Egypt’s PM follows up on IPO, reforms program

On October 22, 2023, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hassan Abdullah and the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El Said, to review the progress achieved in implementing the country's initial public offering (IPO) program and structural reforms. These reforms and the IPO program are currently high on the government's development strategy agenda due to their critical role in vital sectors of the Egyptian economy such as industry, agriculture, and communications technology fields. Moreover, the meeting included discussions on various initiatives aimed at reducing the prices of essential commodities in the local market, offering the required resources to import basic goods, especially strategic ones like wheat and petroleum materials. In a separate statement, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait conveyed that deals worth $2.5 billion were executed by the government as part of its exit from state-owned companies under the IPO program during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023/2024. The government aims to gather $5 billion by offering shares of some state-owned companies to strategic investors from October 2023 to the end of June 2024.