Egypt is globally ranked 22nd in the 2024 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) with a score of 61.8 points. Following Morocco, Egypt secured the second position in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as announced by the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC). Climate index The CCPI serves as an independent monitoring tool, tracking countries’ endeavors to combat climate change. It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics, enabling a comparison of climate protection efforts and the progress made by individual countries. Egypt has dropped two places among the medium-performing countries in this year’s index,…
Author: Doaa A.Moneim
Egypt has signed a $1.5 billion deal with a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power for a 1.1 gigawatts (GW) wind energy project in the Gulf of Suez and Jabal El Zayt, the Egyptian Cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday. Wind energy Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Development and Utilization Authority and the consortium including the Egyptian Hassan Allam Holding signed the agreement in the presence of the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Under the agreement, the consortium will work during the development phase to complete site studies and secure project finance for the wind farm to be…
Egypt’s current account deficit improved by 12.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of the current FY2023/2024 (July-September 2023) reaching $2.8 billion, compared to $3.2 billion, data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) showed. The CBE attributed this improvement to the decline in the trade deficit by 12.7% to a record $7.9 billion, and the spike in services surplus to $5.2 billion, driven by the rise in the Suez Canal transit receipts and tourism revenues. Moreover, data showed that the capital and financial account recorded a net inflow of $1.8 billion, with foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Egypt…
State-owned banks National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr issued new certificates of deposits (CDs) last week, boasting an all-time high annual yield of 23.55% and 27%, respectively. The move occurred amid widespread expectations that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) would devalue the local currency against the US dollar for the fourth time since March 2022. It also aligns with the highly active parallel currency market, where 1 USD is traded for over EGP 52, compared to the official rate of nearly EGP 31/1 USD. Clients are permitted to acquire these CDs through online banking services and at…
The recent financial results of real estate development companies in Egypt indicate a high demand for the sector as it has become a trusted haven for individuals looking to protect their savings amid economic fluctuations during crises. Egypt faces economic challenges, including a severe shortage of US dollar liquidity, soaring inflation, a weakened local currency, and rising prices of essentials and services. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East compound these difficulties due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with Egypt situated in the immediate theater of conflict. According to Nawazish Mirza, a Professor of Finance at Excelia Business School in…
In response to the severe economic challenges facing Egypt, the cabinet has released a document outlining key economic trends for navigating the next six years (2024-2030). The document will be submitted for expert-level dialogue soon. Egypt 2030 The document outlines key priorities for Egypt, focusing on macroeconomic and social aspects. Challenges include a severe shortage of US dollars, rising prices of goods and services, an active parallel currency market, an increasing external financing gap due to the rising US dollar rate, declining foreign direct investment, commodity shortages, and the impact of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe. These…
In 2023, Egypt’s economy confronted severe challenges amid global and regional tensions. Despite government efforts to ease the impact on citizens, issues like soaring inflation, a US dollar shortage, and local currency weakness persist. As President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi starts his third term, tackling these challenges becomes increasingly challenging. Business Monthly explores the economic hurdles Egypt faced in 2023 and anticipates the road ahead in 2024. Rising inflation In recent years, Egypt has grappled with periods of high inflation, driven by factors such as subsidy cuts, currency depreciation, and increasing global commodity prices. Throughout 2023, the inflation rate experienced fluctuations…
Five major global shipping and oil corporations have declared a suspension of operations in the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to the Houthi attacks in response to the Israeli war in Gaza, posing a significant impact on maritime and oil transport. About 15% of the world’s shipping traffic moves through the Red Sea en route to the Suez Canal, which is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Maersk said that as of December 18, the company had about 20 ships that had temporarily stopped transiting. Half of these ships were waiting in the eastern Gulf of Aden,…
The current inflationary wave in Egypt has driven confidence levels among non-oil businesses to their lowest point since 2012, according to the November report by S&P Global, which analyzes the monthly performance of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and assesses the business outlook in the local market. The PMI for Egypt’s non-oil private sector rose in November to 48.4 from 47.9 in October, way below the 50-mark which separates growth from contraction. S&P Global noted that expectations were only slightly positive, with the manufacturing and construction sectors slipping into pessimism territory. Amid a bleak outlook, there was a notable surge in…
Developing countries spent nearly half a trillion dollars to service their external public and publicly guaranteed debt in 2022, depleting funds from health, education and climate needs, and putting the poorest countries at increasing risk of “tumbling into a debt crisis,” the World Bank said last week. In its latest International Debt Report, the bank said the debt-service payments – including principal and interest – rose 5% to a record $443.5 billion from a year earlier amid the biggest surge in global interest rates in four decades. It said the payments could shoot 10% higher in 2023-2024. “Record debt levels…