Egypt's Bourse cuts salaries of top management

Egypt's stock exchange is cutting the salaries of its top executives to cope with the deterioration in Bourse revenues and trading volume over the last few months.

The cuts include the salaries of the Bourse's chairman, his deputy, consultants and upper managers, the Al-Ahram daily newspaper reported.

Reductions range from 20 to 40 per cent for consultants and from 15 and 25 per cent for managers.

Bourse chairman Mohamed Omran also announced that restructuring is underway to find more efficient means to utilise the exchange's human resources.

Egypt's stock market has been struggling since it reopened in March, after a month's closure during the popular uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

In September, trading volumes dropped to a 10-year low, while the EGX30 main benchmark has plunged 38.5 per cent since the start of the year, reaching a level last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Bourse's fall has taken its toll on companies involved in the sector, with traders and the brokerage firms that employ them becoming increasingly concerned for their future as the losses spiral on.

It is the latest in a series of moves by Egyptian authorities to curb salaries.