Egypt considers addition of eight state-owned companies to its IPO programme: Finance minister

Egypt is considering the addition of eight state-owned companies to its 32 companies that will be listed under the government’s initial public offering (IPO) programme or offered for strategic investors, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said on Wednesday.

Maait made the announcement during his participation in the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The government has initiated the procedures to offer two army-owned companies, the National Company for Producing and Bottling Water (Safi) and Wataniya Petroleum, starting Wednesday. Moreover, four companies will be offered through investment banks in 2023.

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) suffered dramatic losses estimated at EGP 43 billion, the highest in two years.

All EGX indexes tumbled on Wednesday in the wake of the banking system turmoil in the US that led to the collapse of three major banks as benchmark interest rates go higher.

Maait added that the government targets net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows of $10 billion in FY2022/2023 that ends on 30 June, up from $8.6 billion in FY2021/2022. 

The first seven months of this fiscal year exhibited positive signs. The initial surplus rose to EGP 33.7 billion, up from EGP 15.2 billion in the corresponding course of FY2021/2022, Maait said. 

Tax revenues also inched up by 18.9 percent in the same time period, he noted.