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EU to Bolster Egypt Ties With Billions in Funding
  + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com   time to read: +4 min
The agreement is designed to enhance cooperation in areas including renewable energy, trade, and security while delivering grants, loans and other funding over the next three years to support Egypt's faltering economy. War in Israel and Gaza View All 222 ImagesInflation has been running close to record highs and many Egyptians say they struggle to get by. Of that, funding from the European Union is expected to total $5-6 billion, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Asharq Business. Egyptian officials say Egypt deserves recognition for hosting an estimated nine million foreign residents and largely shutting off irregular migration from its north coast since 2016. CROSSINGS VIA LIBYABut there has been a surge in Egyptians trying to cross to Europe via Libya, and the European Union is already providing funding aimed at reducing those flows.
Persons: Ursula von der, Mohamed Maait, Abdel Fattah al, Egypt's, Patrick Werr, Philip Blenkinsop, Renee Maltezou, Aidan Lewis, Nick Zieminski Organizations: IMF, Diplomats, Cypriot, European, Asharq Business, Rights Watch Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, Cairo, Israel, Gaza, Sudan, Qatar, United States, European Union, LIBYA, Europe, Libya, Crete, Gavdos, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tunisia, Mauritania, U.S
The area, modelled on Paris in the 1860s, is filled with elegant but crumbling buildings constructed over the subsequent seven decades. The Sovereign Fund has already taken control of three prime properties in central Cairo, and received ownership of 11 former ministry buildings in a decree published this week in the official gazette. "Some of the buildings are already evacuated, but there is a mobilisation plan for relocating into concentrated locations for whoever is staying and not moving to the new capital," Soliman said. Work on the ground would begin "probably within the first half of this year," Soliman said. It would include a three-star Moxy hotel by Marriott, the first in Egypt, Soliman said.
Persons: Patrick Werr CAIRO, Ayman Soliman, Soliman, We're, Patrick Werr, Aidan Lewis, Alex Richardson Organizations: Sovereign Fund, Misr Insurance, Reuters, European Bank for Reconstruction, National Democratic Party, NDP, Marriott Locations: Paris, Cairo, Egypt
The Gaza war on the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula comes after the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic exposed long-standing frailties in the Egyptian economy. "Foreign sentiment on Egypt is so weak, and now with this coming along it's last thing that Egypt needed. A foreign currency shortage has led to a $5 billion backlog of imports stuck at ports, and problems for foreign companies repatriating dividends, bankers say. So far, the Gaza war has affected the popular Sinai destinations of Taba, Nuweiba, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh but left the rest of the country relatively unscathed. Egypt's tourism minister told Reuters this week that the impact of the war was contained to under 10% of bookings.
Persons: Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Monica Malik, Moataz, Sharm, Karim ElMinabawy, Siamak Adibi, Egypt's, Olumide Ajayi, Malik, Patrick Werr, Sarah El Safty, Aidan Lewis, Toby Chopra Organizations: REUTERS, Abu, Tourism, Countrywide, Emeco, Middle East Gas, FGE, United Arab, Thomson Locations: Giza, Cairo, Egypt, CAIRO, Gaza, Ukraine, Dhabi, Taba, Dahab, Luxor, Aswan, Israel, Europe, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Gulf . Saudi
Egypt restricts foreign currency credit card use
  + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
Last week, the central bank told banks to suspend the use of Egyptian pound debit cards for purchases outside the country to stop a foreign currency drain. Now in oral instructions to banks it has extended restrictions to credit cards. Egypt has been facing a worsening foreign currency shortage over the last two years. Since March it has kept its currency fixed against the dollar despite a widening gap with the black market rate. "What they discovered is that 70% of credit card usage is people here in Cairo ordering stuff from abroad," a senior banker said.
Persons: Patrick Werr, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, Cairo
[1/8] Members of media record inside the restored Sariyat al-Gabal Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim, the first Ottoman mosque built inside the Salah al-Din Citadel in old Cairo, Egypt, September 16, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh Acquire Licensing RightsCAIRO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Egypt has inaugurated a newly restored Ottoman mosque, built by the 16th century governor Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim, that lies within the citadel that has dominated Cairo's skyline for centuries. The mosque, with 22 green-tiled domes and minbar (prayer niche) inlaid with renowned Iznik tiles, is Cairo's earliest Ottoman mosque, built in 1528 A.D., eleven years after the Ottoman army under Sultan Selim conquered Egypt from the Mamluk empire. The mosque, known as the Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim mosque and also the Sariya mosque, is inside Cairo's citadel. The citadel was built by the Muslim general Salah al-Din after he conquered Cairo from the Fatimids.
