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Tuesday, 13 September 2022

Businesses are losing “tens of mns of USD” a day due to the import crisis, says Mohamed Elsewedy

It was a mixed bag on the airwaves last night, with the potential revival of the government’s IPO program (more on that above), the ongoing crisis at Egyptian ports, and the rise in education financing in Egypt all getting a look in.

Businesses are losing “tens of mns of USD” a day due to the bottlenecks at Egyptian ports caused by import restrictions imposed by former central bank governor Tarek Amer, Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) head Mohamed El Sewedy told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 6:24), warning that many could shutter if the crisis continues. “Surely, some factories would be at risk of suspending operations. Not all factories can weather losses of a month or two,” he said, urging authorities to speed up the release of shipments stuck at ports. His statements come despite the government rolling out late last month a basket of measures to clear shipments that have been held up at customs.

Just like trying to score [redacted]: The head of the Dentists’ Syndicate, Ehab Heikal, described a shortage in local anesthetics as similar to “getting [illegal substances],” describing the growth of a black market which he blamed on a a shortage in local production, import restrictions, and corruption in distribution lines. [Editor’s note: We’re writing around words that would otherwise see our email sent to a bad folder from which it will not emerge.]

On the agenda of the government economic conference taking place toward the end of this month: Localizing industries and boosting exports, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly told FEI representatives in a meeting yesterday. Industry figures presented several proposals to the PM to support domestic industry, according to a cabinet statement which didn’t elaborate. Al Hayah Al Youm had coverage (watch, runtime: 2:06).

Madbouly + Abdalla meet again: The PM held another round of talks with the acting governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hassan Abdalla. On the agenda: monetary policy, talks with the IMF on an assistance package, and the economic conference, cabinet said, again without providing many details. Ala Masouleety had coverage (watch, runtime: 3:07).

Education financing is booming: El Hadidi talked to Ahmed Hashem, CCO at EFG Hermes’ valU (watch, runtime: 0:48), and Contact Financial Holding’s Tamer Samir (watch, runtime: 4:33) to discuss the growth of consumer finance providers in the education space.

Amendments to a law providing a framework to settle building code violations is set to be finalized by the Cabinet before the end of September, cabinet spokesman Nader Saad told Salet El Tahrir (watch, runtime: 6:35). When approved, the amendments would be referred to the House of Representatives when it returns from its summer recess.

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