Your top 5 pieces of business and economic news in December

Your top 5 pieces of business and economic news in December:

• The state privatization program looks to kick into high gear in the first quarter of 2020 after e-Finance announced plans to IPO on the EGX alongside Banque du Caire, which will now offer a 49% stake.
• The Egyptian Competition Authority granted regulatory approval to the Uber-Careem merger, albeit with a few caveats.
• Short selling hit the EGX last month but has had a lackluster start, with analysts reporting only dozens of trades and confusion among brokerages about how to operate the system.
• The EGP broke the EGP 16 barrier for the first time since February 2017, hitting EGP 15.97 on increased foreign inflows into government bonds.
• The government and the Central Bank of Egypt launched a new EGP 100 bn subsidized loan program for medium-sized manufacturers.