Business Today Egypt | October – November 2023, Special Edition

In Brief Egypt
IMF lowers Egypt’s 2023/2024 growth forecast to 3.6%, expects
4.2% for 2022/23
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its
growth expectations for the Egyptian economy for the fiscal
year 2022/2023, projecting a growth rate of 4.2% compared to
the previous estimate of 3.7% in the July report. However, it has
lowered its expectations for the current fiscal year 2023/2024 to
3.6%, down from the earlier projection of 4.1% in July.
According to the World Economic Outlook report, the IMF
anticipates that consumer prices in Egypt will increase from 13.2%
in the fiscal year ending in 2022 to 35.7% 2022/2023, followed by
a decrease to 25.9% in 2023/2024.
Egypt intends to issue
$500M in Samurai
bonds in November
Minister of Finance, Mohamed
Maait, said that Egypt will offer
“Samurai” bonds in Japanese yen
before the end of November, at a
value of $500 million.
Samurai bonds are bonds
denominated in Japanese yen, issued
by foreign borrowers on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange. In March 2022,
for the first time in its history, Egypt
issued international “Samurai” bonds
worth $500 million, which were then
equivalent to about 60 billion yen.
Maait’s talk with “Al-Sharq with
Bloomberg” comes after Egypt issued
“Panda” bonds earlier in October,
in the Chinese market in the yuan
currency, also worth $500 million.
The yields on the “Panda” bonds
issued by Egypt reached 3.5%
annually for a period of three years,
which Maait described at the time
as a “very low return in a financial
market that is new to us, and in
unfavorable conditions that include
many challenges.”
However, the yield on Egyptian
bonds is much higher than the average
yield on similar Japanese government
bonds of 0.116%, while the yield
on three-year Chinese government
bonds reaches 2.389%, according to
Al-Sharq with Bloomberg.
Egypt extends the car import initiative for
3 months
The House of Representatives of Egypt has given its approval to a bill that
extends the expat car import initiative for an additional three months. The
decision was made during the general session held in October, indicating
the government’s commitment to supporting this program.
Under the program, Egyptians residing abroad are allowed to import
cars without paying any taxes, with one condition: they must deposit an
equivalent amount in a five-year foreign currency certificate of deposit.
This requirement ensures that the country benefits from the influx of
hard currency, while also providing an opportunity for expats to bring in
vehicles without the burden of taxes.
During the session, it was announced that the second phase of the
initiative is projected to generate approximately $1.1 billion in hard
currency receipts. Moreover, the Cabinet has the authority to extend the
program for another three months if needed.
The bill encompasses the same conditions and regulations as Law No. 161
of 2022. According to these provisions, Egyptians seeking to take advantage
of the initiative must possess a valid legal residence abroad and should not
have previously utilized the benefits offered by the program. The specific
amount of foreign currency required for the transfer depends on the type
and model of the car being imported.
November 2023
10 www.BusinessTodayEgypt.com