Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation at 25.5% in November 

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation at 25.5% in November 
Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate was 25.5 percent in November, slowing from 26.5 percent in October, data from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Tuesday. Shutterstock
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Updated 10 December 2024
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Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation at 25.5% in November 

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation at 25.5% in November 
  • Headline inflation climbed to a record high of 38% in September 2023
  • By October 2024 it had fallen to 26.5%

DUBAI: Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate was 25.5 percent in November, slowing from 26.5 percent in October, data from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Tuesday. 

Inflation began climbing precipitously in early 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted foreign investors to withdraw billions of dollars from Egyptian treasury markets. 

Headline inflation climbed to a record high of 38.0 percent in September 2023. By October 2024 it had fallen to 26.5 percent. 

The median forecast of 15 analysts in a Reuters poll had been for annual inflation to inch down to 26.4 percent last month. 

On a monthly basis, headline inflation rose by 0.5 percent in November, down from 1.1 percent in October, CAPMAS data showed.  

Food prices dropped by 2.8 percent on the month compared with 1.1 percent in October to stand 23.3 percent higher than they were a year earlier.  

Inflation has been fueled largely by an expansion of the money supply. Egypt’s M2 money supply grew by 29.54 percent year on year in October, central bank data showed. 


Clothing purchases leads $5bn pre-Eid spending in Saudi Arabia: SAMA data

Clothing purchases leads $5bn pre-Eid spending in Saudi Arabia: SAMA data
Updated 17 sec ago
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Clothing purchases leads $5bn pre-Eid spending in Saudi Arabia: SAMA data

Clothing purchases leads $5bn pre-Eid spending in Saudi Arabia: SAMA data

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s point-of-sale transactions rose to SR20 billion ($5.3 billion) in the week ending March 29, driven by SR3.1 billion in spending on clothing and footwear.

Following Eid Al-Fitr, POS transactions dropped by 47.6 percent to SR10.5 billion in the week ending April 5, according to the latest figures from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA.

During that seven-day period, spending in restaurants and cafes was the only sector to record a positive change, with the value of transactions rising by 2.6 percent to SR2.23 billion. This sector also saw a 12.4 percent surge in terms of the number of sales, reaching 56.1 million, which claimed the biggest share of the POS.

The education sector recorded the largest dip in transaction value, with a 69.8 percent fall to SR10.2 million. Spending on furniture followed, dropping 68.5 percent to SR141 million, while transactions decreased by 63.1 percent to 876,000. 

Expenditure on transportation came in third place, falling by 66.8 percent to SR322.8 million.

Spending on miscellaneous goods and services decreased by 58.9 percent, bringing the total value of transactions to SR1.12 billion, claiming the third-largest share of the POS.

The value of transactions in the telecommunication and construction divisions dropped by 47.8 percent to SR86.6 million and 51.6 percent to SR148.8 million, respectively.

Spending on electronics dropped by 47.9 percent to SR10.2 million, while expenditure on public utilities saw a 47.8 percent dip to SR32.5 million. Spending on food and beverages recorded a 36.2 percent decline to SR1.64 billion but still held the second-biggest share of the POS.

Spending in the leading three categories accounted for approximately 47.5 percent or SR5 billion of the week’s total value.

Geographically, Riyadh dominated POS transactions, representing around 30.3 percent of the total, with expenses in the capital reaching SR3.19 billion — a 49.9 percent decrease from the previous week. 

Jeddah followed with a 49.7 percent increase to SR1.4 billion; Madinah came in third at SR516.5 million, down 44.7 percent. 

Makkah experienced the most significant decrease in spending, dropping by 57.7 percent to SR515.6 million.

Tabuk followed with a 50.9 percent reduction to SR174.8 million.

Makkah and Tabuk saw the largest falls in terms of number of transactions, dropping by 35.7 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively, to 8.1 million and 3.5 million transactions.


Small emerging market dollar bonds resume selloff, Pakistan drops more than 6 cents

Small emerging market dollar bonds resume selloff, Pakistan drops more than 6 cents
Updated 52 min 8 sec ago
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Small emerging market dollar bonds resume selloff, Pakistan drops more than 6 cents

Small emerging market dollar bonds resume selloff, Pakistan drops more than 6 cents
  • Debt in smaller emerging markets has suffered sharp selloffs since Trump announced tariffs
  • The latest rout has pushed borrowing costs higher for countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Sri Lanka

JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI: International bonds issued by smaller, riskier, emerging economies suffered another sharp selloff on Wednesday after President Donald Trump’s eye-watering 104 percent tariffs on China took effect, re-igniting turmoil across global markets.
Pakistan’s longer-dated dollar-denominated bonds tumbled more than 6 cents to be bid below the 70-cent threshold where debt is seen as distressed, Tradeweb data showed.
Longer-dated bonds, issued by Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Egypt, were all down between 3.5-4.5 cents, although trading was thin, according to market participants.
Debt in smaller emerging markets, known as frontier markets, has suffered sharp selloffs since Trump announced a raft of sweeping tariffs last Wednesday, with many bonds in the asset class losing 10 cents or more over the past week.
The latest rout is boosting the cost of borrowing for those economies, with many of the bonds seeing their yields in the double digits, a threshold that makes it unpalatable for them to tap international capital markets.
“There are some concerns in the market that Frontiers will find it more difficult in the future to raise external funding due to the external market developments and possibly persistent loss in risk appetite,” said Gergely Urmossy, senior frontier markets strategist at Societe Generale.
This could lead to more currency weakness in those economies over the medium term and curtail the space for central banks to lower interest rates to shore up their economies, he added.
Many frontier market governments, especially African sovereigns, had only recently returned to Eurobond markets.
They had lost access for some two years when the fallout from COVID-19 and Russia’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent inflation sharply higher and fueled a global interest rate-hiking cycle that priced those governments out, and helped push Ghana and Zambia into default.
Razia Khan, head of research, Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered, said the latest set of tariffs had fueled more concerns over global growth.
“Frontier markets, especially at the lower end of the ratings spectrum, are seen as more vulnerable when risk-off sentiment grips markets,” she said.


Italy’s Eni to invest $26bn in North Africa over next 4 years, CEO says

Italy’s Eni to invest $26bn in North Africa over next 4 years, CEO says
Updated 09 April 2025
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Italy’s Eni to invest $26bn in North Africa over next 4 years, CEO says

Italy’s Eni to invest $26bn in North Africa over next 4 years, CEO says

RAVENNA : Italian energy group Eni will invest around €24 billion ($26.24 billion) in Algeria, Libya and Egypt over the next four years to help boost energy production, CEO Claudio Descalzi said on Tuesday.

The investments would coincide with the Rome government’s efforts to relaunch its economic and political ties with Africa as part of its so-called Mattei Plan.

Eni is already a major foreign investor in North Africa’s energy sector.

Descalzi said the three countries can play an important role as hydrocarbon suppliers for Europe, but need outside investment to expand their energy production and meet rising domestic demand.

“Internal demand in these countries — because of demographic growth — is increasing at about 7-8 percent every year, this means they need gas ... they need investment,” he told an energy conference in the Italian city of Ravenna.

In the next four years, Eni will invest more than €8 billion each in Algeria and Libya, and about the same in Egypt, Descalzi said.

Egypt had planned to become a major gas exporter after Eni discovered the Zohr offshore gas field there in 2015. However, domestic gas production in the country has been falling since 2021, and reached a six-year low in 2024.

Earlier this year, Cyprus and Egypt signed a deal to process the gas coming from Cyprus’s offshore fields to Egypt, exported by Eni, for liquefaction and re-export to Europe.


Oil Updates — crude falls to lowest since Feb. 2021 as Trump’s tariffs take effect

Oil Updates — crude falls to lowest since Feb. 2021 as Trump’s tariffs take effect
Updated 09 April 2025
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Oil Updates — crude falls to lowest since Feb. 2021 as Trump’s tariffs take effect

Oil Updates — crude falls to lowest since Feb. 2021 as Trump’s tariffs take effect
  • US imposes 104 percent tariff on imports from China as Beijing sticks to its levies
  • US crude stockpiles fell last week, industry data shows

SINGAPORE/BEIJING: Oil prices fell for a fifth day to their lowest since February 2021 on Wednesday on looming demand concerns fueled by an escalating tariff war between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies, and a rising supply outlook.

Brent futures dropped $1.39, or 2.21 percent, to $61.43 a barrel as of 9:55 a.m. Saudi time, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.50, or 2.52 percent, to $58.08. Both contracts lost as much as 4 percent before paring some losses.

Both Brent and WTI have tumbled over the five sessions since US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most imports sparking concerns a global trade war would dent economic growth and hit fuel demand.

The premium of the Brent futures contract to the contract six months later slumped to 98 cents a barrel, its lowest since mid-November. That premium has contracted from $3.53 on April 2 when the tariffs were announced and as the trade war with China has escalated.

The narrowing of the Brent market’s backwardation, the market structure when prices for prompt futures are higher than later-dated supply, indicates investors are becoming increasingly concerned about falling crude demand and the potential for excess supply.

Trump’s 104 percent tariffs on China kicked in from 7:01 a.m. Saudi time on Wednesday, adding 50 percent more to tariffs after Beijing failed to lift its retaliatory tariffs on US goods by a noon deadline on Tuesday set by Trump.

Beijing vowed not to bow to what it called US blackmail after Trump threatened the additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods if the country did not lift its 34 percent retaliatory levy.

