Egypt to weigh more sales of state firms

Egypt’s finance minister said yesterday the government will weigh up in January how to proceed with further state company sales, with five share offerings planned to take place by the end of this year.

Egypt hopes the privatisation drive will spur investment and private-sector growth, which has been moribund since an uprising in 2011 that has rocked the economy. “The five companies we decided to work on, we decided to see how it would go,” the minister, Mohammad Maait, said at a business event, adding that Egypt would then see if it could work with strategic investors for further sales.

Maait also said the country’s economy was coping with the consequences of emerging market turbulence so far. “Until now our economy is able to deal with the consequences of this negative effect,” Maait said.

Emerging markets have been shaken by an escalating trade war between the United States and China, as well as interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve which are attracting funds back to the US. The crisis’ impact in emerging markets has rattled Egypt’s stock market, which plunged 3.6 per cent yesterday, its lowest close this year, as liquidity tightened.