Egypt’s annual core inflation rate records 40.4% in August

Newsletter

11 Sep 2023

Egypt’s annual core inflation rate records 40.4% in August. Egypt’s annual core inflation rate recorded 40.4% in August, compared to 40.7% last July. The monthly core consumer price index (CPI) inflation recorded 0.3% last August, compared to 0.6% in the same month of 2022 and 1.3% in July 2023. Data also showed that the annual headline urban inflation rate registered 37.4% in August, compared to 36.5% in July. On September 10th, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that Egypt’s annual headline inflation widened to 39.7% in August, compared to 15.3% in the same month of 2022. (CBE)

Egypt repays 52 billion USD in external debts over past 2 FYs.
Egypt has settled 52 billion USD of its foreign liabilities during the previous two fiscal years (FYs) 2022/2023 and 2021/2022. Moreover, the country has paid 25.5 billion USD in debts during the first half of the current fiscal year until June 30th. These settled amounts come in addition to short-term investment outflows of around 22 to 23 billion USD over the past years. Egypt is preparing to host the eighth annual meeting of the AIIB in Sharm El-Sheikh on September 25th and 26th. (Asharq Business)
The Finance Ministry is looking to secure 1.5-2 billion USD in fresh loans by 4Q 2023.
This includes a planned 500 million USD CNY-denominated panda bond issuance and a second JPY-denominated samurai issuance worth 500 million USD. This target has tempered somewhat from July, when the minister said the government was targeting 3 billion USD in fresh debt raises before the end of the year. (Asharq Busines)
The government is facing a 17 billion USD external financing gap between 2023 and 2026
which it is trying to fill via a mixture of state asset sales, new concessional financing from multilateral lenders, higher tourism revenues, and increasing exports, as well as the 3 billion USD IMF loan. The country’s external debt bill rose to a record 165.4 billion USD by the end of March 2023. The government spent 25.5 billion USD on debt servicing costs during the first half of the year. The state paid off 52 billion USD in principal and interest across the entire 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years. The government has another 15.1 billion USD in short- and long-term debt repayments during the second half of this year, followed by another 46.3 billion USD in medium- and long-term repayments during 2024 and 2025. (Asharq Business Zilla Capital)
Egypt targets up to 5 billion USD in proceeds from IPO program by June 2024.
Egypt is planning to raise about 4 to 5 billion USD in proceeds from selling state-run assets under its initial public offering (IPO) program until June 2024. The Egyptian government has successfully raised half of the targeted amount, equivalent to 2.5 billion USD, to date. In July, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that Egypt signed contracts worth a total of 1.9 billion USD with the private sector to sell state-owned assets under its IPO program. (Asharq Business)
Egypt's trade deficit narrows by 47.7% YoY in June.
Egypt’s trade balance deficit dropped by 47.7% year on year (YoY) to 2.32 billion USD in June, compared to 4.43 billion USD. The value of Egyptian exports decreased by 27.6% in June, reaching 2.91 billion USD, compared to 4.02 million USD in the same month a year earlier. The decrease was driven by the drop in the value of some goods, including crude oil by 12.7%, ready-made garments by 20.5%, fresh fruits by 32%, and fertilizers by 39.5%. (Asharq Business)
Egypt's imports of Israeli natural gas rise by 21% in H1.
Egypt's imports of Israeli natural gas climbed by 21% year on year (YoY) during the first half (H1) of 2023. The North African country imported about 903 million cubic feet of Israeli natural gas in H1 2023, compared to 743 million cubic feet during the same period in 2022. Imports of Israeli natural gas to Egypt currently amount to 800 million cubic feet per day since last July to date, the official said, noting that the same quantities will be maintained until September. In August, Egypt was reportedly planning to increase its natural gas imports from Israel by 31% as of October. (Asharq Business)
Egypt’s NIR increase to 34.928 billion USD end-August.
Egypt’s net international reserves (NIR) rose slightly to 34.928 billion USD at the end of August. It is worth noting that the country’s NIR recorded 34.879 billion USD at the end of July. (Asharq Business)
EFG Holding closes advisory on EMRC’s 472 million EGP securitized bond issuance.
The investment banking division of EFG Holding has successfully concluded advisory on a 472 billion EGP securitized bond issuance for the Egyptian Mortgage Refinance Company (EMRC). This marks EMRC’s first issuance under a wider issuance program worth 3 billion EGP. (Arab Finance)
Private-sector players talk with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). AIIB officials virtually joined Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk
and a number of private sector players at the Finance Ministry’s new headquarters in the new administrative capital on Thursday to discuss how the Beijing-backed multilateral lender can benefit private-sector players ahead of the bank’s annual meeting in Sharm El Sheikh later this month. Egypt was one of the bank’s founding members, helping bring it to life in 2016. So far, we have received nearly 1.3 billion USD in the funding from the bank, across five projects, the latest of which was a 250 million EUR loan for the redevelopment of the Abu Qir railway in Alexandria. Maait is Egypt’s governor to the bank, while Kouchouk is the bank’s director for constituency six, which includes Egypt, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia, among 12 other countries.
Egyptian Mortgage Refinance Company (EMRC) has issued 472 million EGP in securitized bonds.
The three-tranche issuance was rated between AA+, AA and A by the Middle East Ratings and Investors Service (MERIS). The issuance is the first in a planned three-year, 3 billion EGP program. The transaction marked the first securitization issuance for EMRC, which is the country’s sole provider of refinancing to mortgage lenders. EMRC has been eyeing a securitized bond sale as far back as 2020. (Al Mal)