{"id":623431,"date":"2018-10-30T04:06:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T04:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/10\/30\/economist-trolls-egypt-on-eastern-company-share-sale-delay\/"},"modified":"2018-10-30T04:06:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T04:06:36","slug":"economist-trolls-egypt-on-eastern-company-share-sale-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/10\/30\/economist-trolls-egypt-on-eastern-company-share-sale-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Economist trolls Egypt on Eastern Company share sale delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> ** #7 When the Economist trolls, it trolls hard:<\/strong> \u201cEven a firm that sells cigarettes to addicts is a hard sell<\/a>\u201d the magazine (no, dudes, you\u2019re not a newspaper) declares in its headline about the delay in Eastern Company\u2019s share sale<\/a>. Eastern\u2019s share sale could have been the success story the government was hoping for to kickstart a privatization program through which it looked to raise EGP 10 bn to tighten its ballooning budget deficit. This would have been the case had it not been for the dark cloud that has left emerging markets stock indexes 25% down, the publication notes. The state-run company delivered a profit of USD 239 mn in its most recent fiscal year, a 43% increase from the previous year, thanks to Egyptians being very fond of their favorite vice despite costs going up 20% since 2016. After describing Egypt as a minor basket case, the piece concludes by suggesting that \u201cStressed bureaucrats may need a smoke.\u201d Better that than a firing squad had they sold 4.5% of Eastern and seen the share price tank in the aftermarket as the global Emerging Markets Zombie Apocalypse continues to unfold. There are times when the Economist marries rapier wit, sarcasm and deep analysis to teach us a thing or two. Then there are times when it\u2019s just\u2026sophomoric at best. This is the latter.<\/p>\n

Other headlines worth noting in brief<\/p>\n