Egypt leads Africa in FDI. CBE’s Ramez won’t change course on FX + monetary policies. Private sector can use nat’l gas grid for imports. New electricity law within days. Draft of VAT law completed. Are you underpaid? Bitcoin in Egypt.

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Legal counsel and legislative affairs reporters look like they’ll be busy as the government gears-up for its typical end-of-fiscal-year legislative push — a season that this year just happens to overlap with the final weeks before Ramadan. (“Ramadan is coming.” Say that in your best Jon Stow voice.) As you’ll read in today’s edition:

• A draft of the value-added tax law is apparently now ready; we’ve previously been promised public consultations.
• Investment Minister Ashraf Salman resurfaced yesterday to tell us the executive regulations for the new investment law should be ready within weeks. The incentives clause — which he says is now being reviewed by the Transitional Justice Ministry — could fuel tension between Salman and Finance Minister Hany Dimian.
• The new electricity law should be signed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi within days; the legislation is expected to deregulate generation and transmission, but leave the government in charge of policy.
• And were that not enough, EGPC has confirmed that private sector gas importers (such as there are at present) will be allowed to use the national natural gas grid for a fee.

In other news: The final episode of The Late Show with David Letterman will air tonight.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

Arabian Cement Company will hold its 1Q 2015 results call at 3:00pm CLT, while Sodic will hold its results call for the same period starting thirty minutes later at 3:30pm CLT. The Forum on Egyptian-German Relations will take place at SIS Headquarters, Nasr City. 7-10:00pm CLT.

The Egypreneur Forum takes place at Nile University, Cairo, this weekend (Friday and Saturday, 22-23 May). Register online here.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Central Bank of Egypt Governor, Hisham Ramez, was on the defensive last night with Lamees El Hadidy. “I know a lot of people are upset with me right now over the restrictions that we have imposed on the market, but we need to look at the big picture before we pass judgment. In many instances the mainstream media is misinformed. They are bringing politics into the equation resulting in a complete misrepresentation of the situation at hand,” said Ramez. “What we have done is for the good of the entire country and we continue to make dollars available for importers and manufacturers for a priority list of strategic goods within reason.”

“We have provided around USD 15 bn for imports over the past four months. I will continue to support the importers of food, but to be perfectly honest I am not inclined to make dollars available for the importers of Kashcaval cheese for example. As a nation, we are heavy consumers and we rely too heavily on imports while our exports are declining. I want the company that has been importing cheese to start manufacturing cheese. Manufacturing is what will create jobs and help the economy grow,” said Ramez. “Our import bill to China last year was USD 10 bn; we import everything from prayer rugs to food from China.”

When El Hadidy asked about the international criticism of Egypt including its monetary policy, Ramez said, “We have been under attack for everything that we have done as a country. We are all in agreement that subsidies are a drain on our economy but subsidies can’t be removed all at once. We all know the solutions, but we can’t just wake up one morning and change everything all at once. We can’t change the bureaucracy overnight. I can’t shock the market.”

Ramez was adamant about not budging on any of the new regulations including the daily dollar deposit ceiling and not allowing Egyptian companies operating in Egypt to price goods and services in dollars. “We are not supposed to be dealing in dollars inside Egypt. You can charge the dollar equivalent but you shouldn’t be charging in dollars,” he added.

When asked if he was optimistic about the future, Ramez said, I’m a very practical man. All I will say is that I know that as a country we have lots of opportunities.

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SPEED ROUND

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation will allow the private sector to use the national natural gas grid, Al Ahram reported. Private sector companies will be allowed to use the grid for a fee if they import their own gas shipments, EGPC chief Tarek El Molla said. EGAS will create an entity to regulate natural gas purchases this year. The move is an important step toward deregulation of the natural gas market.

In related news: The new electricity law should be on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi desk for signature within days, according to Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mohamed Shaker. The news is but a passing mention in one of two roundups in Al-Mal (here and here) on remarks Shaker made yesterday at a seminar on the interplay between energy and social and economic challenges. The new electricity law is expected to privatize both the generation and distribution of electricity while leaving the government in charge of overall regulation and policy.

