EFIC fights off ECA allegations: The Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company (EFIC) issued a statement denying the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA)’s accusations of monopolistic behaviour, saying it has no agreements, written or verbal, to fix fertilizer sale prices. EFIC says it produces around half of the total market’s output and the reason behind the 6% y-o-y net income increase in 9M2016 is due to increasing exports and reducing expenditure. It also expects the EGP float to affect it positively, according to the statement. EFIC also says production costs are known to the Accountability State Authority, preserving it a steady profit margin of 10-15%. It also says it has competition from the Abu Zaabal Company, which is also accused of collusion, as well as, military producers, and smaller-scale ones. The ECA had referred EFIC and Abu Zaabal to prosecution and refused settlement with either.

In other news related to the competition authority: The ECA hopes to sign a data sharing agreement with the Tax Authority “that will save both authorities time and effort, enabling them to perform their roles more efficiently,” according to ECA chief Mona El Garf.