It’s  Time To Go Now!                                                                  28 February 2025

The jury is out whether the Dubai real estate market is slowing down, after four years of a post-pandemic rally, and whether prices and rentals have now peaked. Two things are certain. Last year’s record of 180.9k transactions, worth US$ 142.26 billion, will be surpassed, in 2025, but the 36% and 27% increases posted will be lower.  However, the number of units handed over this year will be 50% higher than the estimated 45k figure for 2024, whilst price/rental rises will be higher in 2025 but at a slower pace than in the previous years. The market cannot cope with say 30% annual rises – if that were the case, a property valued at 100 today will be worth 287.93 in five years’ time, equating to an annual 37.59% increase. People have to realise that that the sector is not immune from economic reasoning and the property cycle cannot see records broken every year. A slowdown is inevitable but the questions are when and whether it will be a measured exercise or a hard landing; the answers are sometime before 2027 and the latter will be dependent on global  economic circumstances – if there is a major global slowdown, on par with the 2008 GCC, then it could be a crash landing, if not it will be a period of stabilisation, with minimal movements in prices.

Palma Developments has launched a US$ 1.36 billion project in Jumeirah Islands – the Serenia District, encompassing a 600k sq ft area. It will have a 3.5 million sq ft built up area, comprising six integrated towers – the Serenia Signature Clubhouse, Health & Social zone, Sports & Recreation spaces, Family Oasis, Nature Discovery zone, and a Wellness Retreat.

According to Manrre Logistics Fund, warehouses and grade A logistics facilities will witness price rises of up to 10% in the UAE this year, attributable to the triple whammy of a shortage of Grade A units, low vacancy rates and strong demand from domestic/international players. New demand is from e-commerce, manufacturing and chemical firms. The consultancy noted that “all industrial areas have a shortage of Grade A logistics facilities. There is an average vacancy rate between 4.0% to 2.5% only. In the next twelve to eighteen months, there will be some ease due to new supply”.  It expects that because there is just a 3% vacancy rate for Grade A assets, with logistics, e-commerce and multinationals driving demand, rents had jumped by between 25% – 30% last year with a further 5% – 10% expected in 2025. Some analysts see a possible UAE shortfall of forty million sq ft. In contrast, there is a lot of vacancy in the low and old assets industrial areas, and since the demand at the premium end is so high, (with supply limited), some will be considering to speed up the process by purchasing old warehouses and upgrading them.

 Dubai and Abu Dhabi Industrial and Logistics 2024-2025, a Knight Frank report, indicated that demand for industrial and logistics real estate peaked in Q4, accounting for 34% of the year’s total. 27% of the market was taken by two sectors – manufacturing and logistics, (15% and 12%) – with a further four sectors, (services, trading, construction, and automotive), each accounting for around 6%. Size-wise, 50k – 100k sq ft represented 31% of the new space, followed by 25k sq ft and 25k – 50k sq ft.

Bids for the 215-key Palazzo Versace Dubai hotel were closed on Wednesday, with a US$ 300 million base price – 18.0% lower than when it was offered for auction last year. The earlier auction processes last year were pulled because there were no viable bids on the table. It is reported that the current management will not be immediately impacted by the auction activities, with the current management agreement running to March 2028; the residences attached to the hotel are not part of the auction. With the government recently having confirmed that several properties and plots in the area would be re-designated as freehold, from their leasehold status, has piqued interest not only for the hotel but for the Al Jadaf area.

It appears that Dubai service charges will again head north, driven by an increase in operational costs including maintenance of common areas, district cooling charges and high utility costs; the increase may be as high as 10%. According to Driven Properties, the highest service charges are at Bulgari Resorts and Residence in Jumeirah Bay Island at US$ 14.63 per sq ft, followed by Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Downtown and Bluewaters The lowest rates are to be seen in Jumeirah Village Circle, Marjan, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Dubai South.

The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources has officially announced the working hours for government employees during the Holy Month of Ramadan this year. With Ramadan definitely starting tomorrow, 01 March, federal government working hours will be from 9:00am to 2:30pm, Monday to Thursday, while operations on Fridays will run from 9:00am to 12:00 noon. Flexible working hours will continue into Ramadan, and up to 30% of federal employees will be allowed to work remotely on Fridays. Meanwhile, private sector employees will have their working days reduced by two hours, as directed by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. Private sector companies may, in accordance with their interests and the nature of their work, apply flexible work patterns or remote work within the limits of the daily working hours specified during the month of Ramadan.

