Pre-Trading Thoughts

Egypt will continue to rely on a flexible exchange rate regime as a first line of defense against global shocks, central bank Deputy Governor Ramy Aboul Naga said. 

Aboul Naga signaled that the central bank will cut interest rates when it’s convinced inflation won’t pick up again.

The EGP continued to weaken against the USD in trading yesterday, slipping to fresh lows and ending the day at a selling price of around EGP 51.44-51.47 at public and private banks, marking the second consecutive day of an exodus of foreign investors from the local debt market.

Egypt and France inked a strategic partnership agreement that will focus on areas including railway industry localization, technical and vocational training, AI, cybersecurity, and green hydrogen, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said in a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Thailand’s Hi-Tech Apparel began construction on its USD 20 mn sportswear factory in the Qantara West Industrial Zone. The factory will have an annual production capacity of 6 million garments, which will be exported to markets including those in the Americas and Europe. It is expected to kick off production early next year.

Energy giant Chevron will start surveying operations for the east Mediterranean seabed the upcoming summer, in preparation for the gas pipeline connecting the two countries, according to a statement from the Cypriot government.

Net foreign reserves rose to USD 47.8 bn at the end of March 2025, marking a USD 363 mn increase from February, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Egypt's population growth dropped to historic low in 1Q 2025, coming in at 1.3%, down from 1.4% during the same period last year and 1.6% for the quarter in 2023, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

Egypt signed nine financing agreements with the French Development Agency (AFD), totaling EUR262.3 million, as loans and grants, according to the Middle East News Agency.

Hossam Heiba, Chair of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, said that ambitious targets have been set for the coming years, including attracting USD60 billion in foreign direct investment, raising the value of exports to USD145 billion, and working to achieve a private sector contribution of up to 65% of total investments by 2030.

Foreign investors' net sales of treasuries in the secondary market amounted to approximately EGP26.34 billion, equivalent to c.USD511 million, since the beginning of this week, according to data from the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Egypt has reached an agreement with Germany to lease the gasification vessel "Energius Power" to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments for a period of five years, at USD80 million annually. The vessel's capacity is 500 million cubic feet of gas per day, and it is expected to arrive at the Sokhna port by next June.

Al Arabiya revealed new details about Egypt's negotiations with foreign oil companies regarding the proposed increase in the purchase price of natural gas. A government official explained that the purchase price will rise from approximately USD2.7 per million British thermal units to more than USD4, and more than USD8 in deep offshore concession areas.

EFID’s general assembly approved distributing cash dividends of EGP1.14/share for FY24, to be distributed on two equal installments. This implies a payout ratio of 49% and dividend yield of 4.2%

PHAR stated in an EGX release that the subscription coverage of the IPO second stage is 1.28x. The Company added that the allocation for subscribing shareholders in the second phase will be approximately 75.30%. 

HRHO is currently preparing 7 Gulf IPOs, 2 IPOs in Egypt and around 10 M&A transactions.