Persons: Suleyman Pasha, Salah, Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Sultan Selim, Sayed Sariya, Mostafa Waziri, Salah al, Din, Ahmed Fahmy, Amr Abdallah, Patrick Werr, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Supreme, of Antiquities, Crusaders, Thomson Locations: Gabal, Ottoman, Din, Cairo, Egypt, Rights CAIRO, Cairo's, Jerusalem
The sale will reduce Chemical Industries' stake to 20.95%, giving impetus to Egypt's floundering privatisation programme. Global Investment will provide $150 million to buy the tobacco necessary for production as part of the agreement. The deal "is an affirmation of the government's determination to ... encourage direct private investment in various sectors," the cabinet statement said. Egypt's government sold 4.5% of Eastern Co. on the stock exchange in 2019, leaving the holding company with a majority stake. Egypt desperately needs foreign currency after the COVID pandemic and Ukraine crisis exposed vulnerabilities in its economy.
Persons: Mostafa Madbouly, Momen Saeed Atallah, Adam Makary, Hatem Maher, Patrick Werr, Ros Russell Organizations: Global Investment Holding, Eastern Co, Holding Company, Chemical Industries, Global Investment, International Monetary, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Eastern, Egypt, Ukraine
The bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, on Thursday invited Egypt and five other countries to join, and Egypt immediately welcomed the offer. "The group's aim of reducing dollar transactions will lower the foreign currency pressure in Egypt," the cabinet said in s statement on Thursday. Monica Malik of ADCB said BRICS membership may eventually help Egypt attract more investment. "Egypt has two deep needs - FDI and a cheaper debt burden - and BRICS membership can help with both," Robertson said. The BRICS group on Thursday also invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to join.
Persons: Egypt Mostafa Madbouly, MARCO LONGARI, Abdel, Fattah, Sisi, Monica Malik, ADCB, Charles Robertson, " Robertson, Robertson, James Swanston, Patrick Werr, Nafisa Eltaher, Sarah El Safty, Giles Elgood Organizations: Rights, New Development Bank, FIM Partners, United, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: Egypt, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, Rights CAIRO, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, UAE
Blaze engulfs historic ministry building in central Cairo
  + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
[1/4] Smoke rises as Egyptian firefighters extinguish a fire that broke out in the historic neo-Islamic ministry in central Cairo, Egypt, August 5, 2023. REUTERS/Patrick WerrCAIRO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A historic neo-Islamic ministry in central Cairo was engulfed in flames on Saturday, only days after its employees had moved to premises in a new capital city under construction in the desert 45km east of Cairo. The main part of the building was built in 1898, with wings added on either side in 1912 and 1927. Most of the ministry's employees moved to the new capital, away from the clutter and chaos of Cairo, in late July. Some former ministry buildings are to be repurposed under Egypt's Sovereign Fund, a process the government hopes will draw badly needed investment and help regenerate central Cairo.
Persons: Patrick Werr CAIRO, Patrick Werr, Moamen Saeed Atallah, Aidan Lewis, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Religious Endowments, Reuters, Sovereign Fund, Thomson Locations: Cairo, Egypt
Bulldozers tear into Cairo's historic Islamic cemeteries
  + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Hatem Maher | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
[1/5] A view shows the City of the Dead, where tombs and historic cemeteries have been demolished due to a new construction project underway on the Salah Salem road, in the capital city of Cairo, Egypt, June 13, 2023. Known as the City of the Dead, the cemeteries along the eastern edge of Historic Cairo have been a resting place for Egypt's deceased since the arrival of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Some tomb owners who want to transfer the bodies of their family members say they are given little time beforehand. But only 102 sites among more than 2.5 million tombs in the area have received this designation, conservationists say. "I imagine that in five years' time, we won't find anything except maybe 20% of the current City of the Dead," Lafi said.
Persons: Salah, Hadeer Mahmoud, Sisi, Egypt's, Hisham Kassem, Abdel Fattah al, Ahmed Urabi, Hossam Abdel Azeem, Amr ibn, Moaaz, Lafi, Patrick Werr, Aidan Lewis, Emma Rumney Organizations: REUTERS, UNESCO, Thomson Locations: Salah Salem, Cairo, Egypt, CAIRO, Historic Cairo, el
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is in talks with The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt (TSFE) about the deal, said two sources with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named. The fund is considering acquiring a stake of up to 30% in the hotels, the sources said, without naming them. Relations between Egypt and Qatar soured in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia has led efforts to rebuild ties with Qatar and, along with Egypt, re-established diplomatic relations in 2021. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Baghdad in August 2021 for the first time since ending the dispute.
