Middle East Experience

Saudi Arabia will replace two US missile defense batteries at oil sites and will still be able to defend itself from any Iranian aggression, according to experts in the field who said the move did not affect strong US-Saudi relations.The US has removed two of its four Patriot anti-missile units from the Kingdom, leaving two more at Prince Sultan airbase. The move is part of a reorganization of its missile defense capabilities in the region, with two Patriot units sent to Iraq and two others withdrawn back to the US.Ali Shihabi, founder of the Arabia Foundation, told Al Arabiya English: “The removal is only of two Patriot batteries that were brought to protect two squadrons of American fighters that are being rotated out, so it may not be signal of much.”The Kingdom is well placed to defend itself from any aggression regardless of the redeployment of the anti-missile units, added Dr. Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi Arabian political scientist and senior research fellow at the Gulf Research Center.Read more: US commitment to Gulf security ‘not at all changed’: US envoy for Iran Brian HookSome analysts suggested the decision was a sign of the US revising its stance toward the Kingdom due to differences on oil policy. However, experts on US-Saudi relations disagreed.Alghannam said such analysis “ignores that fact that the Kingdom and Russia have reached an agreement to cut oil production starting from May, an agreement that was brokered by President Trump in early April.”“The US understands that saving its oil shale companies from bankruptcy does not depend only cutting Aramco’s plus production, but on reviving the world’s economy that has been hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19,” Alghannam told Al Arabiya English.A US Defense Department Official told AFP that the missiles were only ever meant to be in Saudi Arabia temporarily, following their initial deployment in response to Iranian attacks against Saudi Aramco oil facilities in September 2019.“I think everyone knew it was going to be a temporary plus-up at the time, unless things got bad. Things did not get bad, so they had to go,” the official said on condition of anonymity.Read more: Trump, King Salman reaffirm strong US-Saudi Arabian defense partnership: White HouseSaudi Arabia capable of defending itself from IranThe Kingdom has its own anti-missile defenses that are scheduled to replace the US Patriots.The two US Patriot missiles would be replaced by the Kingdom’s Patriot PAC-3 hit-to-kill missile, according to an unnamed US military official cited by Bloomberg.The Kingdom also has 40-60 CSS2 medium-range ballistic missiles and six legions of Patriot missiles to defend itself from foreign aggression.“There are 30 Patriot PAC-3 hit-to-kill in the Kingdom, and they managed in the last few years to shoot down 311 ballistic missiles coming from Yemen and 343 drones. Coupled with THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system, which the US is keeping, the Kingdom’s oil fields, maritime shores, and its space are well protected,” Alghannam said.US-Saudi ties still strongWashington’s commitment to the security of its Arabian Gulf allies is unchanged despite what appears to be a shift in force posture in the region, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told CNBC on Saturday.“Our mission is not at all changed. We’re standing with our partners and our allies in the region. We’re doing everything we can to protect American interests,” Hook told CNBC on Friday.“We’re going to continue working with the Saudis, the Emiratis, all of our partners in the region.”US President Donald Trump acknowledged the redeployment, but said it was not based on Saudi Arabia and gave few other details.“We’re making a lot of moves, in the Middle East and elsewhere. We’re doing a lot of things all over the world militarily,” Trump said when asked about the redeployment on Thursday.“This has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. This has to do with other countries, frankly, much more.”Late on Friday, Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz spoke on the phone. The two leaders reaffirmed the strong ties and ongoing defense partnership between Riyadh and Washington.“The two leaders agreed on the importance of stability in global energy markets, and reaffirmed the strong United States-Saudi defense partnership. The President and King Salman also discussed other critical regional and bilateral issues and their cooperation as leaders of the G7 and G20, respectively,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said.The US maintains other defense systems and fighter jets in the Kingdom, alongside its two remaining Patriot batteries.The move comes at a time when tensions with nearby Iran remain high, with Trump recently threatening to destroy any Iranian ships that continued to harass US Navy vessels in the Arabian Gulf.Reasons for the moveThe redeployment of the missile systems had been scheduled for March, according to the unnamed US official cited by Bloomberg, who said they had been delayed due to missile attacks against US forces in Iraq that have been blamed on Iranian-backed militia.The US Army has a limited number of the systems and they routinely must be brought home for upgrades, according to AP.The Pentagon also told the Wall Street Journal that they regularly move troops in and out of the region and reassess their forces.The US has also reevaluated the nature of the threat from Iran as Tehran struggles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic at home, calculating that moving the batteries will not affect its ability to contain Iran, or Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend itself.“The US believes that pulling out the two Patriot missile batteries will not affect the Kingdom’s defense against Iranian missiles,” said Alghannam, pointing to Saudi Arabia’s considerable defenses of its own and the wider US presence in the Arabian Gulf.Read more: Iranian destroyer attacks Iranian warship during drill, at least one dead: Iran TV
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia to replace US missile defenses at oil sites, relations strong: Experts

