{"id":548991,"date":"2022-08-30T04:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T04:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/08\/30\/maait-looks-to-shift-the-economic-narrative-with-media-blitz\/"},"modified":"2022-08-30T04:00:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T04:00:48","slug":"maait-looks-to-shift-the-economic-narrative-with-media-blitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/08\/30\/maait-looks-to-shift-the-economic-narrative-with-media-blitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Maait looks to shift the economic narrative with media blitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Maait says the economy can ride out global economic shocks: <\/strong>Finance Minister Mohamed Maait took to the mic yesterday in a bid to counter a wave of negative press on the economy in recent weeks. With the recent narrative around the economy being dominated by concerns about the currency and Egypt\u2019s access to FX, Maait sought to refocus the conversation on the ministry\u2019s recent fiscal achievements, pointing to years-long trends of solid GDP growth and rising tax revenues, a decent primary surplus, and a solid track-record of narrowing the budget deficit.<\/p>\n

The message? \u201cKeep calm and carry on\u201d<\/strong> amid concerns about inflation, calls for a further devaluation of the EGP<\/a>, and investor fears about the country\u2019s external debt position.<\/p>\n

NEW INT\u2019L DEBT SALES IN THE WORKS-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt plans to issue CNY-denominated bonds worth more than USD 500 mn<\/strong>, Maait said. Earlier this month, Maait told us<\/a> that Egypt is in talks with Chinese officials to issue panda bonds and is still on the hunt for bookrunners for the issuance.<\/p>\n

And another Samurai bonds issuance in the pipeline \u2026 this time green? <\/strong>The government is also in discussions to issue green samurai bonds, Maait said. We made our maiden samurai bond debut in late March<\/a>, when the government sold USD 500 mn of the JPY-denominated bonds.<\/p>\n

FinMin is still waiting for conditions to improve before issuing any other bonds:<\/strong> The ministry will hold off on planned issuances of sustainable development bonds<\/a> and sukuk<\/a> until the markets stabilize, Maait reiterated.<\/p>\n

Background:<\/strong> The government had been mulling selling the JPY- and CNY-denominated bonds back in 2019<\/a>, but the sales were delayed<\/a> because of complications caused by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

ON THE PRIVATIZATION FRONT- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Could we still see state IPOs this year? <\/strong>The government is still hoping to offer shares in state companies on the EGX between September and December, Maait told CNBC Arabia (watch, runtime: 9:29<\/a>). Egypt had hoped to sell shares in as many as 10 state-owned companies<\/a>on the EGX in 2022, before Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine upended the global economy. Officials have since then suggested<\/a> that strategic stake sales will be the way to go in the foreseeable future thanks to the volatility in global markets, which have seen two IPOs postponed<\/a> and one fail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPGRADED FORECASTS-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maait used the presser to unveil new figures from FY 2021-2022<\/strong> and announced updated forecasts for the current fiscal year:<\/p>\n