The House of Representatives signed off on the FY2018-19 budget during yesterday’s general assembly session, Reuters reports. The budget, which still needs to be accepted and signed into law by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, targets a deficit of 8.4% of GDP and a primary deficit surplus of 2%. It also sees increased spending on health and education and more focused spending on social welfare as the government moves to slash fuel and energy subsidies further at the start of the new fiscal year. You can read our refresher here. The new budget comes into effect on 1 July.
House approves hike in government service fees: In other news from the House, the general assembly voted yesterday to approve a hike in government service fees and introduce new levies on mobile phone users, Youm7 reports. Administrative fees for services such as issuing passports, residency papers, work permits, and driving licenses have been bumped up. Additional charges on mobile phone users include an EGP 10 fee to be tacked onto monthly bills, according to AMAY. New mobile phone lines will set you back a total EGP 70 once the hike comes into effect at the start of FY2018-19, according to Al Mal.
Meanwhile, the House Budget Committee approved proposed amendments to the real estate tax that would tax the sale of inherited property, which the newspaper says had previously been untaxed. The changes, which were proposed by Rep. Mervat Alexan, would still need Cabinet approval to move forward. Some House reps. suggested that the sale of inherited property by the poor be tax exempt.
The Budget Committee also decided to postpone its final vote on a draft law that would exempt cleaning supplies from VAT, Al Shorouk reports.
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House signs off on income tax cuts, raising minimum threshold for exemptions: The House of Representatives’ general assembly signed off yesterday on new income tax cuts, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Those earning up to EGP 8k a year will be exempt entirely from taxes, while others earning between EGP 8k-30k will receive breaks ranging from 7.5%-85%, as follows:
- Salary amounts between EGP 8k-30k a year, taxed at 10%, will receive an 85% break;
- Salary amounts between EGP 30k-45k a year, taxed at 15%, will receive a 45% break;
- Salary amounts between EGP 45k-200k a year, taxed at 20%, will receive a 7.5% break;
- Salary amounts higher than EGP 200k a year will be taxed at 22.5% and receive no breaks.
The new rates go into effect one month after they are published in the Official Gazette, came one day after the House signed off on a number of measures meant to shore up the social safety net ahead of an expected rise in fuel and energy prices at the start of the new fiscal year in July. Those included special “hardship” raises and pension increases for state bureaucrats as well as members of the military and police force. The move is set cost state coffers around EGP 60 bn, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has said.
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Business conditions in the non-oil private sector declined during May, according to the Emirates NBD PMI reading (pdf) compiled by Markit. The gauge slipped back to 49.2 in May from 50.1 in April. Last month’s reading had shown business conditions stabilizing with new export orders rising for the fourth month.
A “marginal” decline in new orders and output formed the basis for the contraction, “with panel members citing weaker demand. … Reductions in both output and new business were only marginal, however, and slower than their respective averages,” notes the report.
On a positive note, non-oil private sector business purchasing expanded for the eighth consecutive month during May. “Panel members largely attributed the increase to planned business expansions. Moreover, the rate at which buying levels rose accelerated from April to a four-month high.”
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LEGISLATION WATCH- Parliament’s general assembly gave its final approval yesterday to the Cyber Crimes Act, Al Mal reports. The law requires prosecutors to obtain a court order to ban websites that publish any content deemed criminal or posing a threat to the country’s national and economic security. If the threat is deemed imminent, the prosecution is granted the authority to issue a temporary ban via the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) until a court order is obtained. Under the law, internet service providers will be required to hold user data and records of web activity — including voice calls and browsing history, among others — for a period of 180 days. ISPs will be required to hand over the information to the authorities if requested.
Crime and punishment: The bill, when it comes into effect, will give the prosecutor general the authority to impose travel bans of as long as one year on anyone found guilty of a crime under the act. It also lays out fines and jail terms for a range of offenses
Parliament also approved yesterday the law establishing the Supreme Authority for Upper Egypt Development, Ahram Gate reports. The law mandates the authority with drafting a holistic strategy for the economic, social, and urban development of regional areas.
Law on expat affairs up for discussion: Meanwhile, Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee says it will meet on 1 July to discuss legislation that would govern the affairs of Egyptians expats, Al Mal also says.
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Someday, somehow, EGX trades could be subject to the capital gains tax: The Tax Authority is mulling the formation of a committee to look into how it could impost the long-deferred capital gains tax on stock market transactions, a government source tells Enterprise. The source noted that there is no rush afoot to implement the measure soon, adding that any such move would be a “political decision” (government-speak for Ittihadiya or the Prime Minister).
No change is imminent: The levy is on hold until 2020, having been delayed after protests by retail investors.
Background: The previous government backtracked in 2015 on plans to impose a tax on stock market gains after protests from retail investors, but threw business owners under the bus, leaving in place a tax in dividends.
