A summary of last week’s major macroeconomic updates and indicators brought to you on one page for your convenience.

December 13 Coverage to December 20:

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided to keep the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, the main operation rate, and the discount rate unchanged at 8.25%, 9.25%, 8.75%, and 8.75%, respectively.

Egypt remained the largest recipient for foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Africa, recording inflows of $5.9 billion in 2020, according to the World Investment Report for 2021, released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Egypt’s exports to East Asian countries recorded $4.1 billion in 2020, increasing by 25.7% in 2020, compared to $3.2 billion in 2019, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea noted that the Egyptian exports to Ukraine jumped 47%, despite the impacts of the pandemic on the economy.

Gamea stated that the trade exchange volume between Egypt and Ukraine exceeded $1.6 billion in 2020.

The Egyptian Commercial Office in Paris increased Egypt’s exports to France by 30% to record approximately EUR 516 million during the first eight months of 2021, compared to about EUR 400 million during the same period last year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reported.

The cooperation portfolio for the International Finance Corporation in Egypt (IFC) in Egypt since September 2021 included $30.2 million in various fields, the Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat disclosed.

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) announced the allocation of EGP 4.2 billion to the Red Sea governorate during fiscal year (FY) 2021/22.

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that more than EGP 30 billion was disbursed in the first three phases of the instant cash repayment initiative for over 2,000 exporting companies during the period from November 2020 to October 2021.