Egypt’s sizeable informal economy represents a significant challenge for the government. With between 40% and 60% of economic activity taking place out of sight of the Ministry of Finance, the government’s economic reform agenda faces a number of obstacles. Informal employment is generally characterised by low-wage, low-skill activity with...
Higher interest rates following the flotation of the Egyptian pound in 2016 made it costly for businesses and individuals to obtain funding from Egyptian banks. The depreciation of the currency also raised input costs for businesses and reduced their ability to expand operations, thereby reducing demand for funding to cover capital expenditure...
The first cryptocurrency transaction in history was feted in just two words: “Running Bitcoin”. This came in the form of a tweet on January 11, 2009 by Hal Finney, a US software developer. Some 10 years and over 1600 initial coin offerings later, the world of crypto-, virtual and other digital currencies looks to have provoked an active...
Since the country embarked on an ambitious IMFbacked economic reform programme in November 2016 the government has placed a strong emphasis on infrastructure and construction as a key engine of urban growth and financial stability. In the FY 2019/20 budget LE140bn ($8.6bn) was earmarked to obtain new resources, develop infrastructure, and...
The outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020 brought disruption to all sectors of the economy, and the real estate market was no exception. While the full impact of the pandemic remains to be seen, the real estate sector is likely to experience difficulties in the shorter term as state funds are redirected to tackling the crisis. However, the...
Egypt’s economic reforms, such as the flotation of the pound in late 2016, the reduction of fuel subsidies and the wave of inflation that followed, have broadly affected household purchasing power in recent years. In turn, this has caused a fall in demand for real estate and impacted the sector’s overall performance. This has been compounded...
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