The capital gains tax might have a receptive audience from financial markets after all: The Egyptian Capital Markets Association (ECMA) may be receptive to scrapping the current stamp tax on EGX trades and instead implementing the capital gains tax, Youm7 reports. Representatives of the lobby group plan to meet with the Finance Ministry to push for the proposal, said ECMA head Mohamed Maher. He said that they will push for a new framework for the capital gains tax that addresses the issues which made the initial implementation of tax “unbearable” to investors. Other members of the group wants to repeal the stamp tax, saying that by the time it reaches 0.175% it would be too high and could have a negative impact on daily trading volumes.
The stamp tax on stock market transactions earned the government a total of EGP 3.2 bn in its first year, widely exceeding expectations, a source in government tells us. Misr For Central Clearing, Depository & Registry Managing Director Tarek Abdel Bary told us earlier this week that the 0.125% tax on the main market had brought in EGP 700 mn, which leaves the wider OTC covering the remainder. The tax generated exceeded the government’s projection of EGP 2.1 bn in its first year. The tax was raised to 0.15% earlier this week and will rise to 0.175% next year.
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REGULATION WATCH- Factory owners get a small break with amendments to regulations under the Industrial Registry Act: Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil issued amendments yesterday to the executive regulations for the Industrial Registry Act, bringing them up to speed with the Industrial Permits Act, according to a ministry statement. The amendments make it mandatory for factory owners to sign their businesses on to the industrial registry within 30 days of the start of operations. It, however, relieves them from having to provide social security documents with their applications, requiring them to present only their industrial permits and commercial registration documents. They also scrap the temporary industrial registry, allowing temporary registration only on an exceptional case-by-case basis. The Industrial Permits Act, which came into effect last year, expedites industrial licensing proceedings for manufacturers, who now deal with one government agency only as opposed to 11 before, shortening the wait time for permits to 30 days.
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Lebanon’s EuroMena taps Lazard to advise on exit from two Egyptian businesses: Lebanon’s EuroMena Funds has tapped global advisory firm Lazard for counsel on the exit of its EuroMena I Fund from two of its Egyptian holdings, EuroMena Investment Director Aly Mahmoudy tells Al Mal. The private equity firm is hoping to sell the Fund’s 80% stake in Egyptian software developer ITWORX and c. 10% stake in food producer Wadi Holdings by the final quarter of 2018, he said.
The company is also studying two new investments in Egypt through its EuroMena III Fund. Mahmoudy said that both investments, each hovering around USD 10-20 mn, are in the commercial retail sector. The firm had announced in 2016 that it was planning to invest around USD 350 mn in Egypt over four years through EuroMena III. This comes after media reports last yearthat EuroMena was also looking to exit printing and packaging company Wataniya and shift its focus to Lebanon and Africa-based companies with ties to the Lebanese diaspora.
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EXCLUSIVE- Heliopolis Housing & Development in the market for a EGP 1 bn loan: Heliopolis Housing & Development (HDD), a candidate for the state IPO program, is in talks with a local bank for a EGP 1 bn facility to fund its New Heliopolis project, a company official told Enterprise. The talks are in “later stages” and the company hopes to receive the loan sometime in 2H2018. The timing of the loan was deliberate as the firm sees monetary easing and lower interest rates afoot. We noted yesterday that Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD) is also seeking a EGP 1 bn loan.
No update from Heliopolis on its sale of additional shares on the EGX. Details, including size and timing of the sale is in the hands of the Holding Company for Construction and Development and Public Enterprises Ministry, the company official said. Ministry officials had said back in April that HDD is considering the sale of another 30% of its shares under the government’s program to divest assets through share sales on the EGX.
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Government decides to import rice, suggesting further cuts in local cultivation are coming: The government decided yesterday to import “the necessary quantities” of rice to increase its availability and “control the market,” according to a Cabinet statement. The imported rice will be required to meet the same quality standards as Egyptian rice. No details were provided on how much rice will be imported. The move suggests that Egypt will “begin an import programme since sharply reducing its own production of rice,” of which we typically have a surplus, Reuters notes. The government has clamped down on the cultivation of water-intensive crops, including rice, through recently-passed amendments to the Agriculture Act.
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MOVES- The Mansour-Scope alliance appointed Khaled Youssef as the CEO of Peugeot Egypt, Daily News Egypt reports. Youssef, who will take up the new position as of 1 July, joins Peugeot Egypt from the Egyptian International Motors Company, the distributor of Kia and Renault in Egypt.
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UK’s Savills acquires Cluttons, Egypt on the map for regional expansion plans: UK real estate advisory firm Savills announced yesterday that it acquired Middle East-based consultants Cluttons late last month, Gulf Business reports. Savills intends to retain all Cluttons staff members as it rebrands the company later this year as Savills Middle East, its first wholly-owned subsidiary in the region. Cluttons CEO Steve Morgan discussed the move in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday (watch, runtime: 3:39).
Egypt will definitely be a point of focus for the firm, says Morgan, who notes that the country is “back on the map for many of the corporate occupiers.” He adds that while markets in the region are still maturing, which can be challenging, choosing the right partners and right projects is key to success, especially as governments implement necessary reforms to attract investors.
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