Egypt in February 2023

May 11, 2023
9:18 am

2 February 2023

Egypt Proposes Initiative to Stop Current Escalation in Palestine (Middle East Monitor). According to the sources, Cairo conveyed the messages of the Palestinian Authority to the Israeli side, and Egypt called on Israel to stop the military escalation without any conditions.

3 February 2023

Exchange Rate Remains at 30 Egyptian Pounds to the Dollar (Egypt Independent) While the Central Bank Defies Expectations and Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged. (al Borsa News). The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank decided not to raise the basic interest rates on the pound in its meeting on Thursday. The committee kept the rates of the return of deposits and lending for one night and the price of the main operation of the Central Bank at the level of 16.75%, 17.75% and 16.57%, respectively. The credit and discount rate was kept at 16.75%. The bank thus defied most of the expectations that indicated that it would raise interest between 1 and 3% today.

9 February 2023

Egyptian Government Will Sell its Shares in 29 Companies and 3 Banks Within a Year (Al Quds Al Arabi). Mostafa Madbouly, the Egyptian Prime Minister, announced that the government will start offering its shares in 32 companies and banks over the course of a full year, starting from the current quarter until the end of the first quarter of 2024, whether to the stock exchange or to the strategic investor…Offering shares in state-owned companies on the stock exchange and selling land to investors comes within the framework of a plan previously announced by the prime minister, aimed at making state-owned assets worth $40 billion available for partnership with the Egyptian or foreign private sector for a period of 4 years.
Moody’s Downgrades Egypt’s Credit Rating…and Inflation is Expected to Accelerate (Aljazeera). On Tuesday, Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s sovereign rating by one notch to “B3” (B3) from “B2” (B2), pointing to a decline in its foreign exchange reserves and a decrease in its ability to absorb external shocks…Moody’s said that the strategy to sell state-owned assets, announced by the government, and that begins this month within the new International Monetary Fund program, will support the generation of sustainable non-debt-related capital flows to meet the increasing external debt service payments, but indicated that these measures will take “time to reduce the risks.”

10 February 2023

Sisi: Egypt Needs $100 Billion in Investments over 7 Years (The New Arab). During his inspection tour of the army’s “Silo Foods” factory, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said, “When you have a gap of $30 billion annually, we still have to provide investments of no less than $100 billion, and this needs 5 to 7 years. The state cannot do that without the help of the private sector, so we are working to encourage investors.”
Egypt is Holding Talks to Prevent Escalation Between Israel and the Palestinians During Ramadan (The New Arab). Officials said that Egypt has intensified mediation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians in an attempt to stop violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank and prevent its spread to the Gaza Strip before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Cairo this week hosted leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to the officials. They said that talks were held with representatives of Israel earlier. Two Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Cairo believes the situation could spiral out of control, particularly given Palestinian sensitivities about Israeli restrictions on access to Jerusalem during Ramadan, which begins in late March.

15 February 2023

Price of the Dollar Breaches New Levels Against the Pound at Egyptian Central Bank (Al Hadath). The exchange rate of the dollar breached new levels against the Egyptian pound in the official market, at the end of Tuesday’s trading. Since the largest and last reduction announced by the Central Bank of Egypt in the price of the pound against the dollar in early January, the US green note has witnessed slight but continuous increases. On the other hand, the black market is suffering from a suffocating crisis, with a large number of speculators stopping and importers heading to banks to obtain dollars.

23 February 2023

US Dollar Records New Highs Against the Egyptian Pound (Al Hadath). The highest dollar exchange rate at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank came at 30.63 pounds for purchase, compared to 30.68 pounds for sale. With 24 banks led by the Central Bank of Egypt, the exchange rate of the US green note stabilized at 30.58 pounds for purchase, compared to 30.68 pounds for sale.

27 February 2023

Egyptian Foreign Minister Visits Syria and Turkey for the First Time in a Decade (Al Quds Al Arabi). Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit Syria and Turkey for the first time in a decade on Monday, after a cooling of relations between Cairo and both countries, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday. The statement quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid as saying that Shoukry will visit the two countries with the aim of “conveying a message of solidarity from Egypt with the two countries and their two brotherly peoples, following the disaster of the earthquake on the sixth of February.”
Egypt Once Again Borrowing from International Markets (The New Arab). The Egyptian government intends to offer more bond issues in the global markets this year, in an effort to obtain new loans while diversifying financing sources. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait did not rule out that other sovereign Islamic bonds will be offered this year, after offering Islamic bonds on the London Stock Exchange last week as part of a $5 billion program. An official at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance also said Egypt intends to borrow through Panda bonds in Chinese yuan at the beginning of the new fiscal year 2023/2024.
First of Its Kind: Egyptian Prime Minister to Visit Qatar to Discuss Ways to Enhance Cooperation (Al Masry Al Youm). The Qatari capital, Doha, is witnessing this week the work of the Egyptian-Qatari committee between the two countries, in the presence of the prime ministers of Egypt and Qatar, representatives of the governments of the two countries, and a number of representatives of the private sector. The committee is discussing the signing of a number of memorandums of understanding between the Egyptian and Qatari sides and increasing investments between the Egyptian and Qatari sides to enhance the volume of trade exchange.

28 February 2023

Fourth Devaluation of the Egyptian Pound is Approaching (The New Arab). The Central Bank of Egypt is close to a new devaluation of the pound within the next two weeks, in a fourth wave of floating the local currency within one year. [The pound] may quickly drop to 35 pounds against the dollar, according to expectations in economic circles and international banks.
Egyptian Central Bank Sells Treasury Bills Worth 60 Billion Pounds after Raising Interest Rate to 22.45%. (Al Masry Al Youm). The Central Bank of Egypt sold short-term treasury bills, with a total value of EGP 60.214 billion for the first and second offerings, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. The weighted average interest rate on the second issuance of bills amounted to about 22.449%, up from the previous highest interest rate of 22.39% recorded last week.