Iran will invest $18b to boost south's oil output

Iran will invest some $18 billion in southern oil-rich part of the country during the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-15), said deputy oil minister for planning and supervision on hydrocarbon resources.
Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr further said that until the end of current Iranian year (March 20, 2012), about $3 billion will be invested in the region, Shana reported.

Gulf Air in marketing partnership with Copenhagen

Gulf Air has signed a joint marketing agreement with Copenhagen Connected, the route development programme of Copenhagen, to aggressively drive inbound tourism from the Middle East to Copenhagen through Gulf Air’s Bahrain hub.

The agreement was signed at a recent press conference marking the airline’s inaugural flight to Copenhagen by Gulf Air’s chief commercial officer Karim Makhlouf, and chairman of the Copenhagen Connected Programme steering committee Lars Bernhard Jorgensen.

Banks' loan rejection rates rocket

Labour yesterday blamed the government's economic policies for stymying small business growth as an independent survey showed that a "significant minority" of small businesses seeking loans are failing to gain the credit they seek.

Banks have adopted a ‘take it or leave it’ approach to small business loans with outright rejection rates rocketing sevenfold since before the financial crisis, a key survey shows.

Stock markets across Europe fall on debt fears

Fears that Italy will be forced to seek a bailout sent Italian government bonds falling on Monday, as Europe's most senior finance ministers gathered to discuss the ongoing eurozone debt crisis.

The FTSE Mib sank to a 14 month low.

In Italy shares were down almost 4%, in France the Cac index fell 2.7%, Germany's Dax fell 2.3%, and London's FTSE 100 was down 1%. Banks across Europe were hit hard, with Italy's Unicredit down 6.3%.