Persons: Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, St Regis Saadiyat, Egypt's TSFE, Agatha Christie's, Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Hadeel El, Andrew Mills, Patrick Werr, Louise Heavens, Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Abu, Abu Dhabi Executive Council, St Regis, United, United Arab Emirates, Read, Qatar Investment Authority, Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt, Regional, Qatar, Thomson Locations: Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Qatar, United Arab, DUBAI, Harrods, London, Aswan, Saudi Arabia, Thani, Baghdad, Ukraine, Hadeel El Sayegh, Dubai, Doha, Cairo
Amid a foreign currency crunch, Egypt has drawn down net foreign assets in the banking system by more than $40 billion in two years, partly used to prop up the pound. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsFINDING FOREIGN FUNDSTwo of Egypt's main foreign currency streams, tourism and Suez Canal transit fees, have edged up. The hard currency squeeze has raised concerns about Egypt's ability to repay foreign debt. Those repayments to the IMF and foreign bond holders alone, worth about $4.5 billion, amount to more than half the annual $8 billion Egypt earns from the Suez Canal. Egypt's external loans leapt to $162.9 billion by December 2022 from under $40 billion in 2015, central bank data showed.
Persons: snubbing, Monica Malik, Moustafa Madbouly, Moody's, politican Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Farouk Soussa, Goldman Sachs, Patrick Werr, Sumanta Sen, Aidan Lewis, Edmund Blair Organizations: Investors, International Monetary Fund, Finance, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Reasssured, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, snubbing Egypt, Ukraine, Abu Dhabi, Suez, Cairo, Stockholm
Egypt sells $121.6 mln stake in state-controlled Telecom Egypt
  + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
CAIRO, May 14 (Reuters) - Egypt's government sold a 9.5% stake in state-controlled Telecom Egypt (ETEL.CA) for 3.75 billion Egyptian pounds ($121.6 million), the finance ministry said in a statement on Sunday, breathing life into a privatisation programme that had seemingly stalled. The stock exchange said on Sunday the sale of 162.2 million shares of Telecom Egypt had been executed for a total 3.75 billion pounds. Another 0.5% of the shares are now being offered to Telecom Egypt employees until May 25. The two-part sale will reduce the government's stake in Telecom Egypt to 70% from the previous 80%, with the other 20% floating on the Egyptian Exchange. The ministry statement did not say what portion of the shares were sold to local buyers as opposed to non-Egyptians.
IMF says yet to agree date with Egypt for programme review
  + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Disbursements under the 46-month programme are subject to eight reviews, the first of which was dated March 15, 2023, in an IMF staff report published in December. "Egypt really needs to show some meaningful measures to rebuild confidence and show that the process has started," said Monica Malik of ADCB. "It's better to start the review once there is tangible signs of process with reforms, including on a flexible currency." In its December accord with the IMF, Egypt also promised to sell state assets worth billions of dollars over the next four years. "Egypt has done important reforms over the last few years, and the fund has been very supportive..," Azouri said.
Egypt's headline inflation rate increased to 32.7% in March
  + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
CAIRO, April 10 (Reuters) - Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation rate in March climbed to 32.7% year-on-year, just shy of an all-time record, from 31.9% in February, data from the country's statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday. The surging inflation rate follows a series of currency devaluations starting in March 2022, a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and continuing delays in getting imports into the country. The median forecast of 13 analysts polled showed annual urban consumer inflation rising to 33.6% in March. Egypt's highest inflation rate ever was 32.952%, reached in July 2017, eight months after Egypt devalued its currency by half as part of a previous $12 billion IMF support package. The core inflation rate, which excludes fuel and some volatile food items, is expected to be released later on Monday.
Egypt inflation seen hitting all-time high in March
  + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Summary Egypt inflation poll data:CAIRO, April 6 (Reuters) - Egypt's headline inflation rate is set to hit an all-time high in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, following a continued shortage of foreign currency after more than a year of devaluations of the Egyptian pound. The median forecast of 13 analysts polled showed annual urban consumer inflation rising to 33.6% in March from 31.9% in February, which itself was a five-and-a-half-year record. "We think that earlier falls in the pound will continue to feed through into Egypt's inflation, pushing up both food and non-food inflation," said Capital Economics, which forecast March inflation of 37.1%. The state statistics agency CAPMAS is scheduled to release February inflation data on Monday morning. Writing by Patrick Werr; Polling by Anant Chandak in Bangalore; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
March 30 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised its overnight interest rates by 200 basis points (bps) on Thursday following a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), saying it aimed to bring high inflation into check. The bank set the lending rate at 19.25% and the deposit rate at 18.25%. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of 15 analysts on Monday was for the bank to increase rates by 200 bps as it struggled to control surging inflation. In February, headline inflation soared to a five-and-a-half-year high of 31.9% from 25.8% in January. "Real GDP growth is expected to soften in fiscal year 2022/23 compared to the previous fiscal year, before picking up thereafter."
Egypt has sharply devalued the currency three times since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exposed vulnerabilities in the country's finances. But with each devaluation the central bank aimed to keep the currency steady afterwards, only for the black market and non-deliverable forwards to quickly push beyond the new rate. "No time like the present to align foreign exchange rates with fundamentals," Urmossy said, adding that the March 30 policy announcement was "one of the most anticipated events in the African Frontier space." And the black market shows the hard currency shortage that has plagued Egypt for more than a year persists. "Demand for foreign exchange continues to outstrip supply, providing the conditions for the parallel market to grow," said Farouk Soussa of Goldman Sachs.
