Samih Sawiris is warning that we’re not just in a real estate bubble — it could burst if the government does not act soon, according to comments attributed to him by Al Mal at yesterday’s AmCham Egypt real estate conference. The market is oversupplied, he said, and sustaining sales will be difficult in no small part due to the float of the EGP. “Egyptians are now 30-40% poorer and their purchasing power dropped during the devaluation,” the chairman and CEO of Orascom Development Holdings noted. Egypt holds the highest rate of vacant real estate in the world, Sawiris added. Speaking on the same panel, AmCham president Anis Aclimandos who took a different view, saying the opportunities for growth remain there as long as the population rates grow at 2.6% annually, according to Al Ahram.

Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk was also part of the panel discussion and commented that all economic signs look healthy and the economic reforms and the float has been well-received by investors. National Bank of Egypt head Hisham Okasha, meanwhile, said that NBE has covered around USD 800 mn in imports since the float. Asked where the where the EGP might stabilize, participants on the panel offered everything from EGP 10 to EGP 15 per USD 1, the newspaper reports.