The latest project announced by Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority is a US$ 217 million investment for the Al Qudra Street Development Project. It will extend from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to Emirates Road via Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street.

For the fourth consecutive year, flydubai posted record-breaking 2024 numbers, with a 16% hike in pre-tax profit, to US$ 681 million, and a total revenue of US$ 3.49 billion, 15% higher on the year; the carrier posted a 15% rise in EBITDA, at US$ 1.12 billion and all this despite the ongoing 737 MAX delivery issues. The main factors for this major improvement were the strength of flydubai’s diverse network, as well as its strong and agile business model. As a percentage, fuel costs were 4.0% lower at 28% of operating costs, due to lower average fuel price, with a closing cash balance at US$ 1.28 billion. There was an 11.0% increase to 15.4 million passengers using flydubai in 2024, as the airline added ten new destinations. It received four Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which were delivered in the first half of 2024. These aircraft were from the backlog of previous years, with the carrier expecting extensive delays, noting that it did not receive “any of the aircraft that were contractually scheduled to be delivered in 2024 due to ongoing challenges with Boeing’s delivery schedule”. The carrier’s current order book stands at one hundred and twenty-seven Boeing 737 aircraft to be delivered over the next decade, in addition to thirty Boeing 787 Dreamliners, following its first wide-body aircraft order valued at US$ 11 billion, starting from 2027. Whilst expecting “another positive” growth year in 2025, chief executive, Ghaith al Ghaith, noted that, “our strategic plans are highly influenced by the manufacturer’s ability to deliver on their promise to bring the aircraft delivery schedules back on track and clear the backlog. flydubai will receive twelve new Boeing 737s in 2025 to continue growing its fleet, replace some of its existing aircraft and support its network expansion plans”.

With the important target of strengthening the country’s position as a leading global hub for digital payments, Al Etihad Payments has launched the UAE’s first domestic card scheme. It will be available in debit, pre-paid and credit card form, and can be used in all payment channels such as online transactions, ATM withdrawals, and point-of-sale terminals; the scheme can be activated locally and internationally. The subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE has other aims to offer public and private clients:

• a secure, efficient, and innovative payment solution
• lower transaction costs by providing an effective local alternative
• increase efficiency by accelerating local payment processes using the UAESWITCH
• support economic growth
• stimulate innovation in the field of payments
• promote e-commerce
• develop financial inclusion
• provide financial services that meet all requirements of the society

There will be two types of Jaywan cards – mono-badge for local and GCC usage, and co-badge for international payment schemes.

DEWA has posted that its US$ 387 million Hatta pumped-storage hydroelectric power underwent operational tests last month and is 96% complete. The utility announced that it will start exporting power to the Dubai grid in April which will support the emirate’s clean energy and net zero carbon strategies. 

Parkin has introduced a new mobile app, with several innovative features including a ‘park now, pay later’ option and real-time parking finder. It will also allow users to pay parking fines, dispute charges, and request refunds. The Parkin app is available for download on iOS and Android platforms.

Almost nine years ago, the federal government liberalised fuel prices so that they could be aligned with market rates until the onset of the pandemic which saw prices frozen by the Fuel Price Committee, in 2020. The controls were removed in March 2021 to reflect the movement of the market once again. Today, March retail prices have dipped, between 0.4% and 1.7% (for diesel), compared to February prices. The breakdown of fuel prices for a litre for March is as follows:

Super 98      US$ 0.744 from US$ 0.747     in Mar                up 4.6% YTD US$ 0.711     

Special 95   US$ 0.711 from US$ 0.717      in Mar                up 4.4% YTD US$ 0.681        

E-plus 91     US$ 0.692 from US$ 0.695      in Mar               up 4.5% YTD US$ 0.662

Diesel           US$ 0.755 from US$ 0.768      in Mar               up 3.4% YTD US$ 0.730

The Dubai Financial Services Authority added a further one hundred and thirty five entities to bring the total number of regulated firm to more than nine hundred – a credible 31% hike in numbers. This growth indicates the DFSA’s ongoing commitment to strengthen the financial services sector within the Dubai International Financial Centre, whilst enhancing and maintaining robust regulatory standards. The Authority also authorised nine hundred and forty-six individuals and registered seventeen Designated Non-Financial Business or Professional corporate services providers. Fadel Al Ai, the DFSA Chairman noted, “the DFSA remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting the growth of the DIFC, contributing to the prosperity of Dubai and the UAE.”

