Your top 5 pieces of business and economic news in March 2022
Your top 5 pieces of business and economic news in March:
- Surprise rate hike + EGP devaluation: The CBE convened a special meeting to raise rates by 100 bps — its first hike in five years — and allowed the EGP to depreciate against the USD.
- Massive tax incentives to help the medicine go down: The Madbouly government announced a package of incentives that would see EGP 130 bn in tax relief doled out, while moving up the timeline of already-planned social safety measures.
- Another round of IMF funding? The government has requested support from the IMF to mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine on its economy.
- Fresh batch of bread measures: The government upped its purchase price for local wheat as part of a range of measures to secure supply amid the war between two of our key grain suppliers, and announced price caps on unsubsidized bread.
- Egypt successfully closed its maiden Samurai bond issuance, selling USD 500 mn (c.JPY 60 bn) of the JPY-denominated bonds in Japan.