Foreign Investors are net buyers at LE 21.98B on EGX since flotation

CAIRO – 3 January 2019: Shares' net purchases of foreign investors at the Egyptian Exchange jumped to LE 21.98 billion since the flotation of the Egyptian currency, from November 2016 until December 2018, according to Chairman of EGX Mohamed Farid.

In November 2016, Egypt floated its currency, losing around 50 percent of its value, as part of the economic reform program which imposed taxes, including the value-added tax (VAT), and cut energy subsidies, all with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

This step came upon the approval of the Executive Board of the IMF to offer Egypt a $12 billion loan as a financial assistance to support the Egyptian economic reform program

Farid said in a news conference Thursday that foreign purchases amounted to LE 2.04 billion during the period from September 2014 to October 2016.

The value of trading rose by about 50.3 percent from November 2016 to December 2018, recording LE 778 billion, compared to LE 518 billion during the period from 2014 to October 2016, Farid added.

The benchmark EGX30 declined 13.21 percent, or 1,983.37 points, to end the year at levels of 13,035.77 points, compared to 15,019.14 at the end of 2017. Unlike 2018, EGX30 rose during 2017 by 21.66 percent, or 2,674.25 points, reaching 15,019 points.

Market Capitalization of EGX lost LE 75.2 billion during 2018, recording LE 749.7 billion by the end of the year, compared to LE 824.91 billion at its beginning.