The UAE has no plans for a value added tax (VAT) rate hike, following the news that Saudi Arabia would be tripling its rate from 5 percent to 15 percent, the UAE Ministry of Finance told Al Arabiya on Monday.The UAE's VAT rate currently stands at 5 percent and was implemented at the beginning of 2018, although certain goods remain tax-exempt.All six of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries agreed in 2016 to introduce a VAT system with a rate of 5 percent, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia introducing the system in 2018 and Bahrain in 2019.Last month the country's tax authority said that it would delay the due date for payment of VAT ending March 31 until May 28, as a measure to support the economy amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.Earlier on Monday, Saudi Arabia announced a variety of economic measures that would be put in place to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus, including a VAT rate increase.DevelopingRead more:Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia’s $26 bln spending cuts scale back Vision 2030, triples VATDubai ruler: UAE after coronavirus will focus on medical, food, economic securityUAE: 30 coronavirus cases due to family gathering, 2-month-old baby, elderly infected
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE has no plans to increase VAT, says Ministry of Finance

The UAE has announced that the Eid al-Fitr holiday will begin on May 22 for public sector employees, in a statement on the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Monday.The end date is likely to be May 26, but has not been confirmed yet as it depends on moon sightings. The announcement only named Shawwal 3 of the Islamic calendar as the end date, which is expected to correspond to May 26.Public sector employees will therefore have a five-day long weekend from Friday, May 22 to Tuesday, May 26.While the announcement currently only applies to public sector employees, the private sector tends to follow the public dates for holidays.Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and is usually celebrated with family and friends.Read more:Coronavirus: One person in Bahrain infects 16 family members during Ramadan gatheringRamadan’s message of hope in the time of coronavirusCoronavirus: Spending Ramadan in lockdown? Here’s what you can do during the month
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ramadan: UAE announces Eid al-Fitr public holidays to begin May 22

The health care and livelihood of the Saudi Arabian people are the main priorities for authorities, said Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan in an interview with Bloomberg, following the announcement of enormous spending cuts to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus.The Kingdom announced on Monday that it would cut spending by 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), raise triple value added tax to 15 percent from July 1, and suspend distribution of the cost of living allowance from June 1. The enormous cut to spending will be achieved through cancelling and postponing some projects, while also reducing spending on major projects and Vision 2030 goals .“These are the priorities: the health care of people and the livelihood of people, and we want to make sure that we maintain our fiscal strength so that as the economy gets out of the lockdown, we are able to support the economy,” al-Jadaan told Bloomberg in a telephone interview.Saudi Arabia remains in widespread lockdown as it aims to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Lockdown measures aimed at reducing the infection rates are having a detrimental effect on the economy, as businesses shutter and consumers are told to stay at home.Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates.The minister stressed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to reform and to retaining its fiscal strength and reserves so authorities will be able to support the economy once the lockdown has ended.Al-Jadaan said that the spending cuts would come from reallocations, rather than wholesale budget cuts.“What we would end up with as we are now, we would end up with spending almost as budgeted because of the increase in spending that we have allocated both to support the economy and the private sector and the jobs of Saudi employees in the private sector,” the minister said.Tripling of VATVAT, a tax that is added onto the cost of goods in shops, will raise from 5 percent to 15 percent from July 1.Al-Jadaan said that the increase “is something that will help this year, but will help more next year and the year after as we get out of the COVID-19 crisis.”The increased revenue heading to state coffers as a result of VAT will likely not be significant this year, the minister continued, as consumers are not spending as much as normal while in lockdown.Low oil price punchOil prices have witnessed a historic fall since the year began, with prices down around 60 percent. This has resulted in significant revenue drops for Saudi Arabia, which still relies on oil revenue for a significant portion of its budget.The Kingdom's oil revenues fell 24 percent in the first quarter of this year to 128.771 billion riyals, while non-oil revenues fell 17 percent to 63.3 billion riyals.As a result, Saudi Arabia slipped into a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter, and its central bank foreign exchange reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest level since 2011.In response, authorities indicated that borrowing could increase by 100 billion riyals this year, to reach 220 billion riyals.Al-Jadaan indicated that there would be no need to increase borrowing beyond this.“I think between that and cutting spending now and a few weeks ago, I think we will manage with 220 billion riyals,” said the minister.Impact on Vision 2030The coronavirus pandemic will result in many projects slowing down, with supply chain issues and work restrictions both causing a significant impact.“Some of the Vision programs, we have been working on with the strategic committee over the past few months and weeks to re-prioritize the initiatives under the Vision Realization programs. They have been revamped,” al-Jadaan said.Spending on housing projects and in hospitality will continue, although “some of them will be postponed and extended to next year and the year after,” the minister said.The minister had said on May 2 in an interview with Al Arabiya that the Kingdom was prepared to take whatever "painful" measures necessary to mitigate the impact of the crisis, adding that we will see the impact of the pandemic and collapsed oil prices in the second quarter figures.“Despite all that is taking place around the world, we are committed to continue our reform, we are committed to ensuring that we have the fiscal strength and maintain our reserves, maintain our fiscal buffers, so that as we get out of COVID-19 we have the tools to support the economy,” al-Jadaan told Bloomberg.Read more:Saudi Arabia distributes $492 mln as ‘Ramadan aid’ for social security beneficiariesCoronavirus: Saudi Arabia’s $26 bln spending cuts scale back Vision 2030, triples VATCoronavirus ‘end date’ in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar predicted by Singapore researchers
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Jobs, health priority in coronavirus spending cuts, VAT hike: Saudi Finance Minister

