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Kuwait’s finance minister said Tuesday current oil prices are too high and are inflationary, Bloomberg News reported. “I think it’s high,” Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shimali said in an interview in Isfahan, Iran, today with Bloomberg News. A reasonable oil price would be “more or less $100,” he said. Read more

The Finance Bill, 2008, today received the President’s assent. Soon after, the finance ministry issued notifications to give effect to various provisions related to service tax.

The amendment regarding transaction between associated enterprises which says that service tax will have to be paid even if the consideration is not actually received comes into effect from today. Read more

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MANILA, Philippines — The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) rose slightly to $36.7 billion in April from $36.6 billion in the preceding month, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Foreign exchange inflows consisted mostly of the bank’s gains from foreign exchange operations, its income from investments abroad, as well as the government’s deposit of proceeds from a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the central bank said.

The latest GIR level covers 6.2 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income, central bank said.

The GIR reserves for April are equivalent to 5.2 times the country’s short-term external debt, based on original maturity, and 3.4 times based on residual maturity.

The central bank aims to boost the GIR level, including its holdings of gold and other foreign currencies, to a range of from $35 billion to $37 billion by the end of 2008.

($1 = P42.35)

Sources : Business

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In her new book, Business Nightmares, former Dragons’ Den star Rachel Elnaugh talks to some of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs about their setbacks – and discusses the collapse of her own Red Letter Days. In this extract, she looks at how to overcome disaster

After Emma Harrison left university, her father invited her into his small Sheffield training business to give her work experience. Only 18 days later he told her she’d got the hang of it, and promptly disappeared to Germany leaving her in charge. Read more

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TAMPA — Two well-known Tampa Bay entrepreneurs have spearheaded the formation of a local chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a group designed to allow members to draw on the collective resources and expertise of kindred spirits in the business world.

Along with other players in the local business community, Kevin Harrington, CEO of Reliant International Media LLC, and Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. (Nasdaq: OMEX), have started to actively recruit for the organization and say they plan to have the chapter up and running by the summer.

Roughly 75 people attended an invitation-only party to promote the launch of the chapter at Harrington’s spacious waterfront estate in St. Petersburg on April 10. Local celebrity boxer Ronald “Winky” Wright, who owns independent record label Pound 4 Pound Records Inc. and is involved with other Bay area entrepreneurial ventures, put in an appearance along with some other heavyweights in the local business community.

Since the launch, there have been preliminary talks about appointing a president and board of directors for the chapter. Once 20 people join the organization, it would have the critical mass needed to get off the ground, Harrington said.

Sources: David Guidi

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The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in the country will be increasingly looking at non-traditional sources for financing needs, a business outlook survey conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) revealed Read more

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Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is the second largest private life insurer in India. At the helm of Bajaj Allianz is Kamesh Goyal, regional CEO for Allianz Middle-East, North Africa and South Asia Region and CEO Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance. In an interface with ET, Mr Goyal speaks of his strategy for this high growth market. Read more

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New figures from Access Economics show Tasmania’s economy is in a strong position, and business confidence is growing.

However Tasmania’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) is not convinced it is all good news. Read more

Kotak Mutual Fund has launched a 13 months Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP). Kotak FMP 13M Series 3, a close-ended debt fund.

The Scheme : Kotak FMP 13M Series 3, a close-ended Debt Scheme. Scheme Objective : The investment objective of the Scheme is to generate returns through investments in debt and money market instruments with a view to significantly reduce the interest rate risk.
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The islamic Capital Market (ICM) refers to the market where activities are carried out in ways which does not conflict with the principles of Islam. The ICM represents an assertion of religous law in capital market transactions where the market is free from prohibited activities and elements such as riba’ (usury), maisir (gambling), and gharar (ambiguity).

The growing awareness of and demand for investing in accordance to islamic principles on a global scale has created a flourishing Islamic capital market, more so today due to increasing wealth in the hands of Muslims worldwide who are actively involved in corporate and business activities.

Consider these statistics:

* The Muslim population of the world today is estimated at about 1.5 billion, reprenting a sizeable 24% of total world population of 6.3 billion.

* Latent Islamic funds in global financial institutions is said to be at US1.3 trillion while the islamic financial market is estimated to be US230 billion in size, with an annual growth rate of 12% to 15%

* There are over 250 Islamic financial institutions currently operating in about 75 countries worldwide, with more than 100 Islamic equity funds managing assets in excess of US5.0 billion.

Indeed, the pace of development in the Islamic financial market has gathered momentum with the formation of various international Islamic organisations to study and promote this alternative market. These organisations include the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) , the international Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

Today, the Islamic financial market runs parallel to the conventional financial market and provides investors with an alternative investment philosophy that is rapidly gaining acceptance. The fact that the Islamic financial market does not prohibit participation from non-muslims creates unlimited upside to the depth and breadth of this market.