COMMODITIES–

To leave or not to leave? Egypt could rethink its decision to exit from the UN grain treaty after receiving several letters from the Grain Trade Convention calling on the government to remain a member, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said yesterday. Officials said earlier this month that Egypt plans to withdraw from the treaty at the end of June because the government doesn’t see any benefits of paying the almost USD 58k in annual membership fees.

It’s not looking too good: “We think that our membership of such organizations is of no use as new technology made it much easier for us to get all the information we need about grain and wheat markets,” El Moselhy said, pointing to the convention’s failure to provide aid during the spike in food prices last year triggered by the war in Ukraine.

TRADE–

Egypt wants to open the door to more USD-less trade: As Egypt prepares to swap the greenback for the RUB to trade with Russia, it is now looking at making similar arrangements with China and India. “Egypt is currently studying exchanging trade with China and India in local currencies in the same way we are working to adopt the RUB and the EGP,” Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said over the weekend.

Move to the RUB “moving well”: “Cooperation between Egypt and Russia in local currencies is now open and receives support from all, but it needs a link between the Central Bank of Egypt and the Russian Federal Bank, and it is technically moving well,” the minister said. The Russian central bank earlier this year approved the EGP as a trade currency, opening the door to the two countries cutting out the USD in bilateral trade. The countries are also exploring swapping goods, allowing Egypt to import Russian wheat in return for exporting oranges, he said.

BANKING-

Nasser Social Bank launches new high-interest savings certificates: State-owned lender Nasser Social Bank is now offering three-year certificates of deposit (CDs) at 22% and 18-month CDs at 20%, Social Solidarity Minister Nevine El Qabbaj said in a statement. The bank also increased the annual and monthly yields for its senior citizens certificates to 19.25% and 17.75%, respectively.

INVESTMENT-

A precious metals fund? Egypt is working to launch a fund to invest in precious metals in the coming weeks, Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) boss Mohamed Farid told Asharq Business, without disclosing details. The authority will soon publish controls regulating investments funds focused on precious metals, he added.