Authorities in Gaza and the West Bank face big challenges trying to stanch the spread of the novel coronavirus during Ramadan, which usually involves social visits and group prayers.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Coronavirus imposes different reality for Palestinians during Ramadan

Saudi Arabia’s confirmed coronavirus cases continue to increase with 1,966 new cases confirmed on Monday, while the death rate has slightly dropped to 0.6 percent, according to the health ministry.The death toll has increased to 255 after nine new fatalities were confirmed.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Meanwhile, health ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali said 1,280 new recoveries were recorded over the past the 24 hours, raising the total number or recoveries to 12,737.“This is a slightly over 30 percent of the total confirmed cases,” he added.Of the new cases, 78 percent were male, and 22 percent were female patients. Al-Ali said the ministry noticed a small increase in female cases recently as well as in minors. He said this increase is partly due to ignoring social distancing measures and attending social gatherings.Also read: Coronavirus ‘end date’ in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar predicted by Singapore researchersThe spokesman continued to urge people to follow social distancing rules and other measures implemented to slow the spread of the virus.Saudi Arabia last week banned gatherings and crowds of more than five people under new regulations issued by the Kingdom to curb the coronavirus outbreak. The Ministry of Interior clarified that those who do not live together are banned from gathering together.The new regulations, which will be enforced by a newly-formed police unit, are part of efforts to ensure people follow social distancing measures.High number of cases, low death rateDespite an increase in the number of cases, Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus treatment protocol, extensive testing and active screenings have helped the Kingdom maintain its relatively low death rate, Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah said last week. Saudi Arabia's death rate is about 10 times lower than the global rate which is around 7 percent.Since the start of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has worked to provide thousands of beds and ventilators for treating patients, according to the health minister. Only 4 percent of ventilators and beds are being used in the Kingdom.“The good news is that 96 percent [of the beds and ventilators] are vacant today,” al-Rabiah said. “And with the implementation of preventative measures, we will not need them.”However, the danger of such a pandemic still exits, according to al-Rabiah. He continued to urge people to comply with preventative measures and described residents as the Kingdom’s “partners in confronting the virus.”Saudi Arabia continues to assess the implemented precautionary measures and has been adjusting accordingly. Authorities partially lifted restrictions last month through May 13.Read more:Saudi Arabia's low death rate below 0.7 pct, compared to global 7 pctSaudi Arabia bans family gatherings, crowds of more than 5 peopleCoronavirus ‘end date’ in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar predicted by Singapore researchers
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia records 1,966 new cases, death rate at 0.6 pct

Although Egypt’s chairmanship of the African Union ended in 2019, it continues to focus on Africa, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt’s role in Africa during COVID-19 pandemic

The Tadawul All Share Index dropped as much as 3.5% in Riyadh
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Saudi shares slump in early trading after hike in VAT, cut to state allowances

On the anniversary of the end of World War 2 and less than a week before the visit in Israel of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Netanyahu needs Trump on Syria, Iran, but he needs Putin, too

Economic recovery will have a large say behind how much further gold prices can extend
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Spot Gold prices move back above ,700 - could they be even higher?