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Egypt

Egypt faces currency conundrum as it seeks IMF’s financial support

As Egypt pushes for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan it has a choice between letting its overvalued currency weaken gradually and the kind of sharp depreciation it enacted in a similar currency crisis six years ago, with both options carrying risks, economists say. A severe shortage of foreign currency in Egypt over the […]

Egypt non-oil activity continues to shrink, with weak outlook

Non-oil private sector activity in Egypt shrank for the 21st month running in August, and businesses took a bleak view of the year ahead amid concerns over the currency, Ukraine and import bottlenecks, a survey showed on Monday. The S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) improved to 47.6 from July’s 46.4, but remained below […]

Egypt aims to export electricity to Europe via Greece

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed joint cooperation with the Greek energy and infrastructure firm Copelouzos Group to establish clean energy production and transmission projects to serve Egypt, Greece, African and European continents, Egypt Today reported. The cooperation consolidates Egypt’s position as a regional hub for energy trade, said Bassam Rady, official spokesperson for the Presidency […]

Harbor, Water, Waterfront

Egypt introduces measures to help clear backed up ports

Egypt’s finance ministry has put in place a package of measures to clear a backlog of goods piled up in port, a ministry statement said on Tuesday. A severe shortage of foreign currency in Egypt over the last six months has sent banks and importers scrambling to pay for the letters of credit needed to […]

South Korea in $2.2bn deal with Russia for Egypt nuclear plant

South Korea signed a $2.2 billion deal with Russia’s state-owned Rosatom to provide buildings and components for a new Egyptian nuclear plant, Bloomberg reported. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. won a contract to supply buildings, equipment and materials for Egypt’s El Dabaa project, South Korea’s energy ministry said in a statement. The state-owned Korean […]

Egypt budget deficit narrow to 5.6% of GDP in 2022

Egypt expects more progress on reducing its budget deficit this year and a foresees a decline in its debt ratio after currency devaluations caused it to rise last year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told a news conference on Monday. The deficit was expected to narrow to 5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the […]

Egypt plans to issue $500m bonds in Chinese yuan

Egypt is looking forward to issuing bonds in Chinese yuan worth more than $500 million, Egypt Today newspaper reported, citing Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait. The minister said that the country was ready to issue sovereign sukuks of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, adding that the international markets were not suitable at present in terms […]

Egypt set to begin pilot operations of world’s ‘largest’ spinning mill

Egypt will start the pilot operation of a new spinning factory, dubbed “the world’s largest factory” by the government, in 2023, Ahram online news website reported, citing a statement by the Ministry of Public Business Sector. The factory, owned by the state-owned Masr Spinning and Weaving Company, is constructed over 64,000 square metres in the […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

Currency tops list of challenges for Egypt’s central bank governor

Egypt’s new central bank governor, Hassan Abdalla, faces a daunting task as he tries to repair an economy derailed by an overvalued currency, rampant inflation and a banking system emptied of most of its foreign currency. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi chose Abdalla for the position last week after outgoing governor Tarek Amer resigned suddenly, barely a […]

High Rise, City, Urban

Egypt’s GDP surged by 6.6% in year to June-end

Egypt’s economy expanded by 6.6 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, with growth accelerating from the previous year’s 3.3 percent as activity recovered after the coronavirus pandemic before slowing again due to the impact of the war in Ukraine. The growth figure given in a cabinet statement on Thursday was higher […]

Egypt central bank increases cash withdrawal limits

Egypt’s central bank on Thursday increased the maximum amount of cash customers are allowed to withdraw from their bank accounts and removed restrictions on how much they could deposit entirely. Under a rule put in place in April 2020, the central bank restricted withdrawals to EGP 50,000 ($2,600), but now will allow withdrawals of up […]

Four global firms shortlisted for $2bn Egyptian chemical complex

Egyptian industrial developer Anchorage Investments has shortlisted four international contractors in the second phase of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) bid for the $2 billion Anchor Benitoite project, Daily News Egypt reported. The project comprises a chemicals complex that will be built in the industrial zone of the General Authority for the Suez Canal […]

Remittances from Egyptian expats rises 1.6% to $31.9bn

Remittances from Egyptian workers abroad in the financial year 2021/2022 rose 1.6 percent year-on-year to $31.9 billion, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).  This is compared to $31.4 billion sent home by Egyptians working overseas in the fiscal year 2020/2021, and $27.8 billion in 2021/2022, the Egypt Independent newspaper reported. The fiscal year […]

Kuwait laying off 750,000 Egyptian workers

Kuwait has announced it will lay off 250,000 Egyptian workers next month and suspend all contracts with non-nationals. Some 500,000 further Egyptian workers will lose their jobs over the next year as the Gulf country seeks to remove all expatriate workers across sectors, according to Middle East Monitor. Egyptians make up around 24 per cent […]

UAE investment in Egypt up 169% to $1.9bn in first six months

UAE investments into Egypt increased to $1.9 billion (AED 6.98 billion) during the first half of the fiscal year 2021-2022, rising 169 percent year-on-year, UAE state-owned news agency WAM reported, citing Egyptian government data. According to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), the value of the trade between Egypt and the […]

Egypt central bank holds rates steady after change of governor

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) kept its overnight interest rates steady on Thursday, hours after a new governor was named to replace Tarek Amer, who quit unexpectedly on Wednesday. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi appointed Hassan Abdalla as caretaker CBE governor on Thursday after Amer’s resignation, with Egypt mired in a currency crisis. Analysts said […]

Egypt’s central bank governor resigns a year early

Egypt’s central bank governor Tarek Amer has submitted his resignation, the office of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Wednesday, just over a year before the completion of Amer’s final term. There was no announcement of a replacement for Amer, who has been appointed as a presidential adviser. The central bank governor is one of […]

Coin, Money, Nickel

Egypt’s Central Bank says foreign treasury bills exodus continues

A foreign exodus from Egyptian treasury bills continued into May, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data showed on Monday, after the Ukraine crisis and concerns about US interest rate hikes prompted foreign investors to cash out their holdings. T-bills held by foreign customers dropped in the month by 30 billion Egyptian pounds, at the time […]

Egypt’s foreign currency gap narrows to $400m in July

Egypt’s foreign currency gap narrowed to $400 million last month from $3.9 billion in February, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Gamal Negm said on Saturday. Egypt has seen billions of dollars leave its markets since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February as investors have fled emerging markets for safer havens. But […]

Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rises to 13.6% in July

Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation accelerated to a higher-than expected 13.6 percent year-on-year in July from 13.2 percent in June, data from the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Wednesday. Month-on-month, headline inflation increased by 1.3 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent decrease in June. A Reuters poll of 14 economists had predicted a median […]