What happens now to capital gains taxes that have been already collected? The decision to scrap the application of the capital gains tax requires more explanation, said Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority head Sherif Samy said, according to Al Mal. The head of Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry believes that the freeze does not apply retrospectively and that investors who had the tax deducted are not getting a refund. Al-Borsa, meanwhile, tells us that the folks at the Tax Authority had no advance notice the CGT was being deferred, with a source claiming they learned of the decision from media reports.

Egypt led Africa in net FDI for capital investment last year, according to figures from fDi Markets, a data arm of the FT (and yes, they really do capitalize FDI that way). Topping the league table, according to anFT story (with an accompanying video on ‘African investing myths debunked’) are the five countries below:

• Egypt — USD 18 bn
• Angola — USD 16 bn
• Nigeria — USD 11 bn
• Mozambique — USD 9 bn
• Morocco — USD 5 bn

Al-Ahram has picked up the story and is running it this morning as front-page news on its web edition.

Ashraf Salman resurfaces: After maintaining a relatively low profile in recent weeks, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said yesterday he expects Egypt will have netted USD 6-8 bn in FDI during the 2014-15 fiscal year, significantly short of his original USD 10 bn projection. Salman also said yesterday that the executive regulations for the new investment law will be ready within three weeks. The wording of the final draft of the incentives clause is being revisited by the transitional justice ministry. Salman welcomed the decision to scrap the application of the capital gains tax. (Read in Arabic)

Finance ministry finishes draft of value-added tax law: The legal department of the Tax Authority has completed a draft of the value-added tax ahead of releasing it to the public, said Mamdouh Omar, a counselor at the Finance Ministry. Government sources have stated that the draft law will be brought up to the new parliament upon its election, so it will not be implemented soon. The VAT will replace the current sales tax. (Read in Arabic)

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab has said foreign currency demand must be met. The remarks came during a meeting with the cabinet economic group, according to Amwal Al Ghad. FX liquidity needed to import staple and strategic commodities as well as industrial inputs will be made available, the PM’s spokesperson said. Meanwhile, yesterday’s FX auction saw the CBE sell USD 37.8 mn to banks at its now-standard rate of EGP 7.53.

The Oil Ministry denies it has plans to hike prices and will not eliminate 80-octane fuel, a spokesperson said yesterday, calling reports to the contrary “baseless rumors.” The domestic press continues to speculate that the Mahlab government plans to hike prices at the pumps in July with the start of the state’s next budget year. The spokesman added that the new smart card system will not contribute to rising fuel prices. (Read in Arabic)

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab inaugurated a 750 MW combined-cycle power station in Banha on Tuesday, reports Al Mal. The total cost of the project was EGP 3.5 bn.

Feel like you are underpaid? Business Insider reported on a tool called Adzuna that tells you how much money you should be earning just by analysing your CV. If you already have a job, the result will probably leave you disgruntled either way, but you can try Adzuna’s valuation here.

Family businesses are responsible for as much as 80% of GDP in the Middle East, said KPMG Hazem Hassan founder Hazem Hassan at conference yesterday, noting that family-owned enterprises also account for 75% of private-sector activity and 70% of employment. The auditing and accounting firm chief claims that, globally, 70% of all family-owned businesses close with the death of their founder, Al-Borsareports.

** SUBSCRIBE NOW TO ENTERPRISE IN ARABIC: We’ve launched a beta version of Enterprise in Arabic. Visit our Arabic page here to have a look or sign up before our next issue is released later this morning. We’re coming out with new editions every other day this week and moving to a daily production schedule soon when we formally launch the product. As is the case with the English edition, the Arabic will be available without charge.

Egyptian Bitcoin payment startup Yellow launches operations in home market: “Bitcoin payments startup Yellow has launched a bitcoin voucher service in Egypt … Egypt’s fledgling Bitcoin industry began showing signs of life in 2014 with the announcement of an Australian bitcoin exchange Igot to expand its services to Egypt and AMECO, the largest disposable syringe and hypodermic needle manufacturer in the Middle East (based in Cairo) beginning to accept BTC … there has been no significant progress since last year in Egypt as AMECO is still the only business in the entire country to accept bitcoin.” (Read) For a primer on Bitcoin, you can try the official site here, but if you find the explanation too arcane, Coindesk has put together an explanation which they say “Even a Five-Year-Old Will Understand.”

