Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum in November

Newsletter

01 May 2023

Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum in November. Egypt is set to finally inaugurate the Grand Egyptian Museum in November. The Grand Egyptian Museum is deemed as the largest museum in the world that includes antiquities of one civilization. The museum’s construction cost is estimated at 1.03 billion USD. In 2016, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided 460 million USD in financing, to be repaid over 25 years, at an interest rate of 1.4%, and with a grace period of about seven years. (Bloomberg Asharq)

Egypt eyes allowing national expatriates to import duty-free gold.
The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade intends to submit a proposal to the government to allow Egyptian expats to import gold without paying customs duties. This move aims at containing the soaring prices of gold in the country. Moreover, he added that forceful intervention in the gold market would not be beneficial. The minister's remarks are the first governmental comment on rising gold prices in Egypt. Gold prices have jumped by more than 1,000 EGP in recent weeks due to the increased demand for buying bullion and gold pounds as a safe haven for investments. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Egypt able to meet its financial obligations.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Saturday that Egypt’s economy is “doing well” amidst the global crises and is capable of fulfilling its financial obligations. “The state did not and will not fail to fulfil its obligations. We know our obligations and how to pay them,” Madbouly stressed in a press conference. “There is full coordination and commitment by the state to pay its obligations,” the PM said, affirming that Egypt has already paid all its previous dues. (Ahram Online).
The government will start gradually raising the prices of commodities sold to ration card holders.
The price review will start “in the coming days,” the minister said, adding that without raising prices “the government will not be able to fund or provide these commodities.” Food prices are rising at a record rate: Inflation jumped 32.7% y-o-y in March as prices continued to accelerate on the back of the series of currency devaluations, the foreign-currency crunch, and higher fuel prices. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Egypt has 2.6 months’ worth of wheat in strategic reserves.
The Madbouly government has so far bought 365k tons of wheat during this year’s local harvest, he said. The country has strategic reserves of meat sufficient for 7 weeks. Moreover, the Supply Ministry is working on a proposal that would allow Egyptians living abroad to import gold to Egypt without paying customs duties in a bid to help stabilize the gold market. Local gold prices have more than doubled over the past year amid the ongoing foreign exchange crunch. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Automotive sales continued their decline in March as the FX shortage weighs on the sector.
Sales were down 72% y-o-y last month, with distributors selling fewer than 6.7k vehicles compared to 18.9k in the same month last year, according to figures released by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC). (Al Mal)
Egypt faces dilemma over its currency policy: Goldman Sachs.
Egypt is facing a difficult dilemma to determine its local currency policy, which puts pressure on the country's economy and push inflation to record highs. The dilemma is for the Egyptian authorities to weigh the costs of devaluing the currency and moving to a flexible exchange rate regime against potential economic risks from the continuation of the parallel market, according to Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs also indicated that Egypt’s governmental initial public offering (IPO) program would reduce the risks of a significant decline in the exchange rate and the negative economic consequences associated with it. (Arab Finance)
The country’s five-year credit-default swaps (CDS) are trading at a record discount to their one-year counterparts,
suggesting that investors are more worried than ever about the nation’s short-term default risk. Egypt’s one-year credit-default swaps rose 1k bps to 2.3k bps in April, while the five-year contract rose c.390 bps to 1.7k bps during the same month, the business news outlet reports. Current bond prices suggest a 75% chance of default over the next 10 years and a 15% chance over the next six months. (Bloomberg)
Egypt launches 6th phase of export arrears payment program.
The Ministry of Finance launched the sixth phase of the immediate cash payment initiative to support exporters with 10 billion EGP. Maait indicated that the ministry will receive the requests of exporting companies that have already fulfilled their documents during the period from May 7th to 11th. The ministry will disburse dues of exporting companies benefiting from the sixth phase of the initiative on July 5th and 6th for firms that will submit their applications during the period from May 7th to 11th. (Arab Finance)
Madinet Masr wins EGX Excellence Award for Largest Trading Volume.
Madinet Masr has won the EGX Excellence Award for the Largest Trading Volume. This prestigious award honors the company’s outstanding achievements in 2022. The leading real estate developer has been awarded during the EGX Awards Ceremony for 2023, which was hosted at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (Arab Finance)