Analysis Economy Egypt’s rising bread price sparks austerity fears Egypt’s plan to hike the price of subsidised bread for the first time in 30 years has increased talk of an austerity budget for the coming fiscal year, amid rumours of price increases for medicine and electricity and the phasing out of fuel subsidies. The International Monetary Fund, which is currently preparing a third review […] June 3, 2024
Tourism War and tensions mean Egypt dials down tourist forecast Egypt has revised its tourist targets downwards because of the continuing conflicts in the region. However the country is still hoping to receive a record number of visitors in 2024. Egypt’s tourism minister Ahmed Issa told Sky News Arabia this week that his ministry had lowered its expectations down from 18 million to between 15.5 […] May 30, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance Digital lenders eager to tap into Egypt’s unbanked masses Egyptian banking history was made this month when Misr Digital Innovation (MDI) became the first Egyptian company to receive preliminary approval for a digital banking licence. MDI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, will open Onebank – Egypt’s first digital bank – by the first quarter of next year at the latest. Experts predict many more […] May 29, 2024
Economy Egyptian agricultural exports hit record levels Egypt exported a record 7.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce last year, compared with 6.4 million tonnes in 2022 and 5.6 million in 2021. The total value of agricultural exports in 2023 was $8.8 billion, according to minister of agriculture and land reclamation Al Sayed Al Quseir. Egypt’s total number of export partners has increased […] May 22, 2024
Economy Red Sea crisis could drop Suez Canal revenue by 60% Suez Canal revenues may decrease by up to 60 percent due to elevated tensions in the Red Sea, according to assessments cited by Egyptian finance minister Mohamed Maait. Speaking at a ministerial event at Cairo University on Monday, Maait said the revenue fall would further exacerbate the state’s budget deficit which has grown to EGP120 […] May 22, 2024
Construction Work on ADQ-backed resort in Egypt ‘to start this year’ ADQ will begin building the infrastructure for its Ras El Hekma development on Egypt’s north coast before the end of this year, according to housing minister Assem El Gazzar. The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund had said it would break ground in early 2025, but it has yet to announce the names of contractors or […] May 20, 2024
Tourism Tourist numbers drop as Western visitors avoid Lebanon Inbound tourism to Lebanon fell 13.5 percent year on year in the first three months of 2024, mainly as a result of Western tourists staying away, data released by the country’s Ministry of Tourism shows. It is the latest indication of damage to Lebanon’s post-crisis economy caused by the ongoing border conflict between Hezbollah and […] May 16, 2024
Economy Egypt receives second tranche of UAE’s $35bn investment Egyptian authorities have received the second tranche of a $35 billion investment from the UAE, local media reported on Tuesday. The payment secures the right of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ to develop the land of Ras El Hekma on Egypt’s north coast. The $20 billion tranche consists of $14 billion fresh money and […] May 14, 2024
Banking & Finance Abu Dhabi-backed Egyptian bank doubles profits Commercial International Bank, the Egyptian lender backed by Abu Dhabi, has doubled its consolidated net profits for the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2023. In an earnings release published on Sunday, CIB posted a net income of EGP11.9 billion ($253 million) at the start of this year, up from […] May 14, 2024
Infrastructure Israeli bombardment costs Lebanon at least $1.5bn Israel’s bombardment of southern Lebanon in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 has caused more than $1.5 billion of damage to buildings and infrastructure, the country’s Southern Council says. The president of the council, Hicham Haidar, told AGBI that damage to residential and commercial buildings stands at $1 billion, with 1,700 buildings destroyed […] May 13, 2024
Economy Egyptian businesses yet to feel effect of $60bn new funding The close to $60 billion in new funding announced for Egypt in recent months has yet to trickle down to average business people in the country, according to the results of a new monthly survey. Difficult market conditions in Egypt continued in April as the monthly S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slid from 47.6 […] May 9, 2024
Tourism Tourists keep flocking to Egypt as conflict rumbles on Egypt’s visitor numbers rose 27 percent in the first four months of 2024, according to its vice minister of tourism and antiquities. The tourism ministry aims to increase inbound visitors by 25-30 percent this year, as it chases a target of 30 million visitors a year by 2030. Tourists from Arab countries accounted for the […] May 8, 2024
Analysis Food & Drink Lebanon’s diners defy both slowdown and spectre of war It is a cliché in Lebanon that people will always find the money for restaurants, even with war and conflict once again threatening its southern borders. “No matter what, Lebanese people want to go out,” says Christian Ghosn, CEO of Ghia Holding, which operates 25 restaurants in Lebanon, the Middle East, and Europe. When Ghosn’s […] May 7, 2024
Banking & Finance Egypt to open first digital bank later this year Misr Digital Innovation will open Egypt’s first digital bank towards the end of the year, as it looks to appeal to the North African’s country’s younger and unbanked demographic. MTI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, is the first bank to have received approval to establish a digital bank by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) […] May 3, 2024
Economy Lebanon to receive $1bn in financial aid from the EU A financial aid package for Lebanon from the EU valued at more than $1 billion was announced on Thursday by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. The money, most of which will be grants, will be made available over the next three years. Some will go towards helping to control the flow of […] May 2, 2024
Analysis Logistics Beirut bids to reclaim its regional shipping crown The ruined grain silos that absorbed much of the Beirut Port blast still stand as a monument to Lebanon’s misery during the past four years. Much of the debris, scattered across the old port and lying on the seabed, remains unmoved from where it fell on 4 August 2020, when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate […] April 24, 2024
Economy ‘Worst is behind us’ in Egypt’s black market dollar war says BMI The Egyptian government’s priority for 2024 should be to keep the gap between the official and parallel exchange rates for Egypt’s pound and the US dollar as narrow as possible, says BMI Research. In a webinar on Tuesday BMI, a Fitch Group firm specialised in country risk, said that “the worst is behind us” in […] April 23, 2024
Finance Egypt to receive $30bn by June but denies $1.5bn new Saudi deal An Egyptian government spokesperson rebuffed reports on Sunday that the Saudi firm Ajlan & Bros had submitted a $1.5 billion proposal to develop Ras Gamila on the Red Sea. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Enterprise, Mansour Abdelghany, told Ahram Online that no such offers would be considered until an international advisory firm completes […] April 22, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Banking & Finance Lebanon launches plan to promote use of bank cards Lebanese central bank Banque du Liban announced a new agreement on Thursday that it hopes will result in a rebound in the use of bank cards. As part of the agreement, Mastercard and Visa will lower card fees on transactions, particularly for people with bank accounts based outside Lebanon. In a press release, the bank […] April 19, 2024
Tourism Beirut airport arrivals drop as Westerners stay away The daily arrival rate at Lebanon’s only functioning international airport is down by 4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, according to Marwan Haber, the head of Middle East Airline’s (MEA) commercial division. Speaking at the Horeca hospitality conference in Beirut on Tuesday Haber said 95 percent of arrivals were […] April 18, 2024
Economy World Bank lowers Egypt’s growth forecast again The World Bank has downgraded Egypt’s growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 2.8 percent, the lowest for 11 years, despite recent investment in the country of nearly $60 billion. In its latest Middle East and North Africa economic update, the bank blamed “sluggish industrial sector performance” and the effects of war in the […] April 17, 2024
Analysis Economy The banking blame game stifling Lebanon’s IMF deal Lebanon’s proposed International Monetary Fund deal, agreed two years ago and designed to put the country on the road to recovery, seems no closer to realisation. One of the key stumbling points is reform of the banking sector. The combined liabilities of the country’s banks amount to more than three times the size of Lebanon’s […] April 15, 2024