Egypt most improved country in the world y-o-y for improved food security -EIU Global Food Security Index: Egypt posted a +12.4 point increase from 2014 in improved food security according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Food Security Index, and is the highest-ranked lower-middle income country on the index. The report notes “Egypt’s overall Affordability score improved significantly when political disruptions lessened …” A link to the full report may be found at the bottom of the index’s landing page here.

No comment: ‘Egypt court schedules defence hearing after prisoners executed‘: “An administrative court has set 2 June to hear defence lawyers file a case to stop the execution of six defendants who were hanged on Sunday in the ‘Arab Sharkas’ case.”

6 things that Egypt can do to boost tourism: Development consultant Thomas Doherty offers his six pieces of advice to help Egypt’s tourism sector:

• Facilitate visa procedures for visitors from Asia, especially China
• Improve historical interpretation of museums and sites
• Promote architectural and lifestyle tourism in Cairo and Alexandria as unique urban destinations
• Promote language tourism
• Stop publicly blaming generic “foreigners” for problems in Egypt.
• Break the Giza mafias [overly-aggressive vendors near the Pyramids of Giza site]

HSBC has begun charging other banks for holding deposits in euros, Swiss francs, Danish crowns and Swedish crowns. “HSBC charges banks for deposits they hold with us in currencies where negative interest rates apply. Banks affected have been notified and we continue to monitor the situation,” Reuters quoted the bank as saying.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration launched its redesigned International Energy Portal. The interactive tool gives increased access to data and allows for customization while also include new data visualization features, access to international analysis, and enhanced data downloads. You can check it out here.

‘Klaus Schwab opens door for his Davos successor,’ the FT tells us this morning, saying the 77 year-old will split the roles of CEO and chairman and hand more power to the World Economic Forum’s board, whose members include IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

***
A MESSAGE FROM PHAROS HOLDING

Pharos reiterates ‘sell’ recommendation for Juhayna
Juhayna Food Industries reported a significant surge in net income this quarter, which was 51% higher than 1Q14 and 96% higher q-o-q. The jump was mainly on the back of the depletion of the company’s high-cost powdered milk inventory, which it had accumulated during 2013 and early 2014, when international powder milk prices had increased exponentially.

Despite this recovery, Pharos Research slashed its FV estimate for the stock and reiterated its recommendation to sell. Click here to find out why.
***

WORTH WATCHING

In commemoration of the end of David Letterman’s stint on The Late Show, we’re featuring some of the more memorable moments in the program’s history:

• Andy Kaufman’s staged fight with pro-wrestler Jerry Lawler, 1982. (Watch, running time: 3:41)
• Crispin Glover nearly kicks David Letterman in the head before being kicked off the show, 1987. (Watch, running time: 4:04)
• Cate Blanchett describing her first movie appearance, in the Egyptian cinematic classic Kaborya. (Watch, running time: 3:13)
• Cate Blanchett in Kaborya. (Watch, running time: 1:23)
• Amy Sedaris’ 4 am tour of Greenwich Village on the Late Show, 2004. (Watch, running time: 6:46)

DIPLOMACY

President of the German Parliament ‘cancels’ meeting with President El Sisi: The President of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert said he canceled his meeting with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during his upcoming visit to Germany, citing ‘human rights abuses and lack of parliamentary elections in Egypt.’ The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said that the Egyptian government had not requested the meeting in the first place and that the President’s schedule for the visit has yet to be announced. (Read)

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

The lead story on Egypt in the international press this morning is one we cannot include in the email newsletter — it involves a topic and keywords that would prevent our delivery to your inbox.

The story is fairly incendiary; we’ve included a full wrap-up on our blog page here.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Namatalla and Ahmed Feteha turn in a solid effort for Bloomberg, being among the few to explicitly note that Finance Minister Hany Dimian went to the mats over the ‘postponement’ of the capital gains tax — and lost. Best quote: “Postponing the tax is certainly positive for investors, but there is a credibility issue that now needs to be addressed,” said Hany Farahat, senior economist at Cairo-based investment bank CI Capital. “We hope the government now understands what needs to be ‘done and not done’ when it comes to communicating such decisions to the market.” Read ‘Traders Cheer as Egypt Finance Chief Loses Stocks Tax Battle‘

WORTH READING

The Guardian profiled Schlumberger, labeling it as “the oil world’s most secretive operator”that “has more staff than Google, turns over more than Goldman Sachs, and is worth more than McDonald’s.” After the U.S. Department of Justice discovered Schlumberger’s dealings in Sudan and Iran, which company employees tried to cover their by giving them the cover names “Southern Egypt” and “Northern Gulf”,Schlumberger set a record for having received the largest corporate criminal fine for sanctions violations in U.S. history.

ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY & SUBSIDY REFORM

Higher Suez Canal FX receipts to alleviate concerns over Egypt’s energy sector
The National | 18 May 2015
Egypt’s prospects of higher volumes of foreign currency receipts from the expansion of the Suez Canal could “alleviate some of the concerns over investing in the country’s power sector,” LeAnne Graves writes for The National. Graves quotes Deutsche Bank as saying that while “there were some concerns about the low level of FX liquidity,” the balance of payments is set to recover. The head of private projects at the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company said she even “heard from some large developers that they are ready to [start construction] even with the current situation of currency as soon as we release the power purchase agreement, which is expected at the end of this month.” (Read)

AOI to complete building 14 solar energy stations by June’s end
Al Borsa | 19 May 2015
The Arab Organisation for Industrialisation (AOI) is set to complete the building of 14 small-scale solar energy stations by the end of June, Al Borsa reported. In total, the stations will have a capacity of 400 KW and cost EGP 5.6 mn. The AOI is also set to inaugurate a photovoltaic cell production line with a capacity sufficient to produce 52 MW of electricity a year and expects the line to break-even within four years. (Read in Arabic)

Misr Insurance and Misr Life Insurance mull Egypt-MegaCell investment
Al Borsa | 19 May 2015
Misr Insurance and Misr Life Insurance , both subsidiaries of Misr Insurance Holding Company, are considering investing in Egypt-Mega Cell, a 120 MW solar cell and module assembly plant in Egypt. Misr Asset Management, the financial arm of Misr Insurance Holding Company, and Italian firm MegaCell are spearheading the project. According to the Misr Asset Management chairman Hassan Shafei, Egypt-MegaCell will be 80% owned by Egyptian entities. (Read in Arabic)

OIL & GAS

ExxonMobil sponsors national campaign to reduce electricity consumption
Al Borsa | 18 May 2015
ExxonMobil is sponsoring a national campaign to reduce electricity consumption domestically to preserve Egypt’s energy resources. ExxonMobil is partnering with Injaz Egypt in the campaign and aims to reach middle school children. ExxonMobil’s MD, Hisham El Amroussy, stressed on the importance of having the government collaborate with the private sector in order to spread awareness and mitigate the energy shortage. The company has already printed leaflets explaining how citizens can use energy more efficiently and spread them across the country and in its On The Run outlets. (Read in Arabic)

BP’s deal with DEA brings its shares in WND to over 80%
Amwal Al Ghad | 19 May 2015
BP’s deal to buyout DEA’s shares in Phase 1 development of the West Nile Delta gas field will bring the oil giant’s share in the field to over 80%. The USD 12 bn WND project, which is planned to start production in 2017, is expected to produce 1.2 Bcfd, which constitutes approximately 25% of Egypt’s current gas production. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS & COMMODITIES

Egyptian orange shipment refused in Russia
Al Ahram | 18 May 2015
Russian health inspectors refused to allow a shipment of Egyptian oranges into the Russian market. The 20 tonne shipment was believed to be infected with citrus scale insects, according to Al Ahram. Russian authorities believe that the scale insects pose a threat to domestic crops and thus refused the shipment. (Read in Arabic)

FEC meets with PM to discuss food safety law
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
The Food Export Council (FEC) met with PM Mahlab to discuss the provisions of the proposed food safety law, Al Mal reported. FEC expects the law to be adopted before the end of the year and to have a positive effect on the market. Egyptian food exports are expected to exceed USD 700 mn in 2Q2015, FEC expects. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

Jacobs Engineering Group completes feasibility study for Alexandria styrene project
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
Belgium’s Jacobs Engineering Group has completed a study for a USD 535 mn styrene project in Alexandria. The study gave two options moving forward, a source told Al Mal; either the current partners will move forward with the project on their own or the government will offer the project to SIDPEC or SABIC. The current partners of the project are the Finance Ministry, the National Investment Bank, and the Oil Ministry. (Read in Arabic)