With consolidated revenues 10.1% higher, (and up 12.6% in constant exchange rates), at US$ 16.13 billion, e&’s 2024 profit came in 4.3% higher at US$ 2.94 billion. Its subscriber base jumped 5.4%, over the year, to exceed fifteen million, whilst globally, its customer base grew 11.7% to 189.3 million. Its chairman Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, noted that, “our investments in AI ecosystems, intelligent platforms, and industry-defining solutions reinforce our role as a catalyst for change”.

The Dubai Taxi Company has signed a five-year strategic partnership with Dubai Airports, to be the exclusive provider of taxi services at Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International. Last year, as ninety-three million passengers used both airports, they were responsible for six million limousine and taxi trips, with a further 33.3% increase in numbers, to eight million, expected by 2029; projected revenues, over the next five years, have been forecast to be US$ 681 million. DTC operates a dedicated airport fleet of some nine hundred taxis, including seven hundred dedicated airport taxis.

The DFM opened the week, on Monday 24 February, three points lower, (0%), higher the previous week, shed forty-one points (0.8%), to close the trading week on 5,318 points by Friday 28 February 2025. Emaar Properties, US$ 0.38 higher the previous five weeks, shed US$ 0.23, closing on US$ 3.65 by the end of the week. DEWA, Emirates NBD, DIB and DFM started the previous week on US$ 0.72, US$ 5.76 US$ 2.11 and US$ 0.38 and closed on US$ 0.72, US$ 6.02 US$ 2.09 and US$ 0.39. On 28 February, trading was at three hundred and sixty-five million shares, with a value of US$ five hundred and ninety million dollars, compared to three hundred and twelve million shares, with a value of US$ one hundred and forty-eight million dollars on 21 February.

In 2024, the bourse had opened the year on 4,063 points and, having closed on 28 February at 5,318 was 1,255 points (30.9%) higher YTD. Emaar had started the year with a 01 January 2024 opening figure of US$ 2.16, and had gained US$ 1.49, to close on 28 February at US$ 3.65. Four other bellwether stocks, DEWA, Emirates NBD, DIB and DFM started 2024 on US$ 0.67, US$ 4.70, US$ 1.56 and US$ 0.38 and closed February 2024 at US$ 0.72, US$ 6.02, US$ 2.09 and US$ 0.49.

By Friday, 28 February 2025, Brent, US$ 0.39 lower (5.0%) the previous week, shed US$ 1.40 (1.9%) to close on US$ 72.99. Gold, US$ 55 (1.9%) higher the previous week, shed US$ 94  (3.2%) to end the week’s trading at US$ 2,845 on 28 February 2025.

Brent started the year on US$ 74.81 and shed US$ 1.82 (2.4%), to close 28 February 2025 on US$ 72.99. Gold started the year trading at US$ 2,624, and by the end of February, the yellow metal was trading at US$ 2,832 – US$ 208 (7.9%) higher YTD.

Bitcoin sank below US$ 80k on Friday for the first time in more than three months, but ended the day on US$ 83,914;; the main driver  for the sell-off was increased volatility in global markets. This was the lowest level it had been since 11 Novemebr2024 and well down on the US$ 109k plus, posted last month. Trump’s presidential victory in early November was a signal for crypto to surge since he had promised, on the campaign trail, to free up regulations surrounding digital tokens and pledged to make the US the crypto capital of the world.

Dubai-based cryptocurrency firm Bybit, and the world’s second largest, confirmed hackers stole US$ 1.5 billion worth of digital currency, in what could be the biggest crypto theft in history; the firm has said its funds were “safe”, and that it would refund any of those affected, noting that “all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss.” The previous record was a US$ 620 million heist of Ethereum and USD Coin from the Ronin Network in 2022. It seems that hackers stole from its Ethereum coin digital wallet, but the firm’s founder, Ben Zhou, said the money could be covered by the firm, which holds US$ 20.0 billion in assets, or by a loan from partners. Bybit says it has more than sixty million global users and offers access to various cryptocurrencies. The exchange has offered a recovery bounty programme, as it called on the “brightest minds in cyber security and crypto analytics” to join the global hunt for the hackers. A 10% reward of the amount recovered will be paid to cyber and network security experts who help retrieve the stolen booty. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority is “actively monitoring” the situation, while noting that the hack remains a “highly evolving matter that we will continue to closely track until it stabilises”. Vara clarified that Bybit had not been granted a regulatory licence in Dubai.

