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Egypt

Text, Number, Symbol

Egypt’s blue-chip stock index trading at near 6-year lows

Egypt’s blue-chip index hit a new near six-year low on Wednesday before recovering slightly in later trading, a day before the release of June inflation data. The index is down 27.44 percent so far this year, having tumbled 3.6 percent to 8,642 on Monday, its lowest since November 2016. In morning trading on Wednesday the […]

Egypt non-oil business drops to lowest level for two years

Non-oil private sector activity in Egypt dropped in June to its lowest level in two years as inflation, a weaker currency and shortages of materials bit into demand, a survey showed on Wednesday. The S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) weakened to 45.2 from May’s 47.0, well below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth […]

Water, Outdoors, Nature

Egypt shuts Red Sea beaches after tourist killed in shark attack

Egypt’s Red Sea Governorate issued an order to shut down several Red Sea beaches on Friday after a 68-year-old Austrian woman was killed in a shark attack earlier that day, off the coast of Sahl Hasheesh, according to two security sources. The victim was transferred to a local private hospital right after the attack, a […]

Reviving the ancient tradition of wine-making in Egypt

Egypt’s revival of its tourism sector following the coronavirus pandemic impacts on its wine industry as well as its expanding hotel sector. Today, popular wine brands in the country include Omar Khayyam, Ayyam, Shahrazade, and Beausoleil, which are served in many of Egypt’s hotels, resorts and the bars in some of the more upmarket neighbourhoods. They’re […]

Phone, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Egyptian microfinance firm closes $150m bond issuance

Egyptian microfinance lending and payments company MNT-Halan said on Monday it had closed a securitised bond issuance of approximately $150 million, as part of a $600 million program with Commercial International Bank (CIB). “The proceeds will fuel the company’s accelerated growth across multiple lending business lines,” the company said. “We expect our loan book to […]

Money, Dollar, Person

Egypt can no longer depend on foreign money, says minister

Egypt’s finance minister said on Monday the government could no longer depend on foreign purchases of treasuries to finance its budget, but must work to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) instead. “The lesson we have learned (is that) you cannot depend on this type of investment. It is coming just to get high yields, and […]

Person, Human, Suit

Qatar’s emir arrives in Egypt for first visit since end of boycott

Qatar’s ruler arrived in Egypt on Friday, his first trip to the country since the two Arab countries agreed last year to end a long-running regional feud, diplomatic sources said. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who last visited Egypt in 2015, was greeted at the airport in Cairo by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The […]

Building, Road, Intersection

Egypt says rising inflation will be ‘temporarily tolerated’

Egypt’s central bank kept its overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, saying that for the next six months it would tolerate elevated inflation, caused mainly by the Ukrainian conflict, as the economy grows more slowly than expected. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) held its lending rate steady at 12.25 percent and its deposit rate […]

Person, Human, Downtown

Egypt approves 2022-23 budget, expenditure to rise 15%

Egypt’s parliament on Tuesday approved the state budget for the financial year that begins on July 1, with expenditure rising by 15 percent and the deficit by 14.5 percent. The budget reflects the government’s desire to continue Egypt’s development and improve the lives of its citizens despite recent economic shocks, Minister of Finance Mohamed al-Maait […]

Sitting, Person, Human

Egypt, Saudi Arabia sign 14 deals worth $7.7bn

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed 14 agreements valued at $7.7 billion during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones said in a statement on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia has provided billions of dollars in financial support since Egypt’s President […]

Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh reels from Ukrainian, Russian exodus

On Sharm el-Sheikh’s sandy beaches many of the sun loungers lie empty. At a central promenade packed with shops, cafes and nightclubs, crowds are thinner than usual. The resort on the southern tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is reeling from the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has seen Ukrainians and Russians – previously […]

Person, Human, Festival

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince lands in Egypt for two-day state visit

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Cairo International Airport on Monday night, UAE state news agency WAM reported, citing a statement by Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady. El-Sisi and Bin Salman, who is on an official two-day visit to Egypt, will discuss bilateral relations and ways of enhancing […]

Egypt dominates Mena startup funding rankings in May

The amount of funding raised by startups in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) rose 62.7 percent year-on-year in May. But it still declined 40 percent month-on-month to record the lowest monthly amount so far this year, according to data compiled by Wamda, the largest early-stage investment fund in the Middle East. A total […]

Glasses, Accessories, Accessory

Egypt in ‘race against time’ with privatisation drive

Egypt’s economy is facing a perfect storm of economic headwinds. While its currency is plummeting, its budget deficit is rising along with its borrowing costs.  In an effort to counter rapidly growing external imbalances, Egypt’s government devalued its currency, the Egyptian pound, by 10 percent in March and subsequently requested a support package from the […]

The merger is part of First Bank Abu Dhabi's strategy to increase its footprint in Egypt

First Abu Dhabi Bank to launch new brand in Egypt

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has completed the legal merger of assets between its Egyptian unit and Bank Audi Egypt, resulting in the creation of Egypt’s newest banking brand, FABMISR. FAB said the new brand launches later this year having obtained final approval from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the General Authority for […]

Egypt may postpone sovereign sukuk issue to its new fiscal year

Egypt may postpone the issuance of its first sovereign sukuk till its new fiscal year due to turmoil in global markets, Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia TV reported on Sunday citing Finance Minister Mohamed Maiit. Egypt’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The news comes as Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation accelerated […]

Egypt repays $24bn to cover foreign debt, departing investors

Egypt paid $24 billion in the first five months of 2022 to service foreign debts and to cover foreign investors withdrawing funds from the country, Egypt’s state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday. Of the amount, $10 billion went to service foreign debt and another $14 billion to foreign investment funds, it quoted an unnamed central bank […]

Egyptian currency touches five-year low

Egypt’s currency weakened to 18.71 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, a five-year low, before strengthening again, Refinitiv Data showed. The pound was bid at 18.71 to the dollar, its weakest since Feb. 2, 2017, when it weakened to as low as 18.78 pounds. Egypt has been suffering from a shortage of foreign currency since […]

Egypt and Turkey among top gold buyers

Egypt and Turkey were some of the biggest buyers of gold reserves this year, according to the latest figures from the World Gold Council. “On a year-to-date basis, central banks remain net purchasers on the whole,” Mukesh Kumar, senior analyst of the World Gold Council, said in his report issued this week. “Egypt is the […]

Egypt dominates African hotel investment market

Egypt is very much the dominant player in Africa’s hotel sector, as the Arab world’s largest country looks to rejuvenate its tourism sector following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 80,300 rooms in 447 hotels, across 42 African countries, are currently in the pipeline for development, according to a study by hospitality […]