Industry ministry allocates 900k sqm for Raya’s industrial zone
Al Borsa | 18 May 2015
Raya Corporation was allocated 900k sqm to build an industrial zone northwest of the Gulf of Suez. The land is allocated on a right-to-use basis for 50 years and Al Borsa was informed that Raya has already began negotiating with consultancy offices to begin implementing the project’s infrastructure. Raya’s CEO expressed his discontent with the government and CBE policies noting that his company still struggles to find foreign currency liquidity. (Read in Arabic) In other news, the Egyptian stock exchange’s listing committee has approved Raya Holding’s request to increase it issued capital by EGP 84.1 mn, from EGP 420.5 mn to EGP 504.6 mn. The capital increase will be divided into 16.8 mn shares at a par value of EGP 5. (Read in Arabic)

Knauf Egypt’s gypsum board plant set to begin operations
El Fagr and Daily News Egypt | 19 May 2015 and 17 May 2015
Industry and trade minister Mounir Fakhry Abdelnour inaugurated Knauf Egypt’s EUR 45 mn gypsum board plant in the Ataqa Suez Industrial Zone on Tuesday. (Read in Arabic) According to Daily News Egypt, “the plant has a production capacity of 15 mn sq meters of gypsum, 90,00 tons of gypsum products, and 25 mn meters of metal cutters.” (Read)

231 projects worth EGP 8.7 bn were approved in April
Shorouk News | 19 May 2015
231 projects worth a combined total of around EGP 8.7 bn received regulatory approval in April 2015, announced industry minister Mounir Abdelnour at the opening of a plaster and metal scaffolding plant in Suez today. 194 of these projects were to operate in industrial zones. 68 of these were chemical manufacturing projects, 53 were engineering equipment manufacturing, 39 projects were part of the food sector, 20 textiles, and 5 were mining related projects. Projects approved are spread out across 20 governorates. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTHCARE

615% growth in health insurance premiums over the last five years
Al Borsa | 19 May 2015
The last five years have seen health insurance premiums grow 615%, as health insurance providers have earned EGP 1.8 bn this year in premiums, said Ehab Abu Magd, head of the Egyptian Healthcare Corporations Association. He added that companies working in this sector have targeted increasing domestic coverage by 5 mn citizens by 2020. (Read in Arabic)

TOURISM

Travelstart Egypt looks to continue strong growth in 2015
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
Travelstart Egypt won the Amadeus Award for ‘Best Online Agency 2014’, receiving the annual award for the second consecutive year. The company’s sales revenue grew by 300% y-o-y in 2014, said Regional Manager Ahmed Saad. Moreover, customers’ online ticket purchases grew by 263% for this same period. The company’s customer base rose at a similar pace, reaching 200,000 in 2014. Saad predicts that the company’s online users will reach grow by 40% in 2015 and sales revenue will triple in 2015. (Read in Arabic)

Tourism ministry seeks to revive the North Lake Qarun development project
Al Borsa | 18 May 2015
The Tourism Minister held a meeting with fellow cabinet members to discuss reviving the project to develop North Lake Qarun in Fayoum. The project has been put on hold since 2008 and reviving it now is part of the government’s plan to increase investment opportunities. The tourism ministry’s spokesperson said she believes that Fayoum could be attractive to bird watchers and given its natural wealth and cultural heritage. (Read in Arabic)

TELECOMS & ICT

Vodafone provides visa services to 12 embassies
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
12 embassies in Egypt now rely on Vodafone International Services Center’s visa appointment, application services, said Sherif Bakr who heads the center at a press conference today. The center, which employs 3,500 employees, responds to 2.5 mn inquiries per month in 11 different languages. (Read in Arabic)

OTHER BUSINESS NEWS OF NOTE

Saudi Arabia’s NADEC set to submit bid for Dina Farms
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
Saudi Arabia’s National Agricultural Development Company (NADEC) has entered the race to acquire Qalaa Holdings’ stake in Dina Farms. Other interested bidders include another Saudi Arabian company Almarai, as well as two UAE-based entities, Abraaj and Exeed. NADEC will begin due diligence on Dina Farms shortly, adds the source. Nadec mainly operates in Saudi Arabia, where it runs a vertically integrated dairy, juice and agriculture business; the company does not have any operations in Egypt. NADEC is 20% owned by the Saudi Arabian government. (Read in Arabic)

