minister] Boris [Johnson] as well. If he tries to lock us down again, I think he's going to be looking for a different job." 

Official statistics show the number of black cab licences dropped nearly 5,000 over the past year, to around 13,700.

Newspaper pictures published worldwide last year showed a sea of abandoned cabs parked up in a field east of London.

"A lot of guys have scrapped vehicles, sold vehicles, de-licensed vehicles," McNamara said.

"We've heard awful stories: Vehicles being repossessed, bailiffs knocking at doors." 

The figures are fuelling fears of a future shortfall in cabs if the return to normality proceeds as planned.

"As and when things start to pick up eventually, and I think that'll be September... there's going to be a massive shortage of cabs, undoubtedly," McNamara added.

But some drivers worry that work-from-home arrangements could be largely here to stay. 

"They're coming back in dribs and drabs but the biggest concern for cab drivers is that people are only going to work two to three days," said 59-year-old Paul, a 20-year black taxi veteran.

"You can't count your chickens in this job."

Another major ingredient still missing for black cab drivers' income is foreign visitors.

Tourists are currently hard to find in Britain, which requires 10 days of quarantine from most destinations, in hotels for people from countries with the worst rates of coronavirus infection.

"The only bit of tourism you get is someone who's a bit bored up in Leicestershire [central England], who will come down and have a weekend here," said Ivens.

"London needs people from abroad — this is an international city," he added, driving through the once-bustling district of Covent Garden.

"Look at these coffee shops here," Ivens added, gesturing at a largely deserted cafe. "I've seen it [with queues] out the door at lunchtime."

McNamara, of the LTDA, believes the eventual return of tourists will make "a massive difference" to his members, and in the meantime "things will continue to pick up".

But after years of being undercut by cheaper ride-hailing apps such as Uber, and now hit by the pandemic, some fear for the future of London's black taxi industry.

Famed globally, drivers of the bulbous cabs — which were originally designed to accommodate a passenger in a top hat — have all had to pass a fiendishly difficult exam called "The Knowledge".

Testing their recall of streets, routes and landmarks purely from memory, it is seen as giving the capital uniquely qualified drivers, but takes years of study, effort and money.

"You have to keep these professions going — that's what London was built on," said Ivens, who comes from a family of cabbies.

"We are Londoners, and we have Londoners at heart."