A seven-fold hike in visa fees to do business in Saudi Arabia risks deterring the foreign investment needed to transform its oil-dependent economy, diplomats and other sources say.

EU leaders on Friday were anxiously awaiting a breakthrough with the small Belgian region of Wallonia that is blocking a vast free trade deal linking Europe with Canada.

The European Central Bank kept its key interest rates at record lows at its policy meeting on Thursday, as calls grew for president Mario Draghi to shed light on his future stimulus plans. 

Saudi Arabia raised $17.5 billion in its first international bond issue, HSBC announced Thursday, after the bank took part in the transaction.

Saudi Arabia divided the issue into three tranches with maturities of five, 10 and 30 years respectively, HSBC said.

Chinese growth stabilized in the third quarter, data showed Wednesday, as ample credit and hot property markets propped up the world's second-largest economy.

But while the forecast-beating reading was in line with state targets, it came as experts warned that authorities have relied too much on easy credit, which has in turn increased financial risks.

Saudi petrochemical giant SABIC on Wednesday reported a 6.8 percent drop in net profit for the quarter ended September 30, compared with the same period last year.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp, the largest publicly traded firm in the Gulf, said net profit fell to 5.2 billion riyals ($1.4 billion) against 5.6 billion riyals in the third quarter last year.

Political stalemate and the conflict rocking Libya are preventing the North African country from taking advantage of its vast oil resources and pushing the economy towards collapse, experts say.

A modest recovery in oil prices falls short of filling budgetary gaps in crude-exporting Gulf countries, the International Monetary Fund said, stressing the need to cut spending.

The price of the region's main commodity has partially rebounded and is hovering around $50 per barrel having hit a 10-year low of less than $30 in January, from a peak of more than $100 in mid-2014.

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn will become chairman of Mitsubishi Motors after Japan's number two automaker announced a major investment in its scandal-hit rival, a report said Wednesday.

Tunisia said Tuesday it exported a record 110,000 tonnes of dates in 2015-16, a 10 percent increase on the previous year and a rare boost for the struggling economy.