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Egypt is Expected to List Three Companies

Egypt is Expected to List Three Companies
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Egypt is Expected to List Three Companies

Egypt is Expected to List Three Companies

The head of Egypt’s Financial Regulation Authority (FRA) said on Tuesday he expected the government to start its program of initial public offerings in September.

Two or three companies should be listed by the end of the year, FRA Chairman Mohamed Omran told a news conference.

He pointed out that the country’s first offering of green bonds by a private company is expected to take place on Wednesday with value of $100 million.

Omran did not name the companies expected to issue shares this year or the company due to offer green bonds.

An FRA official and a banking source said the bond offer would be made by Egypt’s Commercial International Bank, Reuters reported.

In April, Public Enterprise Minister Hisham Tawfik said two to three public sector companies will be listed in the IPO in Q3 2021.

Egypt’s government said in March 2018 it would sell stakes in 23 companies, but sold only a 4.5 percent stake in Eastern Tobacco in 2019.

The FRA is Egypt’s Capital Market regulator. It is responsible for regulating non-bank financial services, such as financial leasing, real estate financing and insurance.

While the green bond is a type of fixed-income instrument that is specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. It was first issued by the World Bank in 2008.

Meanwhile, Azimut Egypt decided to successfully close the IPO, a month ahead of schedule, for its first local equity fund, Azimut Equity Opportunities Fund, “AZ Foras.”

Its focused equity fund, AZ-Opp, has raised assets under management (AUM) of 71 million pounds in its initial subscription period, it stated.

Azimut Group Managing Director Ahmed Abou El Saad said the “fund met substantial appetite from some 500 investors,” noting that it aims to have 250 million pounds in AUM for the fund, which is now trading.

The Group hailed the IPO’s success and the great media coverage.

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Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
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Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo

The Russian economy has adapted to Western sanctions and inflation is now slowing, but turbulent times and major technological shifts lie ahead, central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.

Despite the sanctions, the Russian economy grew by 4.3% last year but is set to slow sharply in 2025, with many officials and economists saying that the current model has exhausted its growth potential.

"We have adapted to some external challenges (but) no, we are facing very turbulent times ahead," said Nabiullina, who is widely credited with steering the Russian economy through the Ukraine military conflict and resulting sanctions.

"But I am confident that this also presents new opportunities for development and for increasing labor productivity in conditions of expensive labor. We base our efforts on this," she told a banking conference.

She stressed that the high cost of labor - spurred by the military spending that has led to a wage growth spiral in many sectors, as well as by curbs on immigration - would remain for a long time, Reuters reported.

Nabiullina said the economy should in future rely entirely on domestic sources of financing as cheap funding from abroad, abundant before the Ukraine conflict, is no longer available.

"In my view, structural adaptation to external constraints has been completed. We have demonstrated our ability to adapt to these challenges, but now we are facing structural shifts of an entirely new kind, primarily technological ones," she said.

"They may have even more far-reaching consequences than what we experienced over the past two years," Nabiullina said, mentioning artificial intelligence applications in the economy as one such challenge.

INFLATION SLOWING

The central bank, which has faced heavy criticism over its tight monetary policy, began cutting its key interest rate last month as prices started to come down, helped by the rouble's strength.

Nabiullina said inflation is now slowing faster than the central bank expected, and there are signs of easing in the severity of labor market shortages.

She said that if economic indicators pointed to a more significant slowdown than anticipated, the central bank would have room for bolder interest rate cuts. She dismissed statements by critics of the bank, who want deeper cuts, that the cooling of the economy was excessive.

Nabiullina also rejected statements from many businessman and bankers that the rouble is now overvalued and should weaken to please exporting companies, which saw their revenues shrink as the rouble rallied by over 40% against the dollar this year.

"A weak exchange rate is often a sign of vulnerability, a result of chronically high inflation and a lack of confidence in one’s own currency. It is hardly something to strive for," she said.