Raising the price of fuel costs telecommunications companies in Egypt 5 billion EGP
Raising the price of fuel costs telecommunications companies in Egypt 5 billion EGP. The cost of increasing fuel prices will amount to about 5 billion EGP, making it impossible to continue without adjusting the prices of the services they have been demanding since the beginning of the year. Four mobile phone services companies operate in Egypt: “Vodafone Egypt”, affiliated with the British “Vodafone” group, “Orange Egypt”, affiliated with the French “Orange” group, “Etisalat Misr”, affiliated with the Emirati “Etisalat”, and “Telecom Egypt”. Government, and Telecom Egypt owns a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt. (Asharq Business)
- The gas-rich country signed 3 long-term agreements with the Netherlands, France, and Italy to supply gas, which could affect the Egyptian ambitions of transforming into a regional energy center.
This came at a time when Egypt exports of liquefied gas stopped, due to the decline in its domestic production and the cessation of its imports from Israel. Ukraine last year, which caused a decline in the arrival of Russian liquefied natural gas shipments to European Union ports by more than 25% in August, the lowest level recorded for any month since 2021. It is expected that Qatar’s agreements to supply gas to Europe would affect Egypt’s share of the supply, noting that Egypt supplies no more than 1% to Europe, while Europe depends on 40% of Russian gas and the remaining 60% from the rest of countries. (Asharq Business)
- Egypt imports its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment since July.
Egypt is preparing to import a rare liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment as the ongoing regional conflict tightens fuel supplies. The vessel, "Maran Gas Kalimnos," partially loaded with LNG, is expected to arrive at the Ain Sokhna port on the Red Sea coast on Friday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. This is likely to be Egypt's first import of super-chilled fuel since July. This shipment serves as an indicator that Egypt, which is typically an exporter of LNG, is turning to the global markets due to domestic supply shortages. (Arab Finance)
- Egypt resumes gas supply to fertilizer factories after increasing its imports from Israel.
Egypt has restored its natural gas supplies to fertilizer factories in the country to their usual levels after reducing them by approximately 30% during the past week. This was supported by an increase in Israeli gas imports to Egypt last Thursday. (Asharq Business)
- On Friday, Egypt raised all prices of gasoline for the second time this year, while keeping the price of diesel unchanged.
The increase in the price of lower quality “80” gasoline and “92” gasoline amounted to 1.25 pounds per liter, and the increase in the price of “95” gasoline amounted to one pound. Mobile companies in Egypt depend on fuel to operate the 34,641 mobile network towers, in addition to the fuel expenses of these companies’ vehicle fleets, especially maintenance vehicles, occupying an important space in their budgets. Competition is heating up in the mobile phone market in Egypt amid rising service penetration rates. The average price per minute of call is the cheapest in the Middle East. (Asharq Business)
- Disruptions in the energy market from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine have had a “direct and indirect impact on global oil prices, sending Brent crude over USD 90 per barrel over the last few months,” the ministry said.
Crude prices have also been pushed upwards by tightening global supply from OPEC+ production cuts and rising demand in Asia. The hike comes as we look to reduce our import bill from refined oil products: The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation reportedly plans to increase the country’s crude imports by 40% starting in FY 2024-2025. By bringing monthly crude imports to 7 million barrels from 5 million currently, the government hopes to start refining more petroleum products locally to reduce our import bill from refined oil products. (Asharq Business)
- The government has decided to postpone the execution of any new projects with a dollar component.
The Cabinet has approved a draft resolution by the Prime Minister regarding the rationalization of public spending in entities included in the general state budget and public economic bodies for the fiscal year 2023-2024. The resolution outlines general principles and rules for economizing spending to address the current economic crisis. Article 1 of the draft resolution states that measures to rationalize public spending in the entities included in the general state budget and public economic bodies, in light of the current economic crisis, shall be implemented according to the accompanying guidelines and rules until the end of the fiscal year 2023-2024. (Arab Finance)
- The Minister of Finance confirms Egypt's potential to obtain 5 billion USD annually on favorable terms.
Mohamed Maait, the Minister of Finance, affirmed Egypt's potential to obtain around 5 billion dollars annually on favorable terms from multilateral development banks. This indicates the confidence of these international institutions in the economic path followed by the Egyptian government to deal with successive global crises. This statement comes in response to a report by Fitch Ratings, which downgraded Egypt's credit rating to "B" with a stable outlook. (Al Borsa News)
- Egypt needs 4 billion USD in foreign financing until end-FY2023/24: Maait.
The Egyptian government’s foreign financing needs have been estimated at 4 billion USD until the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023/2024. Maait pointed out that the country could secure 5 billion USD in concessional financing annually from multi-lateral development banks. Egypt has paid off 52 billion USD in foreign liabilities over the last two years, the minister added, expecting the foreign direct investments (FDIs) to reach 12 billion USD this fiscal year. Moreover, he anticipates the Suez Canal revenues to increase in FY 2023/2024 to 12 billion USD. (Arab Finance)
- "Morgan Stanley" is optimistic about the long-term outlook for the Egyptian economy.
Morgan Stanley, the American investment bank, stated that it remains neutral regarding Egypt's relative weight in its portfolio and investment recommendations for its assets. However, it cautiously expresses optimism about Egyptian assets in the long term. The reasons for its optimism about the future of Egyptian assets include a combination of factors, such as opportunities for obtaining additional financing, developments in asset sales and rating risks, declining breakeven prices that investors achieve, and low exposure from investors interested in emerging markets. (Al Borsa News).
- Egypt receives 3 international purchase offers for Wataniya.
Egypt has received three international offers to buy some stake in the military-owned National fuel retailer Wataniya. The winning bidder will be announced before the end of 2023. In August, Taqa Arabia submitted a non-binding purchase offer to acquire a stake in Wataniya. On May 8th, the Egyptian cabinet revealed that the government started receiving offers from investors seeking to buy shares in the military-owned National Company for Producing and Bottling Water (Safi) and Wataniya. (Asharq Business)
- Fawry, MoneyHash team up to boost e-payments in Egypt.
Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payment (FWRY) has partnered with the Egypt-based all-in-one flexible payments platform MoneyHash to promote e-payments in Egypt. The cooperation will enable retailers to accelerate marketing strategies, reach target clients, control e-payment frauds, and enhance customer’s e-payment experience, along with facilitating the payment procedures. Furthermore, both firms will provide technical support services via a team of experts in the field. The deal will also allow users to benefit from the exclusive discounts offered to them while using Fawry e-payment channels through MoneyHash platform. (Arab Finance)
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