The new social protection package will be announced “within days,” Prime Minister said. The package of minimum wage hikes and pension increases will come into effect starting the next fiscal year. 

Net foreign reserves inched up to USD47.3 billion at the end of January 2025, marking a USD156 million increase from December.

Net foreign assets in Egypt’s banking sector reached USD5.23 billion in December, down 12.2% from USD5.96 billion in November. The decline was driven by a widening deficit in the net foreign assets of commercial banks, which widened to USD6.4 billion in December, compared to USD5.8 billion in November.

Energy giant BP has made a fresh discovery off the North Coast in its King Mariout offshore concession, with initial reports suggesting the site could yield both gas and oil. 

Cabinet approved five concession agreements that will see no less than USD225.3 million invested to drill at least 40 wells in areas including the Eastern and Western Deserts.

US energy giant ExxonMobil is reportedly planning to dig two new exploratory wells in its Cairo and Masry offshore concessions in 1Q26, with an initial investment of USD240 million, an unnamed government official said.

Egypt is reportedly planning to increase crude oil production by 18% y-o-y by the end of the current fiscal year, an unnamed government official told Al Arabiya. 

Demand for gold bars and coins in Egypt fell 21% y-o-y in 2024, hitting 24 tons, according to the World Gold Council’s gold demand trend report for last year.

The government is looking to see exports growing at an annual rate of 15-20% to achieve a trade surplus before 2030, Madbouly said, pointing to agriculture exports, which hit a record USD10.6 billion last year.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) the Finance Ministry inked a cooperation agreement that will see them set up a EUR10 million fund — dubbed the Egypt Account — to finance feasibility studies and advisory services for projects being set up under the public-private partnership model.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank, signed Egypt’s work plan for 2025, under which it will provide USD100 million in funds to support private sector projects in the country.

The World Bank is preparing for the second phase of Egypt’s budget support program to be paid during this year, after the completion of the first phase in the middle of last year, worth USD500 million, according to the World Bank’s regional director, adding that the total value of the program is USD3 billion, as part of a package to support Egypt announced by the World Bank in March 2024 worth USD6 billion, half of which is allocated to support the general budget and the other half to support the private sector.

CIEB 4Q24 consolidated bottom line recorded EGP1,944 million (+4% q/q, +44% y/y), bringing FY24 bottom line to EGP8,030 million (+55% y/y, and perfectly in line with Al Ahly Pharos estimate of EGP8,039 million). CIEB is currently trading at P/E25 of 3.1x (based on bottom line post minority and appropriations) and P/B25 of 0.9x. 

SWDY opened a EGP2 billion cable factory at its subsidiary Elsewedy Industrial Development’s Industrial zone in the Tenth of Ramadan. The factory will have a production capacity of 4 million km of fiber-optic cables and 200k km of copper communication cables.

EGCH decided to hold an auction to sell unutilized land plots in Aswan with total area of around 35k sqm. 

According to AMIC, auto sales increased by 24.6% YoY and 19.7% MoM to reach 13k vehicles in December. 

EGTS’s court date for the 20.0 million sqm third phase Sahl Hasheesh land plot lawsuit is postponed to 4 March 2025.