Pre-Trading Thoughts

A presidential decree establishing the Supreme Council of Taxes was issued, Minister of Finance announced, to empower the private sector, stimulate investment, and encourage investors to expand their productive and export activities.

The government agreed with manufacturers and merchants to start reducing commodity prices by about 15% and 20%, bringing the reduction to 30% after Eid al-Fitr.

Some USD 2.8 bn worth of goods have been cleared from the country’s ports thanks to the recent spate of foreign currency injections, Prime Minister said.

Net FDI inflows declined marginally to record USD2.1 billion in 4Q 2023, compared to USD2.2 billion 3Q 2023.

The head of the GAFI revealed that the authority is currently studying 4 applications filed to obtain the golden license for companies operating in various sectors, including a logistics company.

Remittances inflows are reportedly still far from reaching their peak, as Egyptian expats increasingly return to using official channels to transfer money back to Egypt following the float of the pound, deputy CEO of the UAE’s largest FX bureau and remittances company Mohammad Bitar said.

The New and Renewable Energy Authority discussed allocating EGP3.7 billion to establish renewable energy projects in the new fiscal year 2024/2025, within the Authority’s draft budget of EGP7.78 billion.

Egypt aims to increase the quantities of natural gas imported from Israel by about 26% to reach 1.450 billion cubic feet per day during 1H 2025, up from about 1.15 billion cubic feet per day now.


The Prime Minister directed companies and traders to reduce steel prices after the full release of goods and raw materials in ports.

Cement producers started to re-price their products after the recent surge in mazut price by EGP1,500/ton to reach EGP7,000/ton. It is worth highlighting that around 30% of cement factories depend on mazut as a cheap source of energy. The head of the Cement Division of the Building Materials Chamber estimates the increase in production cost of cement not to exceed EGP100/ton post the mazut price increase.

CIEB’s board approved a proposal to pay out a dividend of EGP1.1456 per share instead of EGP2.47. The decision is yet to receive the go-ahead from the general assembly.

NBE intends to exit 12 companies with expected proceeds of EGP4 billion. The bank will invest up to EGP5 billion during 2024 in new projects and expands some currently existing projects.

The United Bank has arranged about USD100 million for importers since the CBE directed banks at the beginning of this month to secure foreign currency to import 17 goods, if they are present in Egyptian ports.


CCAP's transportation subsidiary targets injecting USD200 million to establish, manage and operate two stations in Alexandria and Ain Sokhna.


RMDA’s BoD approved to increase its paid in capital by EGP1.12 million, bringing it to EGP387.23 million, to finance the second tranche of its ESOP program.