Inflation rises again in September, Egypt's non-oil exports almost hit USD 10 billion in Q2,& more

Headline inflation rises for second month in September

Egypt’s annual headline inflation — total inflation in an economy —? rose for the second consecutive month in September to 26.4%.

This is up from August’s figures of 26.2%, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

In spite of the hike, annual inflation remains considerably lower than the 40.3% recorded in the same month the year before.

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Driving the increase:

CAPMAS attributed the increase in headline inflation primarily to a hike in the prices of electricity, gas, and fuel by 14.9 %;? vegetables by 12.4%; medical supplies (by 3%); dairy products, cheese, and eggs (by 2.8%); and vehicle purchases (by 2.3%).

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Core inflation:

Monthly core inflation — which excludes volatile items such as food and energy prices —? fell 0.1% month-on-month to 25.0%.

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Remember:

September’s inflation data could increase the likelihood of the central bank holding interest rates steady at 27.25% for the fourth time at its policy meeting on October 17, according to Forbes’ analysis.?

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Going forward:?

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has set the inflation target at 7% (±2 percent) in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Fitch projected in its latest country report that Inflation in Egypt will? reach 29.0% in 2024 and 18.1% in 2025, before stabilizing at an average of 7.0% annually from 2026 to 2033.??

Egypt’s non-oil exports rise over 15% in Q2 to almost USD 10 billion

Egypt’s non-petroleum exports rose 15.5% YoY during the second quarter of the year to reach USD 9.7 billion, according to a recent report issued by the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

Our top exported commodities:

Natural or cultured pearls and precious stones led Egyptian non-oil exports in terms of value during Q2, amounting to almost USD 1 billion compared to exports of USD 274.3 million during the same period in 2023.?

Fruit exports came in second place, bringing in USD 808.7 compared to about USD 670.4 million during the same period the year before.

The UAE was the largest importer of Egyptian non-oil commodities during the period, contributing USD 1.1 billion – or 10.8% of total exports.?

Saudi Arabia comprised 7.1%, and Turkey came in third to account for 6.7% of our exports.

Untapped potential:

The report showed that Egypt has yet to leverage its full exporting potential.

The United States is the largest market where we can still make progress, having untapped export opportunities valued at USD 2.4 billion, followed by Turkey at USD1.5 billion, the United Arab Emirates at approximately USD 1.4 billion, and Saudi Arabia at USD 1.3 billion, IDSC noted.

State targets:

Egypt has an annual export target of USD 100 billion.

The country, which came in at #129 out of 139 countries in terms of export performance in 2020, climbed the ranks in 2022 to the 59th rank when it registered USD 35.6 billion in merchandise exports. Egypt’s volumes held steady at the same level last year too.

Imports:

?The value of Egyptian non-oil imports rose 10.7% YoY to USD 17.6 billion during Q2.

Our top trading partners:

China was Egypt’s most significant trading partner for the period with a bilateral trade volume of USD 3.3 billion.

?Russia came in second at USD 1.72 billion. The United States trailed in third place with a value of USD 1.65 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates with USD 1.5 billion.

Palm Hills bags largest loan to real estate developers in EGX history

A consortium comprising eight banks has agreed to extend Palm Hills EGP 10.3 billion? to finance its “Badya” project in October City.

The details:

?The consortium includes Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, Cairo Bank, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the National Bank of Kuwait – Egypt, and the Industrial Development Bank.

This financing marks the largest loan of its kind granted to an EGX-listed real estate developer.

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Remember, Badya will help the firm tap into the education sector:

The project includes Badya University, which Palm Hills is co-developing with Taaleem. The investment ticket for the first phase of Badya stood at some EGP 1.8 billion.

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And the company had a great 1H:

During the first six months of the year, Palm Hills swelled its net income 180% YoY to EGP 1.7 billion. The company also saw its revenues surge 58% YoY in 1H 2024 to EGP 10.9 billion, and reported record breaking sales of EGP 65.5 billion during the period.

Orascom appointed main constructor for phase 1 of Ras El Hekma

The master developer of the USD 35 billion Ras El Hekma project “Modon Holding” has appointed Orascom Construction as the main contractor for the first phase of the Ras El Hekma project on Egypt’s North Coast.?

Remember:

Construction of the first phase of the project, which will span 50 million square meters and is expected to be completed in three years, reportedly began last Friday.

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The entire project will span 170 million square meters, and is expected to rake in cumulative investments of USD 110 billion by 2045 with an annual GDP contribution of around USD 25 billion.

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Who else is in?

Modon also signed an agreement with Elsewedy Electric to explore the supply of building materials and work on the development, operation, and maintenance of industrial parks.

It also inked an MoU with Taqa Arabia to collaborate on electricity,? greenfield utility, and water desalination projects.?

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Market reacts:

Orascom and Elsewedy’s share value rose 12.67% and 11.7% on market close last Monday respectively, while Taqa Arabia fell 1.11% to EGP 14.25 apiece.?