Over the next four years, Apple is set to invest US$ 500 billion, (its “largest-ever spend commitment”), which will see a new advanced, 250k sq ft manufacturing factory in Texas, expansion of its data centre capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada, as well as the creation of 20k jobs, with the “vast majority” of roles in R&D, software and AI.  The new factory is set to produce servers that were “previously manufactured outside the US” to support Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI system. The tech firm said the sum included everything from spending on suppliers to Apple TV+ productions and also confirmed that it would be doubling, to US$ 10.0 billion, its support for a fund dedicated to US manufacturing, which it created in Trump’s first term.

Microsoft has confirmed that, in May, it will close its video-calling service, Skype – released in 2003. It quickly became one of world’s most popular websites and allowed people to make free global voice calls, via their computers, and formerly had hundreds of millions of users. Microsoft acquired the firm for US$ 8.5 billion in 2011, with Skype becoming integrated with the company’s other products such as Xbox and Windows devices. Users can now use MS Teams.

The 2024 year was an impressive year for Nvidia, with a record high revenue of US$ 130.5 billion, attributable to robust demand for its chips to power AI in data centres. In its fiscal Q4, which ended last month, the firm posted a staggering revenue of US$ 39.3 billion, with net income at US$ 22.0 billion, as the tech juggernaut successfully ramped up “massive-scale” production of its new top-of-the-line Blackwell processors for powering AI, logging billions in sales. Its Q1 forecast sees revenue at US$ 43.0 billion. Nvidia rode the wave of the AI boom stock prices, until a steep sell-off in January, triggered by the sudden success of DeepSeek – but these latest figures will ameliorate market concerns. However, high-end versions of Nvidia’s chips face US export restrictions to China. Nvidia relies heavily on Taiwan’s TSMC for the production of its graphics processing units, raising concerns it faces geopolitical risks.

Saying he wanted to see Starbucks, (which employs some 360k), return to its roots as a coffee house, chief executive Brian Niccol, wants to shrink its menu by nearly a third over the next year, hoping to reduce wait times and improve quality and consistency. (His first step this week was to axe the Royal English Breakfast Latte, White Hot Chocolate and several kinds of blended frappuccinos – a major move by a person whose pay packet is estimated to be over US$ 100 million). With flagging sales in its home market, 8% lower in Q4, the US, and elsewhere, cost cutting is imperative, so Starbucks is cutting 1.1k jobs and simplifying its menu in the US and at the same time hopes it “make way for innovation, help reduce wait times, improve quality and consistency, and align with our core identity as a coffee company.” Starbucks’ supremo also wrote that “our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration”.

Aldi, the UK’s leading supermarket chain, has unveiled new pay rates that will make its employees the best-paid in the supermarket sector, as from tomorrow, 01 March. It will pay all shop workers at least US$ 16.16 an hour nationally, and US$ 17.80, within the M25, with those with a longer service record seeing rises to US$ 17.31, (nationally) and US$ 18.18; entry staff will see a 1.0% rise to US$ 16.16, after Sainsbury’s had lifted their entry-level hourly wage to US$ 15.97.

What also angers a lot of energy consumers is not only the profits they make but also the remuneration packages of senior management. For example, this week Susan Davy, the chief executive of water company Pennon, the parent company of South West Water, addressed MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. She was in charge of the water utility responsible for an outbreak of cryptosporidium that resulted in an eight-week boil water notice for parts of Devon and left hundreds sick last May. She also acknowledged that the company had “a lot more to do” on customer service and engagement and “isn’t where it needs to be” on environmental performance. She was also asked about her 2023 58.4% pay rise to US$ 1.09 million and defended it on the basis that she did not take her bonus and that it was deserved as it had been set by a remuneration committee, rather than by her, and she was “well paid for what is a very responsible and accountable role”. She added there was no means for customer bill rises to be considered in awarding her pay. South West Water bills are set to rise 32% over the next five years.

