Egypt’s net international reserves hit 35.173 billion USD in November

Newsletter

10 Dec 2023

Egypt’s net international reserves hit 35.173 billion USD in November. Egypt’s net international reserves (NIR) rose to 35.173 billion USD at the end of November. It is worth noting that the country’s NIR recorded 35.101 billion USD at the end of October. (Al Mal)

It’s the fifteenth increase in a row, as the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has managed to steadily recover a total of 2 billion USD of net foreign reserves over the past 15 months since September 2022.
Egypt had 41 billion USD in reserves on the eve of the Russian war in Ukraine, which triggered a foreign capital exodus from Egypt and saw us bleed some 8 billion USD in reserves. The UAE recently renewed a 1 billion USD deposit that matured in July 2023 to be now due in July 2026, a CBE report showed last week. Almost 30 billion USD of the reserves is made up of short- and long-term central bank deposits made by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Libya. (Al Mal)
Arab sovereign funds are in talks with the Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (ACDIMA) to acquire a 20% share in a new subsidiary it is setting up for producing active pharma ingredients.
The subsidiary will be responsible for ACDIMA’s new 165 million USD factory, which will produce 28 active ingredients and is expected to start operations in 2026. ACDIMA will own a 60% stake in the 10 million EGP company, its subsidiary EIPICO will own 30%, and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will own 10%. (Al Mal)
5 international firms compete for operating Cairo-Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project.
Five international firms are competing for designing, supplying, and operating mechanical, signaling, communications, and central control systems of the Cairo-Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project with investments of 400 million USD. The firms include the French firms Thales Group and Alstom, Germany-based Siemens, and China’s CRRC and CRIG. (Asharq Business)
Egypt-Cyprus trade up 21.8% YoY in 9 months.
The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Cyprus rose 21.8% year on year (YoY) in the first nine months of 2023 to 79 million USD, compared to 64.8 million USD. Remittances of Egyptians working in Cyprus slipped 1.4% YoY in fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022 to 14 million, while remittances of Cypriots living in Egypt fell by 3.5% YoY to 1.9 million USD. (CAPMAS)
Ora Developers likely to launch 2 projects in Egypt in 2024: Sawiris.
Ora Developers is expected to launch two projects in 2024; located in East Cairo on a 175-feddan land plot and in the North Coast on a 128-feddan land. Sawiris noted that the establishment of two new hotels in the North Coast is underway, while waiting for the required approvals to set up a new hotel near the Pyramids. (Asharq Business)
EFG Holding closes advisory on Dubai Taxi's 315 million USD IPO on DFM.
EFG Holding has wrapped up an advisory on the 315 million USD initial public offering (IPO) of Dubai Taxi Company (DTC) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Under the IPO, the firm sold 624.750 million existing shares at 1.85 AED (0.50 USD) per share for a total of 24.99% of its total issued share capital, implying a market capitalization of 4.6 billion AED (1.26 billion USD). (Asharq Business)
GB Corp’s Drive closes 1.4 billion EGP securitized bond issuance.
GB Corp’s financing arm Drive has wrapped up 1.4 billion EGP securitized bond issuance under its 5 billion EGP securitization program. The offering consists of three tranches, the first of which is worth 497.5 million EGP, with a tenor of 13 months and a rating of AA+ from Middle East Ratings and Investor Services (MERIS). Meanwhile, the second tranche is valued at 695.6 million EGP with a tenor of 36 months and an AA rating from MERIS, and the 274.4 million EGP third tranche carries a tenor of 59 months and received a rating of A. (Arab Finanxce)
Beltone Financial’s subsidiary inks 480 million EGP leasing, factoring agreement with DAMFI, one of TBS Holding's subsidiaries.
The agreement's leasing section includes production equipment and assets valued at 380 million EGP. The purpose of the 100 million EGP factoring component is to finance DAMFI's needs for working capital, as well as to buy raw materials and build up inventory. (Arab Finance)
The Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) indices closed Thursday’s trading session in the red zone.
The benchmark EGX30 index lost 0.07%, finishing the session at 24,686.16 points. The small- and mid-cap EGX70 equal-weight index (EWI) fell by 1.18% to 5,286.49 points. Meanwhile, the EGX100 index dropped by 0.93% to 7,681.96 points. Trading volume amounted to nearly 1.219 million shares exchanged through 138,039 transactions at a turnover of 3.826 billion EGP. (EGX)
Gaza violence threatens international peace and security.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has formally warned the Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza threatens international peace and security and invoked a rarely-used article in the UN charter to push the council to avert a full-blown catastrophe. (Bloomberg)