Pakistan secures Saudi aid: Indebted Pakistan has received USD 2 bn in financial support from Saudi Arabia, the country’s finance minister, Ishaq Dar, is quoted as saying by Reuters. Saudi promised the money back in April but was waiting for Pakistan to reach its USD 3 bn IMF agreement before depositing it at Pakistan’s central bank. The IMF is expected to approve the staff-level agreement with Pakistan today.

The country is in desperate need of aid: Prior to the Saudi deposit, Pakistan’s foreign reserves were barely sufficient to cover a month of controlled imports, the newswire quotes Dar as saying.

ALSO WORTH MENTIONING-

  • Microsoft is one step closer to closing its Activision Blizzard merger after a US judge denied the Federal Trade Commission’s injunction to halt the USD 69 bn acquisition on antitrust concerns. (Financial Times)
  • Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund made a loss on its investments last year:The Public Investment Fund reported a USD 11 bn investment loss in 2022 — a significant drop from 2021’s USD 19 bn in earnings — on the back of the global market rout. (Bloomberg)

EGX30

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USD at CIB

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THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.1% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.98 bn (about 13% below the trailing 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is up 17.5% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+5.5%), Heliopolis Housing (+4.1%) and EFG Holding (+3.6%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-2.7%), Ibnsina Pharma (-1.8%) and Orascom Construction (-1.6%).

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