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How the UAE can improve its financial literacy Financial literacy is the awareness of how money functions and the capacity to handle one's finances successfully. While it is not a new idea, it is a completely recent phrase frequently used in the UAE. Why is this so? The reason, it appears, is that we are a not a financially knowledgeable nation. This can be clearly gleaned from our amount of debt, which constantly increases. In spite of the fact that the Central Bank introduces more rigorous qualifications for individual lending in 2011, banks are still allowed to grant loans of up to 20 times a person's monthly wage, with installments not to go above 50 per cent of monthly wage. The worth of personal debts in the country rose by 3.8 per cent to Dh270.7 billion between January and May this year alone, according to the Central Bank. That sum is over and above the Dh8.8 billion increase in individual loans reported during 2012. In addition, a survey by The National Family Status Observatory in 2012 revealed that about 60 per cent of Emirati families disbursed about one fourth of their monthly earnings repaying loans from credit cards and individual loans. Those figures are excessively high, says Keren Bobker, the financial counselor who writes The National's "On Your Side" column. "A major fraction of the population has total monthly loan obligations that surpass their income," she says. "Inescapably, this will end up in defaulting on payments and other dire consequences." So why is the UAE exceedingly financially uninformed? "Many factors can explain this predicament," Ms Bobker says. "These comprise having to handle financial products in a second language; absence of transparency in terms of many financial products and services; lack of help from banks, and excessive hard selling which are improper." Having debts has been embedded into the culture, she says. "So many citizens here simply believe that having large uncollateralized

Business owners take all possible steps to ensure customer satisfaction. One of the most successful and recommended strategies in this regard is to begin with a virtual receptionist service. This service brings in extra representatives for a business and eases the lives of the customers. When the customers have questions or queries to be answered or any problems to be solved, they try to reach the authoritative body telephonically and it is not uncommon for them for not having to been able to do so. This is where the need for virtual receptionists comes in. Virtual receptionists are basically persons who work for the customer support but do not work from the office or any specified location.

Wednesday saw many banks simultaneously slash deposit interest rates, while the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office announced a slight decrease in the city's consumer price index. The interest rate for deposits of a term between one and three months at Vietcombank was lowered from the rate cap of 8 percent a year to 7.5 percent a year. The country's third-largest partly-private lender also dramatically cut the rate for deposits of a term of over 12 months, dropping it from 10.5 percent to 9.5 percent. ACB meanwhile imposed a 0.2 percentage point cut on rates for one- to six-month terms, while offering a 7.6 percent a year rate for 9-month term deposits. Some industry insiders, however, believe the unexpected interest rate cuts were a sign of banks embracing another order to slash rates by the State Bank of Vietnam. The banking system is likely to see another interest rate adjustment, as the government has recently asked the central bank to continue lowering deposit interest rate in order to reduce lending rates. The deposit interest rate was capped at 8 percent last year under the government's bid to assist businesses with lower lending rates. CPI declines Other insiders said the rate cuts came since banks have anticipated the development of the CPI in March, which saw a slight decrease of 0.29 percent, according to the statistics office. The city's CPI rose 1.15 percent in the first quarter of this year. Six out of 11 commodity baskets posted slight decreases, the office said. The deepest decrease -- 0.62 percent -- was recorded in the commodities and services basket, followed by food and restaurant services (0.6 percent), and culture-entertainment-tourism services (0.47 percent). Beverages and cigarettes dropped by 0.35 percent, while transport saw a 0.34 percent decline, and garments and textiles-headwear-footwear, 0.08 percent. In the increase group, housing-electricity-water-fuel prices, and construction material prices respectively rose by 0.38 percent

I am not positive the place you're getting your info, but good topic.

Wednesday saw many banks simultaneously slash deposit interest rates, while the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office announced a slight decrease in the city's consumer price index. The interest rate for deposits of a term between one and three months at Vietcombank was lowered from the rate cap of 8 percent a year to 7.5 percent a year. The country's third-largest partly-private lender also dramatically cut the rate for deposits of a term of over 12 months, dropping it from 10.5 percent to 9.5 percent. ACB meanwhile imposed a 0.2 percentage point cut on rates for one- to six-month terms, while offering a 7.6 percent a year rate for 9-month term deposits. Some industry insiders, however, believe the unexpected interest rate cuts were a sign of banks embracing another order to slash rates by the State Bank of Vietnam. The banking system is likely to see another interest rate adjustment, as the government has recently asked the central bank to continue lowering deposit interest rate in order to reduce lending rates. The deposit interest rate was capped at 8 percent last year under the government's bid to assist businesses with lower lending rates. CPI declines Other insiders said the rate cuts came since banks have anticipated the development of the CPI in March, which saw a slight decrease of 0.29 percent, according to the statistics office. The city's CPI rose 1.15 percent in the first quarter of this year. Six out of 11 commodity baskets posted slight decreases, the office said. The deepest decrease -- 0.62 percent -- was recorded in the commodities and services basket, followed by food and restaurant services (0.6 percent), and culture-entertainment-tourism services (0.47 percent).Beverages and cigarettes dropped by 0.35 percent, while transport saw a 0.34 percent decline, and garments and textiles-headwear-footwear, 0.08 percent. In the increase group, housing-electricity-water-fuel prices, and construction material prices respectively rose by 0.38 percent a

Hmm, actually looks useful.

http://economic.tylergroupservices.net/ Myanmar on Tuesday pardoned dozens of political prisoners a day after the European Union agreed to end almost all sanctions against the former pariah state, activists said. Bo Kyi of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said, at least 59 political prisoners were included in the latest amnesty. "More than 200 political prisoners are still in prison," he continued. "Political prisoners should be recognized as political prisoners and be released unconditionally." He said, the amnesty included 40 former rebels from eastern Shan state jailed for drug trafficking while describing them as "victims of politics". Nyan Lin, another activist, from the 88 Generation group, confirmed that at least 30 political prisoners were released. Based from his counting, he included 17 Muslims arrested and charged under the emergency act after religious clashes in the central town of Kyaukse in 2003. A Myanmar government official said that total of 93 inmates were pardoned but did not identify them. Out of the pardoned inmates, three were foreigners. He said, "This release aims to allow them to participate in building the country and is also based on humanitarian grounds." According to State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell, the United States welcomed the latest release but called for the unconditional freedom of all political prisoners. Since President Thein Sein took power in March 2011 Myanmar has freed hundreds of political detainees although they have been long denying their existence. The government publicized a reassessment of all politically allied cases in November last year. Myanmar's former junta was accused by rights groups of wrongfully imprisoning about 2,000 political opponents, dissidents and journalists. And activists state Myanmar's government has used a series of headline-grabbing prisoner releases for political gain. In November it seems that it was done to coincide with a