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Egyptian Economy: Expert Analysis |
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A liquidity
problem over-shadowed generally rosy economic forecasts during the first
six months of this year but the government responded quickly, according
to Hussein El Guindy, managing director of CIBC, the brokerage arm of
Egypt's most profitable financial institution, CIB, Commercial
International Bank.
"They have begun paying their debts and are trying to accelerate the privatization program to inject more funds into the market," said El Guindy, whose CIBC results, year-to-date, are 60% ahead of last year, its first full year of operation. "There is always talk of devaluation but the government is rejecting that, and while there may be some pressure on the stock market because of the liquidity problem, I believe that, too, will be solved very soon." Egyptian Economy: More Expert Analysis According to David Shelby, economic analyst for EFG Hermes, Cairo, the Egyptian economy seems to go from strength to strength. ìTourism is up 25% year-on-year, there is a lot more interest in Egyptian equities, we had a strong first quarter of the calendar year and there was a strong bull run that lasted about three months,î he said. ìWeíre dealing with a very solid economy and seeing a lot of very optimistic indications from the government as to where they are heading.î Ayman Abdel Rahman Salah, speaking for the Exchange, says ìPeople are becoming more aware of the need for a stock exchange, how they can use it to raise capital, the need for transparency. They had lost the culture of the Exchange over the 40 years it was dormant, and now we have to bring that culture back to life.î |
