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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE 2017 11 Oil prices slipped further below $50 a barrel yesterday on con- cerns that a diplomatic rift be- tween Qatar and several Arab states including Saudi Arabia could undermine efforts by OPEC to tighten the market.Kuwait Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said Qatar was committed to an OPEC agreement to restrict supply, tell- ing Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA Doha was complying with its obligations. "Qatar is ... committed to the sup- ply cut decision and its compli- ance ratio ranges between 93% and 102%," he said. But the many traders, confronted by surplus oil in many parts of the world, were still unnerved. Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader, said there was "a real chance" OPEC solidarity surrounding its production cuts might fracture. Leading Arab powers includ- ing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of support for Islamist militants and Iran. Under measures taken, ships coming from or going to the small peninsular nation were barred from docking at Fujairah, in the UAE, which is used by Qatari oil and liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) tankers to take on new shipping fuel. With oil production of about 620,000 barrels per day (bpd), Qatar is one of the smallest crude producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun- tries, but some investors fear tension within the cartel could weaken its agreement to hold back production in order to prop up prices. Several analysts said these fears were exaggerated. "The OPEC agreement stands and is highly unlikely to change because of tension with Qatar. Crude production in the Middle East will not change because of Qatar," said Oystein Berentsen, managing director for oil trading company Strong Petroleum. Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way South Africa falls into recession Qatar diplomatic row sees oil prices tumble South Africa's economy fell into a recession for the first time since 2009 after it contracted for a second straight quarter in the first three months of the year as all bar two industries shrank. Gross domestic product receded an annualized 0.7% in the first quarter from a contraction of 0.3% in the previous three months, Statistics South Africa said in a report released yesterday in the capital, Pretoria. is the first time that economic has slowed for two consecutive quarters - the technical definition of a recession - since 2009. The value of the rand fell by 1% on the currency markets. Analysts had expected GDP to grow by 0.9% during the first quarter. However, Joe de Beer, deputy director general of Statistics South Africa, said: "We can now pronounce that the economy is in recession." He added: "The major industries that contracted in the economy were the trade and manufacturing sectors." While rains are helping Africa's most-industrialized economy recover from a 2015 drought that was the worst since records started more than a century earlier, political uncertainty has hampered implementing reforms aimed at boosting growth. President Jacob Zuma changed his cabinet and fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister in March, a move that saw the nation lose its investment- grade status with two ratings companies for the first time in 17 years. It prompted two credit rating agencies, Standard and Poor's and Fitch, to downgrade South Africa's credit worthiness to junk. This means it is more expensive for South Africa to borrow money, because it is seen as having a higher risk defaulting on its debts. Last week, S&P and Fitch pointed to further concerns about the South African economy, including uncertainty over who will succeed President Zuma as leader of the ruling African National Congress. A successor is expected to be chosen in December, but Zuma can remain as head of state until an election in 2019. Zuma was already feeling the heat over his links to the wealthy and influential Gupta family. Last week, leaked emails purported to show that the Gupta family had used their friendship with Zuma to advance their business interests. Zuma had previously repeatedly denied allegations that the Guptas had unfairly won state contracts, and even influenced the choice of government ministers. President Jacob Zuma fired his finance minister in March and this led to credit agencies downgrading South Africa's credit worthiness to junk President Jacob Zuma fi red his fi nance minister in March and this led to credit agencies downgrading South Africa's credit worthiness to junk