The Dutch-based tech investor, Prosus, which already had a 28% stake in global rival Delivery Hero, has confirmed that it had made an all-cash offer, and valued Just Eat at US$ 4.27 billion. This equates to a 22% premium on the highest share value over the previous three months, which was trading on the Amsterdam exchange at US$ 21.31. Just Eat, Europe’s biggest meal delivery firm, said the offer was unanimously supported by its management and board; it also confirmed that its current leadership would remain in place, and it would continue to be based in Amsterdam. The firm also announced a 35% rise in 2024 pre-tax profits to US$ 482.86 million, citing an improvement in its key UK and Ireland market, mainly due to lower costs of fulfilling orders and more efficient marketing. The buying firm commented that “we believe that combining Prosus’s strong technical and investment capabilities with Just Eat Takeaway.com’s leading brand position in key European markets will create significant value for our customers, drivers, partners, and shareholders.” It also added that it wanted to create a “European champion” for food delivery.

A sure indicator, that Chinese travel demand has bounced back, was figures, in January, that several major Chinese airlines, including Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern, had returned double-digit growth in passenger capacity and turnover, with strong performance on international routes. Air China, and its subsidiaries, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines posted 10.0%, 11.8% and 12.5% annual increases in passenger capacity and hikes of 12.1%, 19.7% and 17.7% in passenger turnover. Hainan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, and Spring Airlines also registered solid growth, with capacity increases of 18.7%, 18.7% and 17.2% respectively. Apart from the Chinese New Year, occurring last month, the triple whammy of increased capacity, visa facilitation, and the easing of travel restrictions helped boost international travel.

Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS employs a total of around 41k people and currently has up to 9k temporary and contract workers. This week, it announced over 4k roles, over the next three years, will be lost, as AI takes on more work currently done by humans. Permanent staff are not expected to be affected by the cuts, with DBS expecting to recruit some 1k AI personnel to boost its current eight hundred number and forecasts that the measured economic impact of these to exceed US$ 745 million this year. AI has come to the fore in recent times and the IMF believe that last year, it affected nearly 40% of all global jobs, with its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, warning that “in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality”. Meanwhile, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the BoE, noted that while there are risks with AI, “there is great potential with it”, adding that AI will not be a “mass destroyer of jobs” and human workers will learn to work with new technologies.

A new report from Blume Ventures notes that nearly 72% of the 1.4 billion Indian population lack money to spend on any discretionary goods or services, and that only about 10% of the population could be counted as consuming class. The study also concluded that another three hundred million are “emerging” or “aspirant” consumers, but they are reluctant spenders who have only just begun to open their purse strings, as click-of-a-button digital payments make it easy to transact. Surprisingly, it also noted that the consuming class is “deepening” not “widening”, indicating that the country’s wealthy class is not growing in numbers but growing in wealth, with the poor losing purchasing power, supporting the theory that India’s post-pandemic recovery has been K-shaped. Two interesting features noted in the report were the booming sales of ultra-luxury gated housing, with affordable homes now constituting just 18% of India’s overall market, compared with 40% five years ago. The other being that the country has been getting increasingly more unequal, with the top 10% of Indians now holding 57.7% of national income compared with 34% in 1990, as the bottom half have seen their share of national income fall from 22.2% to 15%. The report also noted that India’s middle class, being squeezed  out, as wages have remained flat, with the middle 50% of the country’s tax-paying population having seen its income stagnate in absolute terms over the past decade, implying a halving of income in real terms; this is one of the main reasons why the net financial savings of Indian households are approaching a fifty-year low.

In its aim to slash the size of the federal workforce, the Internal Revenue Services has already seen 6k laid off, during a period which is in the middle of the tax season, as millions of Americans file their returns. This week, the defence department axed more than 5k jobs, as part of a goal to reduce its nearly million-strong civilian workforce by up to 8%. Elon Musk had been appointed to lead DOGE, (Department of Government Efficiency), to implement the layoffs as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Last Saturday, US government workers received an email asking them to list their accomplishments from the past week or resign! Earlier, Elon Musk had posted that employees would “shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal employees, criticised the message as “cruel and disrespectful” and vowed to challenge any “unlawful terminations” of federal employees. Nevertheless, Trump earlier said that a crowd of supporters at Cpac that the work of federal employees had been inadequate because some of them work remotely at least some of the time, and that “we’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce”.

