Egypt’s balance of payments in surplus
During the July-December 2007 period, Egypt’s balance of payments (BOP) ran an overall surplus of $3.1 billion (against $2.9 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year), according to a report on AlBawaba.com.
This was a main outcome of a net inflow of $3.1 billion in the capital and financial account; and a deficit of $0.2 billion on the current account, generated from the expansion in the trade deficit which exceeded the surplus on services and net unrequited transfers.
Merchandise exports stepped up by $2.4 billion or 22.8 percent, to reach $13.1 billion. Non-oil exports were the main engine, growing 26.2 percent, while oil exports rose by 19.1 percent.
Merchandise imports increased by $7.1 billion or 41.2 percent, to reach $24.4 billion, driven by the noticeable rise in oil imports, as well as non-oil imports. The services surplus registered $6.8 billion, (compared to $5.6 billion in the previous year). This was mainly due to a rise of 28.5 percent in services receipts; chiefly tourism revenues rising by 30.1 percent, to $5.6 billion, and transport proceeds — because of the rise in Suez Canal earnings, spurred by the rise in the number of transiting ships and in net tonnage — by 24.6 percent to $2.5 billion. In addition, receipts of investment income accelerated by 18.7 percent.
Net unrequited transfers rose by 42.5 percent, to reach $4.2 billion during the period under review, compared with $3.0 billion.
As for the capital and financial account, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Egypt slightly increased during the first half of 2007/2008, thereby achieving a net inflow of $7.8 billion, against $7.2 billion. This can be explained by a number of factors. Firstly, investment inflows for incorporations or for capital increase remained almost unchanged at $3.5 billion. Secondly, FDI in the oil sector stepped up to post a net inflow of $2.9 billion, against $1.2 billion. Finally, privatization proceeds registered $1.4 billion, against $2.6 billion.
UAE's Dana Gas to drill 19 Egypt wells this year
Reuters reported that United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas said on Sunday it would drill 19 new wells in Egypt this year to potentially double the firm's reserves in the North African country.
Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas, which relies on Egypt for the bulk of its income, would develop 15 exploration wells and four development wells at the Komombo concession in Upper Egypt and two concessions in the Nile Delta, it said in a statement.
"The gas sector in Egypt is expanding rapidly," Dana Gas Egypt country director Hany Elsharkawi said in a statement.
"This exploration and development program could potentially double the size of our reserves," he said, without giving further details.
Dana Gas said in January it plans to invest about $500 million in Egypt and Iraq's Kurdish region this year to boost natural gas output.
Dana Gas could spend more than $170 million in Egypt this year, it said on Sunday.
The firm posted a near 15 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenue compared with the third quarter on higher production from its Egyptian gas operations and increase in international prices.
Shares of Dana Gas have fallen more than 14 percent this month. –Agencies
NBAD in Egypt goes live with BankWorld-enabled FX ATM facility
CR2, a global provider of multi-channel banking software solutions, and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi announced that the bank has gone live with BankWorld ATM's FX Cash Acceptance solution for the bank's operations in Egypt.
NBAD Egypt will use CR2's solution to provide a foreign currency exchange facility via its ATM network. National Bank of Abu Dhabi deployed a network of BankWorld enabled cash acceptance ATMs to accept cash deposits, credit card payments and exchange foreign currency at ATMs 24/7 in leading hotels, central shopping areas and tourist destinations throughout Egypt.
“Egypt is one of the Middle East's most popular tourist destinations with almost 10 million tourists visiting the country last year,” said Amr Madkour, director information technology at NBAD Egypt.
“BankWorld's solution enables us to extend our foreign currency facility to walk up customers as well as card-less tourists. With ATM transactions costing less than a quarter of branch transactions, this service will greatly assist NBAD Egypt in providing competitive FX exchange facilities.”
Using BankWorld, NBAD Egypt's ATMs automatically counts a client's deposit while they are at the ATM. Once validated the amount is instantly credited to the customer's account or credit card. Likewise when foreign currency is deposited the client can request that it be exchanged immediately for local currency which is then disbursed via the ATM.
Egypt builds more bakeries to ease bread shortage, says Ahram
Egypt is building thousands of bakeries to ease a shortage of bread, Al-Ahram reported, citing government officials.
Bread production in Alexandria, Egypt's second-biggest province, will increase to 14 million loaves a day, from 10 million, the state-run newspaper said, citing Alexandria Governor Adel Labib.
The government also built 531 kiosks in Cairo to sell bread to the public, the newspaper reported, citing Cairo Governor Abdel Azim Wazir.
Some bakers buy flour from the government at LE 16 ($2.93) per 100 kilograms and resell it on the black market at LE 260, causing a shortage of subsidized bread, the government has said. –Bloomberg
