Egypt postpones the listing to September in stock exchange of state-owned companies

Egyptian Affairs Minister Hisham Tawfiq told Reuters on Saturday that Egypt will postpone the planned offering of shares in a number of government companies. in stock exchange until after the end of the summer holidays for investors.

The government had planned to offer shares in four to six companies during the fiscal year in course, which will end at the end of June, but the minister said the government will start offering government companies in bag starting next September, without going into details.

Egypt has been on the hunt for sources of foreign currency since the Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted investors to withdraw billions of dollars from treasury markets, prompting the central bank to devalue the currency by 14% on March 21.

The government has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for more than a month to get a financial support package.

On Saturday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the government is working on ways to attract more investment, including “private sector participation in state assets.”

Last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the government to come up with a program to attract $ 40 billion through private sector participation over the next four years.

This will include the listing in stock exchange of military-owned companies by the end of questyear and the sale of equity investments in some state-owned companies.

The government announced in 2020 that it would offer to sell two military-affiliated companies, the National Petroleum Company and the National Company. for the Production and Bottling of Natural Water (Safi), but neither agreement has been completed yet.

UAE ADQ Holding, an Abu Dhabi government investment holding company, bought $ 1.85 billion worth of shares in five listed Egyptian companies in bag.

The purchases of ADQ Holding included shares of Commercial International Bank, an instant electronic payment service provider for banking technology and electronic payments, Alexandria for container and freight handling, Egypt for Fertilizer Production (MOPCO) and Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries.

Egyptian planning minister Hala al-Saeed said in January that Egypt aims to sell holdings in state-owned companies every month or two after the initial public offering of e-finance for digital payments and financial investments showed a strong appetite among institutional investors.

In November, the government sold the National Investment Bank’s controlling stake in the Arab Investment Bank to Egyptian financial group Hermes, as well as shares in Abu Qir.

The government said it would offer minority stakes in 2018 in 23 state-owned companies in a plan to raise up to 80 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 4.33 billion), but the program has been repeatedly delayed due to weak markets, legal hurdles and those companies’ readiness of financial records, according to officials of the government.

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