He also added, “we want to make government smaller, more efficient,” and “we want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people.”

As the Starmer government has promised a purge of regulators in a bid to get the UK economy moving again, there are reports that the Payment Systems Regulator, which employs about one hundred and sixty people, could be scrapped and incorporated into the Financial Conduct Authority. The financial decision to abolish the UK payments watchdog is expected in the coming weeks. The aim of the total exercise is to cut red tape and stimulate economic growth, with the first casualty last month being Marcus Bokkerink, the chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, because it was felt that the body was paying too little heed to UK competitiveness. Since then, both the chair and chief executive of the Financial Ombudsman Service have announced plans to step down. It is reported that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will soon order an audit of roughly one hundred and thirty regulators across the economy to assess whether they were sufficiently focused on growth. In December, the PM and Chancellor sent a joint letter to about fifteen major regulators – including Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat – demanding ideas for how to remove bureaucracy from the economy and more proactively encourage growth.

With European January sales almost halving, and facing increased pressure from Chinese EVs and other competitors, Tesla saw its shares slump 9% on Tuesday, bringing its market cap to less than US$ 1 trillion for the first time in three months. Another potential reason for the fall may be down to potential buyers taking a ‘principled stand’ against its owner’s political position. According to trade body Acea, even total European EV sales rose by more than a third last month, Tesla sales across the EU, EFTA and the UK fell more than 45%, and more than 50% in the EU alone; last year, Tesla sales declined for the first time in more than a decade.

With industry regulator Ofgem increasing the price cap for the third time in a row, the average annual energy bill will rise to US$ 2,339 from April; this equates to a monthly  US$ 11.70 rise, or 6.4% higher on the year; overall typical bills will be US$ 201 higher, on the year – the first time since records began in 2022 that the  April cap has been higher the January one; the lucky four million, who fixed the cost of energy units in November, will not have to pay, unlike the seven million users who will be charged. Average households have paid US$ 3,795 more for energy since 2020, with the energy regulator estimating that the average household will have to find for their energy will reach an estimated US$ 3,815 by the end of June 2025. The energy regulator estimates Europe has seen a price spike due to strong demand in recent months, driven by colder than average weather.

If energy prices did not present enough problems for UK consumers, April will see both council taxes and water bills also move higher which may be partly offset by marginal rises in the minimum and living wages. On top of that, employers’ national insurance contributions will also move north with a 1.2% hike to 15.0%.

Eleven years after he was forced out as the chairman of the Co-op Bank, Paul Flowers, has had his day in court and has been jailed for three years on fraud charges. At the time, there were claims of inappropriate expenses and illegal drugs allegations, and this week the septuagenarian admitted eighteen counts of fraud, worth over US$ 125k. He committed the offences against an elderly and vulnerable friend, Margaret Jarvis, as executor of her will. She trusted Flowers because of his high-profile public roles and he went on splurging his ill-gotten gains on drugs, holidays and gifts for himself. In 2017, he had hit the financial headlines because of his role at the bank which had to be bailed out by US hedge funds, following which he was banned from the financial services industry by the City watchdog. Coincidentally, he was also a former Methodist minister but not the first person of cloth to hit the financial headlines in recent times – Paula Vennels, the disgraced and scandal-ridden Post Office CEO, was an ordained Anglican priest.

Already facing a 10% tariff, China has been hit with a further 10% salvo, with the US President raising the stake; he has also intimated that he will move forward with a 25% levy on imports from Canada and Mexico, which are set to come into effect on 04 March. These three trading partners of the US account for more than 40% of its imports. If they go ahead, the impact will be felt more in Mexico and Canada, whilst higher prices in the US are inevitable, with domestic consumer confidence being damaged, and the global markets will be spooked.

There was a dramatic and extraordinary ending to the week at the White House. After relatively soft meetings with Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, Donald Trump met Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, today.  He had come to see the US President and sign both a ceasefire agreement, along with a rare metals’ deal, worth billions. What transpired was an ugly confrontation that ended in chaos and seriously threatened any peace talks, at least in the short-term. No doubt it made great television but did nothing for diplomacy, but Instead, he was unceremoniously kicked out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and told It’s  Time To Go Now!