Egypt desperately needs the proceeds from privatisation after a series of economic shocks. STAKE SALE DRIVEEgypt set a target in 2022 of raising $10 billion annually over four years through private investment in state assets. Egypt has established its own sovereign fund to bring in private investors to develop state assets, but the move appears designed to attract capital without relinquishing control, said Sayigh. "They want others to help the state with its financial burden, but it's still the state that determines priorities and investments," he said. MILITARY TAX BREAKSFuture asset sales will be complicated by an expansion under Sisi of the military's often opaque economic role, analysts say.
Egypt central bank seeks advisor for United Bank sale -sources
  + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
CAIRO, March 9 (Reuters) - Egypt's central bank has sent investment banks a request for proposals to pitch for an advisory role in the sale of United Bank of Egypt, which the central bank owns, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. The search for advisors comes after talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to acquire United Bank failed after disagreement over its valuation. The government said it planned to sell stakes in 32 companies, but since then has placed stakes in other companies up for sale as well. The finance ministry said last month it was seeking to sell the 20% stake in AlexBank that it still owns. Analysts say a stake in the state-controlled House and Development Bank may also be up for sale.
Egypt unveils renovations of venerable Tahrir Square Museum
  + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
[1/2] Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa talks to the media at the Egyptian Museum during a news conference by Egypt's ministry of tourism and antiquities that unveiled a renovated wing at the museum, in Cairo, Egypt February 20, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshCAIRO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Egypt has inaugurated the first phase of renovations on the venerable Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, giving the collection a facelift after many of its objects were relocated to other museums around the country. Egypt hopes to grow its tourism industry by 25% to 30% a year, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at the inauguration ceremony on Monday. The renovation, financed by the European Union and assisted by five major European museums including the Louvre and British Museum, was designed to modernise the presentation of the objects. "The Egyptian Museum continues to develop itself, allowing it to compete with the other major modern museums," Issa said.
It did not mention AlexBank, though a sale of its remaining stake to Intesa is a possibility, one of the sources said. The sale was challenged in court by activist group, the Egyptian Centre for Transparency, local media reported. Egypt's constitutional court in mid-January ruled to uphold that law rejecting a challenge brought against it. A number of cases, including that centred around the sale of AlexBank, had been put on hold pending the decision on the law. Reporting by Patrick Werr in Cairo and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities/Handout via REUTERSCAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Egypt has restored, documented and opened to tourists the Middle Kingdom tomb of Meru, the oldest site accessible to the public on Luxor's West Bank, home to some of its most spectacular Pharaonic monuments including the Valley of the Kings. Meru's rock-hewn tomb was restored by the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw and Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. "This is the only decorated room of the tomb, with an unusual decoration of painting on lime plaster," Yassin said. Meru's tomb had been known since at least the mid-19th century, according to the Polish Egyptian archaeological mission. Some of the Middle Kingdom's most prominent officials were buried at North Asasif, the statement said.
Archaeologist hails possibly 'oldest' mummy yet found in Egypt
  + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
[1/7] People work at the site after the announcement of the discovery of 4,300-year-old sealed tombs in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, in Giza, Egypt, January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanyCAIRO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Egyptologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be the oldest and "most complete" mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the excavation team leader said on Thursday. The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed in mortar. "This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date," Hawass, one of Egypt's former ministers of antiquities, said in a statement. Numerous statues were found among the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and several servants, the statement said.
Foreign investors pour $925 mln into Egypt since Wednesday
  + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
CAIRO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Foreign investors transferred more than $925 million dollars into the Egyptian foreign exchange market in the three days since its currency sharply depreciated last week, Egypt's central bank said in a statement on Monday. Additional foreign currency from local sources, remittances from Egyptians working abroad and tourism also flowed into the market over the past three business days, the central bank statement added. Banks were able to fulfil more than $2 billion in requests by Egyptian importers over the past three days, in addition to the requests other clients, the central bank statement added. Goods began backing up in Egyptian ports after the central bank placed restrictions on imports in February. Last month the central bank removed those restrictions, and importers have been scouring for dollars to get their goods released.
Among its pledges is one to slow investment in public projects, including national projects, so as to reduce inflation and conserve foreign currency, without specifying where cuts might fall. The IMF board of directors approved the 46-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) on Dec. 17. Egypt's pound has been allowed to fluctuate more than before since its third devaluation in less than a year last week. Under the facility, the IMF will provide Egypt with about $700 million in the fiscal year that ends in June. Reporting by Patrick Werr, Editing by Aidan Lewis and Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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