Business Today Egypt - bt

Egypt's external debt declined to record $153.86 billion at the end of May 2024, compared to $168.03 billion at the end of December 2023, a decrease of $14.17 billion, a rate estimated at 8.43%, an official source at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed

This decline during the past five months is considered the largest in the history of external debt ever, the source added

Egypt’s Net foreign reserves hit an all-time high of $46.38 billion in June 2024, an increase of $13.26 billion since August 2022

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Emphasizing the significant impact of external factors on African economies, including geopolitical tensions and financial disparities exacerbated by global systems, the PM stressed the importance of enhancing continental integration and economic resilience in the face of external shocks

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly delivered a keynote address at the African Union's mid-year coordination meeting in Accra, Ghana, highlighting the economic challenges facing Egypt and Africa amidst global tensions and challenges

Madbouly also outlined Egypt’s strategic priorities as president of the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD) such as focusing on mobilizing financial resources for priority areas such as infrastructure development projects

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The Egyptian government is considering raising the prices of subsidized fertilizers by up to 30%, to about EGP 6,250 per ton, compared to EGP 4,800 currently, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg

The objective of this decision is to limit the significant increase in production costs during the recent period, the source added

The government obligates fertilizer producers to supply 55% of their production at a subsidized price to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture to cover the local market's needs, in exchange for allowing them to export the remaining quantities

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Amid rumors of another delay, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officially re-listed its scheduled review of Egypt’s Extended Fund Facility worth $8 billion earlier today

If approved, Egypt will be able to receive the 3rd tranche of the now expanded agreement

The UAE company Fertiglobe intends to export green ammonia from Egypt to Europe in early 2027, according to a company official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg

Fertiglobe, a strategic partnership between the ADNOC Group, and OCI Global won a contract to supply green ammonia from Egypt to the European Union worth €397 million, at a rate of €1,000 per ton until 2033, according to Company statement

This deal will take place on the condition of completing the investment agreement between the partners in Egypt’s green hydrogen project

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The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is expected to reduce interest rates by 1% next September, followed by a decrease of 2% in the last quarter of 2024, according to a report released by the American investment bank Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs bank indicated that Egypt's interest rate will witness a cumulative reduction of about 11.25% in 2025, ending with 13%, compared to its previous estimate of 9%

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Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, met with Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan El-Khatib, over the weekend to discuss comprehensive economic reforms aimed at attracting both domestic and foreign investments

The two ministers spoke on establishing new strategies to attract direct foreign investments (FDIs), leveraging partnerships with international financial institutions such as the World Bank Group, and implementing economic reforms to fortify Egypt's economic stability and competitiveness

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Egypt, known for its significant natural gas (NatGas) reserves, is dealing with a decline in production that has plunged to its lowest levels in over 6 years, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI), with the country’s natural gas output in May falling to its weakest since February 2018

The decline in natural gas production was partly attributed to operational challenges at Egypt's largest gas field, Zohr in Port Said, where output has reportedly dropped by one-third since 2019 due to issues like water infiltration, explained a report from Eni, a key stakeholder in the field

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly highlighted on Wednesday that Egypt's daily power consumption surged by 12% compared to the previous year, creating a deficit of 4 gigawatts

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During its scheduled meeting on Thursday, the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee agreed to maintain current key interest rates, noting “the current monetary stance is appropriate to support the sustained moderation of inflation”

The CBE’s overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation will remain unchanged at 27.25%, 28.25%, and 27.75%, respectively

Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, met CEO of the British Informa PLC Group, Stephen Carter to discuss cooperation in promoting and attracting foreign investments to Egypt

Madbouly also expressed his aspiration to cooperate with the company and benefit from its extensive international experience in promoting and attracting foreign direct investments to Egypt

The Prime Minister highlighted numerous economic initiatives aimed at bolstering the government's strategy to enhance the private sector's involvement in economic activities

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Egypt's general budget achieved a primary surplus of EGP 857 billion during FY2023/2024, compared to about EGP 164 billion in FY2022/2023, according to a statement by Minister of Finance, Ahmed Kouchouk during his meeting with Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly

The Ministry of Finance met the various needs of the education sector, which amounted to about EGP 256 billion, compared to about EGP 230 billion in the original budget, Kouchouk added

It also provided for the needs of the health sector, which amounted to about EGP 180 billion, compared to about EGP148 billion in the original budget

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The Cabinet has approved a proposal presented by Emirati AMEA Power, to undertake additional renewable energy projects before the summer of 2025

The approved projects include the addition of a 500-megawatt solar power capacity upon completion of the ongoing Abydos Solar Energy project, which is currently underway with a capacity of 500 megawatts

Additionally, the projects encompass the installation of 1,500 megawatts of combined solar and wind power capacity, which will be integrated into the national electricity grid upon completion of the additional Solar Energy Project with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts

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Egypt’s trade deficit narrowed in April 2024, decreasing by 2.5% to hit $2.68 billion compared to $2.75 billion during April 2023, according to the latest data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS)

The value of Egypt's non-oil trade balance deficit declined by 22.9% during the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 to record about $6.4 billion, compared to $8.3 billion in the same period in 2023, according to a recent report issued by the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC)

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The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources will soon receive two shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Port of Sokhna. Each shipment has a capacity of approximately 145,000 tonnes, according to a government official who spoke to Al Arabiya Business

These 2 shipments are expected to arrive within the next 10 days

These shipments are in addition to the LNG deliveries that have already been received by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)

EGAS has already processed and integrated LNG shipments totaling around 213,000 tonnes into the national gas network