“China’s aggressive retaliation diminishes the chances of a quick deal between the world’s two biggest economies, triggering mounting fears of economic recession across the globe,” said Ye Lin, vice president of oil commodity markets at Rystad Energy.

“China’s 50,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd of oil demand growth is at risk if the trade war continues for longer, however, a stronger stimulus to boost domestic consumption could mitigate the losses,” she said.

Exacerbating oil’s decline was a decision last week by OPEC+, which groups together the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, to hike output in May by 411,000 barrels per day, a move that analysts say is likely to push the market into surplus.

Goldman Sachs now forecasts that Brent and WTI could edge down to $62 and $58 per barrel by December 2025 and to $55 and $51 per barrel by December 2026.

As oil prices sank, Russia’s ESPO Blend oil price fell below the $60 per barrel Western price cap level for the first time ever on Monday.

In one positive sign for demand, data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed US crude inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended April 4, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a build of about 1.4 million barrels.

Official inventory data from the Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Saudi time.


Saudi Arabia proposes new investment product to boost Nomu listings

Saudi Arabia proposes new investment product to boost Nomu listings
Updated 08 April 2025
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Saudi Arabia proposes new investment product to boost Nomu listings

Saudi Arabia proposes new investment product to boost Nomu listings
  • New SPAC framework aims to enhance private sector access to public markets

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is exploring the introduction of a new investment product in the parallel market, Nomu, to foster private sector listings through special purpose acquisition companies.

The Capital Markets Authority has launched a public consultation on the proposed regulatory framework for SPACs, inviting feedback as part of its efforts to expand investment opportunities and drive market growth.

This initiative seeks to address the financing needs of the economy while diversifying investment products and enhancing the depth of the capital market.

Under the proposal, SPACs would be formed as joint stock companies in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Law.

Their main objective would be to acquire or merge with Saudi companies that are not yet listed, in alignment with the Rules on the Offer of Securities and Continuing Obligations.

In February, Fahad bin Hamdan, assistant deputy for financing and investment at the CMA, announced the authority’s plans to introduce SPACs as part of its broader strategy to streamline the listing process within the Kingdom’s capital market.

Speaking at the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh, Hamdan emphasized the CMA’s efforts to enhance market accessibility and provide alternative pathways for companies to go public.

In addition to SPACs, the CMA is also working to refine the framework for direct listings, with plans to allow such offerings on the main market, Hamdan revealed.

The authority’s goal is to expand the investor base in Nomu, thereby boosting supply and increasing market participation.

These initiatives are part of ongoing regulatory reforms aimed at attracting both local and international investors, including collaboration with the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority to eliminate withholding tax on all listed securities.

The authority has stated that SPACs could have a positive impact on liquidity levels by increasing the number of listings.

The authority has stated that SPACs could have a positive impact on liquidity levels by increasing the number of listings.

In a media release, the CMA emphasized that the proposed draft is designed to encourage private sector companies to list on the parallel market through SPACs. This, the CMA noted, would help meet the financing needs of the economy while supporting the growth and expansion of the capital market by introducing a broader range of investment products.

The CMA’s new public consultation on the proposed regulatory framework for SPACs outlines three key components.

First, it specifies the terms for acquisitions or mergers between SPACs and target companies. Sponsors, or any affiliated investment funds, would be prohibited from holding, directly or indirectly, shares or interests in the target company. Additionally, the target company must ensure that at least 80 percent of the SPAC’s funds are held in an escrow account. Furthermore, SPAC shareholders must own at least 30 percent of the target company’s shares upon the completion of the transaction.

Second, SPACs must be structured as joint stock companies and offer redeemable shares at the discretion of shareholders. To ensure sufficient market liquidity, the minimum post-offering capital requirement is set at SR100 million ($26.6 million).

Third, SPACs would be required to complete an acquisition or merger with the target company within 24 months of their listing on Nomu. This deadline may be extended by up to 12 months with approval from the extraordinary general assembly.

The draft framework also outlines specific requirements for sponsors, who must be licensed capital market institutions authorized to manage investments and operate funds.

A sponsor’s ownership stake must remain between 5 percent and 20 percent of the SPAC’s capital throughout its lifecycle, with restrictions on the disposal of their shares during designated periods.

Importantly, the sponsor and its affiliates would not be permitted to vote on the extension resolution, and the CMA must be notified of any such vote.

Additionally, qualified investors would have the option to redeem their shares for a cash amount from the escrow account under certain conditions, including if they vote against a proposed acquisition or merger that is ultimately completed.

If approved, SPACs would be listed on Nomu under the same rules that apply to other publicly listed companies. At least 90 percent of the capital raised in the offering must be held in a local bank escrow account, with access restricted to specific conditions defined in the proposed regulations.

The CMA has invited the public to participate in the consultation by submitting feedback through its official platform.

In 2024, Nomu recorded 28 initial public offerings and three direct listings, raising a total of approximately SR1.1 billion.