Month: November 2020

Local, international financial institutions offer to invest $1.755bn in CBE’s T-bills

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has received offers from international and local financial institutions to invest in local treasury bills (T-bills) denominated in US currency, which were issued on Monday.

The CBE floated the $1.56bn worth T-bill tender for a year, due on 16 November 2021.

According to the CBE, it received 38 bids worth $1.755bn to cover this bid, but only 33 bids worth $1.585bn were accepted.

The return accepted by the CBE ranged between 3.34% and 3.401%, and averaged 3.394%, compared to 3.42%, 3.45%, and 3.446% in the last similar bid put forward by the CBE on 8 June 2020. The CBE rejected other offers from investors who requested a 4% return.

The proceeds of this bid will be used to pay for a previous bid put forward by the CBE on 19 November 2019, through which it obtained $1.56bn.

Second phase of Egypt’s parliamentary elections sees 29.5% voter turnout

Head of the National Elections Authority (NEA) Lasheen Ibrahim announced, on Monday, that the second phase of the House of Representatives elections has witnessed 29.5% voter turnout.

The electoral list led by pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party has won the majority of votes in the second phase.

About 9.2 million people cast their ballots out of 31 million eligible voters in the second phase of elections. The number of valid votes in the individual system recorded 8,332,214 votes, while the number of invalid votes reached 956,952 votes. The number of valid votes in the party list system reached 7,730,456 votes, while the number of invalid votes stood at 1,585,710 votes.

This came during a press conference by the NEA at Maspero building, to announce the final results of the second phase.

Ibarhim said that the first round of the second phase of the parliament elections witnessed 2,083 candidates running for individual seats, after the death of two candidates.

This election phase was held at 9,468 sub-committees supervised by 1,200 judges.

EBRD, partners acquire Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals

EBRD commits $75m to support the company’s growth in Egypt

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is joining forces with reputable partners to acquire Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals company to improve the availability and affordability of medicines, using an investment platform with an initial capital commitment of $250m.

The EBRD is committing $75m to support the company’s growth in Egypt, alongside Development Partners International (DPI), a pan-African private equity firm which is committing $75m, and CDC Group, a development finance institution funded by the UK government, with $100m commitment.

Moreover, the investment platform acquired Celon Laboratories, an Indian oncology and critical-care product specialist.

Adwia will benefit from Celon’s know-how in drug development, including for chronic and life-threatening health conditions.

Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Overnight Deposit Rate

The Central Bank of Egypt unexpectedly cut its key overnight deposit rate by 50 bps to 8.25 percent during its November meeting, surprising markets that expected no changes. The move follows a similar margin cut on September 24th and brings borrowing costs to its lowest level since 2014. Policymakers noted that the annual inflation rate rose to 4.5% in October mainly driven by the cost of food. The Committee said that the outlook for inflation in the last quarter of 2020 is estimated to be in the low single digits range, with an increased likelihood of coming under the target floor of 6%. Policymakers added that the decision to cut rates provides appropriate support to economic activity while remaining consistent with price stability over the medium term. The Committee said it will closely monitor all economic developments and will not hesitate to utilize all available tools to support the recovery of economic activity, within its price stability mandate. source: Central Bank of Egypt

See Attachment : mpc-press-release-november-12-2020-

Banking Industry Forum urges action to combat money-laundering, terrorism financing

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 – 03:43 GMT

SHARM El SHEIKH – 15 Novemeber 2020: Participants in the Banking Industry and Future of Financial Services Forum recommended on Sunday to unify efforts to combat the threats of money-laundering and terrorism financing, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

This came at the concluding session of the forum held under the auspices of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The three-day event was organized by the Union of Arab Banks (UAB).

The participants also called for preparing an overall study concerning the digital transformation in banks, stressing the importance of expanding financial digital lending technology platforms.

Egypt’s central bank issues LE 11B in T-bonds Monday

Egypt Today staff

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 – 08:02 GMT

CAIRO – 16 November 2020: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, issued LE 11 billion in treasury bonds on Monday, Nov. 11.

The T-bonds were offered in three installments, with the first valued at LE 2.5 billion with a two-year term, and the second worth LE 5 billion with a five-year term.

For the current fiscal year, the budget deficit is estimated to record 6.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), planned by the ministry to be financed through treasury bills and bonds and through international and Arab loans.