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Telecom Egypt recently announced a strategic partnership with global technology leader Nokia aimed at launching 5G-ready services nationwide, which promises to pave the way for a new era of innovation across various industries

The introduction of 5G services aligns with Egypt's Vision 2030 objectives aimed at positioning Egypt as a regional ICT leader

Scheduled for deployment later this year, 5G services will be adopted across key cities such as Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Aswan, and Luxor

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Egypt's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector's contribution to GDP is projected to reach 8% by 2030, up from the current 5.8% in the fiscal year 2023/2024, according to a statement by Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Amr Talaat

The government is committed to empowering the private sector by facilitating partnerships with international players to establish submarine cables, attracting investments in cloud computing and local mobile phone manufacturing, Talaat added

Talaat pointed to a comprehensive training program that aims to develop a robust ICT workforce, with a target of training 500,000 individuals in the fiscal year 2024/2025, scaling up to 1 million trainees by 2029/2030

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Egypt’s annual core inflation decelerated slightly to 26.6% in June 2024 from 27.1% in May, marking its lowest level since December 2022, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)

The monthly urban headline inflation rate recorded 1.6%, bouncing back from a negative 0.7% in May, but lower than June 2023’s 2.1%. This increase was primarily driven by core food prices, which had seen negative inflation rates in previous months, offsetting a slight deceleration in non-food inflation

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The Egyptian government will pay foreign oil companies’ late dues amounting to $3.2 billion in 3 installments during FY 2023/2024, according to an official government who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg

The source added that the first installment of $1.2 billion will be paid next October

Recently in July, prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, confirmed that The Egyptian government paid $1.3 billion in payments to foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country by the end of the year, in a press conference last week

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Egypt is set to introduce electronic SIM cards, known as eSIMs, into the telecom market within the next 2 months, announced Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT)

eSIMs offer several benefits for both individuals and companies, including no longer needing physical SIM swaps - particularly helpful for frequent travelers, and efficient company management of mobile fleets by remotely provisioning and managing eSIMs, reducing administrative burdens and logistics associated with traditional SIM cards

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Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced earlier today that July 25th will be a paid holiday for the public sector in celebration of the July 23 Revolution

Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, chaired the first meeting of the ministerial group for industrial development, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport, Kamel El-Wazir

The Prime Minister has reaffirmed the importance given to the industrial sector, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi emphasizing that industrialization is among the top priorities of the state

The government is fully committed to supporting a ministerial group responsible for industrial development, encompassing all aspects from licensing to operationalization

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Egypt and Saudi Arabia have completed the implementation of 60% of the electrical interconnection project between the two countries, according to an Egyptian government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg

Additionally, the source added that the first operation phase will start in July 2025, for $1.8 billion

The maximum capacity of the electrical interconnection project, which has a production capacity of about 3,000 megawatts, will be completed at the beginning of 2026

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Newly-appointed Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, announced that Egypt plans to inject around $2 billion into projects to improve energy consumption efficiency and decrease carbon emissions by 2.5 million tons annually by 2030.

Badawi also revealed that Egypt is planning to expand in its oil and gas exploration efforts with a potential $1.2 billion investment to drill 110 exploratory gas and oil wells during FY2024/2025.

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Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, issued a decision to form and specify the responsibilities of the Economic Ministerial Group

The decision states that the Economic Ministerial Group shall be formed under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and the membership of the following individuals: the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, the Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, and the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade

The minister of Finance will serve as the official spokesperson for the group

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to pump financing worth $705 million into a number of Egyptian banks during the second half of 2024, according to head of financial institutions for Egypt at EBRD, Hashem Abd El Hakim, who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg

Abd El Hakim added that the targeted new financing with Egyptian banks will be divided into $305 million to finance small and medium enterprises and green energy, and $400 million to finance intra-regional trade

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The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is looking into expanding its financing to Egypt by an additional $3.2 billion by the end of the year, explained Executive Vice President of Global Trade Bank of Africa at Afreximbank, Haytham El Maayergi to Asharq Business

During the first 5 months of 2024, the bank has provided around $1.8 billion in financing for small and medium enterprises and intra-trade

El Maayergi also shared that work on securing the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) joining of Afreximbank’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which enables African countries to trade using local currencies

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The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hengcheng textile factory with investments of $70 million in the Qantara West Industrial Zone

The project is projected to achieve annual sales of $300 million, contributing to the growth of the textile industry

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Egyptian exports to international blocs were up by 5.1% in 2023, recording $42 billion, according to the national statistics agency

The government aims to boost exports to $100 billion annually by 2024 and have implemented strategies to develop Egyptian products, offer investment incentives, and deepen industrialization to meet its goal

Egypt’s net inflows of foreign direct investments (FDIs) continue their upward trajectory, with the central bank reporting a 200%+ year-on-year surge in the first 9 months of FY2023/2024 compared to the same period in FY2022/2023

Despite dealing with an almost 2-year foreign currency shortage and regional geopolitical tensions impacting tourism, Egypt’s FDIs soared on the back of agreements such as the Ras EL Hekma deal and with international partners such as the IMF and EU

According to the latest data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt's annual inflation rate for June 2024 has decreased for the fourth consecutive month, reaching 27.1%, down from 28.1% in May. This slight decline comes amidst ongoing efforts by the Egyptian government to curb inflation, which has remained a significant challenge for the country's economy

While the overall inflation rate has shown a downward trend, the monthly inflation rate for June experienced a slight increase to 1.6% compared to the previous month. This indicates that prices continued to rise at a modest pace within the month