Harvest Foods looks to make inroads in Europe and Africa
Al Borsa | 19 May 2015
Egyptian canned foods producer Harvest foods aims to increase its exports by 25% in 2015, to EGP 7.5 mn, said Head of Exports, Mohamed Galal. The company plans to expand its footprint in several markets in Africa and Europe, added the source. (Read in Arabic)

AMIC: Passenger car sales reach EGP 2.6 bn in March
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
Passenger cars sales in Egypt reached EGP 2.6 bn in March, announced AMIC. According to its recently issued report, topping that market were cars in the 1500-1600 CC cylinder range, capturing 44% of the market. (Read in Arabic)

EFG Hermes call EGM to discuss capital increase
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
EFG Hermes has called for an Extraordinary General Meeting of its shareholders on Sunday to approve increasing its issued capital from EGP 2.87 bn to EGP 3.3 bn. The EGP 391.8 mn capital increase will see the issuance of 78 mn new shares at a par value of EGP 5. Subscribed shares would be distributed by offering 1.4 free shares for every 10 shares subscribed. The EGM will also discuss approving increasing the company’s authorized capital from EGP 3.2 bn to EGP 6 bn. (Read in Arabic)

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

Finance Ministry warns government entities against using up their allocated provisions
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
The Finance Ministry warned government entities against using up their allocated provisions prematurely, according to Al Mal. Entities that do exceed their allocated provisions will suffer from legal repercussions, the ministry said. The Finance Ministry expects financial reports to be presented to year by the end of the month. (Read in Arabic)

Environment minister arrives in Paris for climate change summit prep talks
Al Mal | 19 May 2015
Environment minister, Khaled Fahmy, arrived in Paris today to take part in a series of preparatory talks with political and business officials ahead of this year’s Paris Climate Change Summit. Over the coming few days, Fahmy will also meet with his counterparts from Europe and North America to discuss Egypt’s participation in the conference. Among the discussions he attended was one on boosting private/public sector cooperation in addressing climate change. (Read in Arabic)

5.7% increase in Suez Canal cargo during April
Masr Al Arabia | 19 May 2015
Cargo transiting through the Suez Canal has increased to 82 mn tons during April 2015, a 5.7% increase over the same period last year. Traffic has also picked up in April as 1,443 ships have moved through the canal, a 4.2% increase over the same period last year. (Read in Arabic)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

Construction licensing procedures 101: Al Mal published today an article outlining procedures to obtain a license to construct a building. These may be known to industry veterans, but provide the curious or the novice with a nice general picture on to what to expect procedurally.. From the certifications and approvals required for zoning and certifying your property to the approvals required for the plans themselves, this is especially useful in navigating the paperwork involved. (Read in Arabic)

The drive to repair and refurbish Cairo’s downtown drove up house prices there by 20% this year, experts toldAl Borsa, and expect sales activities there to increase by 30%.

The government is increasing the number of outlets from which people can replace their paper-based ration cards with the electronic ones, according to Amwal Al Ghad. The supplies ministry is also building a website and network to connect the ministry’s offices and outlets across the country.

The Egyptian Competition Authority launched a twinning project with the EU, Al Masry Al Youmreported. The “focus of this EU-funded project is to enhance the capacity of the ECA to foster an effective competition law enforcement system in Egypt within the framework of a free-market economy” the official press release on the agreement said.

BY THE NUMBERS

USD CBE auction (Tuesday, 19 May): 7.5301 (unchanged since Monday, 02 Feb)
USD parallel market (Tuesday, 19 May): 7.68 / 7.675 (+0.02 / +0.015 from Monday, 18 May, Reuters)

EGX30 (Tuesday): 8,877.68 (+0.90%)
Turnover: EGP 834.5 mn (48% above the 90-day average)

WTI: USD 58.42 (+0.74%)
Brent: USD 64.44 (+0.66%)

TASI: 9,811.1 (flat, 0.00%)
ADX: 4,636.8 (+0.5%)
DFM: 4,127.3 (+1.4%)
KSE Weighted Index: 427.3 (-0.5%)
QE: 12,457.2 (-0.1%)
MSM: 6,385.2 (+0.1%)