Moody’s downgrades deposit ratings of 5 Egyptian banks, with stable outlook
Moody’s downgrades deposit ratings of 5 Egyptian banks, with stable outlook. Moody’s Investors Services has downgraded the long-term bank deposit ratings of five Egyptian banks, with a stable outlook. The agency has lowered the ratings of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and the Commercial International Bank (CIB) to Caa1 from B3, while downgraded the rating of the Bank of Alexandria (ALEXBANK) to B3 from B2. Moreover, the Baseline Credit Assessments (BCAs) of all five banks have been downgraded to Caa1 from B3. The decision came days after the agency lowered Egypt’s long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer ratings to Caa1 from B3, with a stable outlook. (Asharq Business)
- Recently, Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s credit rating. This was not the first agency to do so, as Fitch Ratings announced in May the downgrading of Egypt’s credit rating.
Moreover, Standard and Poor’s Global (S&P Global) revised Egypt’s outlook from stable to negative. A credit rating for a country is an assessment of the risk involved when investing or lending money to a particular government. In other words, it measures a government’s creditworthiness in general terms or with respect to a particular debt or financial obligation. Egypt’s external debt reached 17 billion USD in March 2023 (38.5% of GDP). Egypt is obligated to pay 29.23 billion USD in installments and debt service in 2024, of which 14.59 billion USD will be paid off in the first half of the year and 14.6 billion USD in the second half. (Bloomberg)
- Egypt’s tax revenues up 18.5% YoY in Q1 FY2023/24.
Egypt’s tax revenues rose 18.5% year on year in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2023/2024. The official noted that tax revenues reached 250 billion EGP in Q1 of the current FY. It is worth noting that Egypt is targeting achieving a primary surplus of 2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year (FY) 2023/2024. (Asharq Business)
- Egypt not to peg EGP to basket of currencies.
Egypt has no plans to peg its pound to a basket of currencies. It was reported that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is expected to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2024 to peg the pound to a basket of international currencies and gold. (Asharq Business)
- Egypt in talks to secure 2.1 billion USD loan for 2nd high-speed rail line.
The Egyptian government is currently negotiating with several international financing institutions to secure a 2.1 billion USD concessional loan for the implementation of the second high-speed rail line. The potential lenders include, the Italian Export Credit Agency and the German state-owned KfW Bank. On a related note, five international firms are competing for a deal on supplying 21 trains for the first phase of Alexandria metro project at an estimated cost of up to 400 million USD. (Asharq Business)
- Egypt eyes 150 million USD in financing from EBRD before end-2023.
Egypt is seeking to secure 150 million USD in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) before the end of the current year. The country seeks to obtain this loan as part of its Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) program. The potential financing will be directed to the electricity sector to proceed with the country’s plan for replacing 5-gigawatt (GW) of power with renewable energy to control carbon emissions. (Asharq Business)
- IMF lowers Egypt’s GDP growth forecast for FY2023/24 to 3.6% compared to its previous projection of 4.1%.
The fund has revised its projection for Egyptian economic growth for the FY 2022/2023, anticipating a growth rate of 4.2%, compared to the previous estimate of 3.7% in the July report. Moreover, it anticipates an increase in Egypt’s consumer prices from 8.5% in FY 2021/2022 to 23.5% in FY 2022/2023, followed by an increase to 32.2% in FY 2023/2024. The report also projected a drop in the country’s unemployment rates to 7.1% in FY 2022/2023 from 7.3% in FY 2021/2022, expecting it to rise in FY 2023/2024 to 7.5%. (Hapi Journal)
- EFG Holding closes advisory on ADES’ IPO on Saudi Tadawul.
EFG Holding has wrapped up advisory on the landmark SAR 4.572 billion initial public offering (IPO) of ADES Holding on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul). Under the IPO, the firm offered a total of 30% of its issued share capital, equivalent to 338.718 million shares at SAR 13.5 per share, with the existing shares accounting for 9% and the new shares representing 21% upon the offering’s completion. Strong demand for shares of the IPO from domestic, regional, and international investors totaled 286.9 billion SAR, with the total book being covered almost 62.7 times. (Mubasher)
- Orascom Construction’s EGM greenlights 0.275 USD/share cash dividends payment.
The extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of Orascom Construction Plc (ORAS) has proposed the distribution of cash dividends worth 0.2750 USD per share to shareholders holding shares on Nasdaq Dubai for 2022. The record date for the dividends is on October 24th, while the payment date is on October 31st. (Mubasher)
- Air Cairo suspends flights to Israel.
Egyptian airline Air Cairo has suspended its flights to Israel for safety concerns amid the current tensions in the region. The resumption of flights depends on the stabilization of the situation in the region. The airline’s decision came after Egypt Air suspended its flights from Cairo International Airport to Ben Gurion Airport. (Asharq Business)
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