{"id":581612,"date":"2023-02-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/02\/16\/economy-back-in-the-spotlight\/"},"modified":"2023-02-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T00:00:00","slug":"economy-back-in-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/02\/16\/economy-back-in-the-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Economy back in the spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Economy talk is once again dominating coverage<\/span> of Egypt in the international press this <\/span>morning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Egypt is far from peak inflation, says Shuaa strategist:<\/span> The impact of the EGP<\/span> <\/span>devaluation and the impending <\/span>reduction<\/a><\/span>of fuel subsidies<\/a><\/span> means that \u201cwe are not anywhere close to peak inflation,\u201d Aarthi Chandrasekaran, director of investments at Shuaa Asset Management, told <\/span>Bloomberg <\/span>yesterday (<\/span>watch, runtime: 5:50<\/a><\/span>). Inflation is already running red-hot, with record food prices pushing the headline figure to a <\/span>new five-year high of 25.8%<\/a><\/span> in January.<\/span><\/p>\n

A big hike ahead:<\/span> Chandrasekaran expects the Central Bank of Egypt to raise interest rates by <\/span>at least 200 bps at its next policy meeting in March after <\/span>leaving them unchanged<\/a><\/span> earlier this month. She described the decision to maintain rates <\/span>\u2014<\/span> which <\/span>left foreign investors hesitant<\/a><\/span> about returning to Egypt \u2014 as a missed chance to hold down inflation.<\/span><\/p>\n

An FX shortage continues to be a problem:<\/span> \u201cFX demand is exceeding FX supply and there's <\/span>a persistent FX overhang in the banking system,\u201d Chandrasekaran said. \u201cAnd I think we are going to see a downside on rates, on the EGP, and on economic growth.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

OTHER ECONOMY HEADLINES-<\/span><\/p>\n