Egypt

OUTLINE: The first Egyptian mutual fund was launched in 1994. Since that time, the industry has evolved slowly. There are nearly 100 funds operating under the supervision of the Egyptian Financial Services Authority (EFSA) at present. There are specialised funds in a number of different asset...

OUTLINE: In 2015 and 2016 the government was adamant about supporting the value of the Egyptian pound in the face of ongoing currency depreciation pressure, through its successive increases of the Treasury rate. As of October 2016 Treasury bond offerings show the five-year bonds standing at 13.4%...

The oil price decline that began in the second half of 2014 has dampened enthusiasm for initial public offerings (IPOs) across the MENA region. The mechanics of this trend are straightforward: oil sales account for the bulk of government revenues in the majority of the region’s hydrocarbon-rich economies, and, as allocation of these revenues...

The year 2016 was a difficult one for exchanges across the MENA region, thanks in large part to stubbornly low oil prices and political unrest. Egypt’s main index reflected the regional malaise for the first half of 2016, with a currency crisis and seemingly intractable fiscal deficit doing little to boost investor confidence. By the second...

In early 2016 the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) introduced new regulations that established maximum loan limits for corporate borrowers and imposed affordability criteria for new retail borrowers.

The Basel III banking accords mark the latest step in the long process of harmonising financial regulations across markets, but the nature of their focus – and some of the problems they seek to solve – means that their relevance to the Middle East and Africa’s emerging and frontier markets can sometimes be somewhat limited.