CAIRO: Egypt's central bank on Tuesday tightened trade financing regulations to support local manufacturing and ease the ballooning trade deficit that has worsened an acute foreign exchange shortage.
Egypt, which depends on imports, has faced a decline in foreign currency receipts since a 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak scared off foreign investors and tourists.
Its forex reserves have more than halved to $16.4 billion, enough for just three months worth of imports.
Earlier this year the central bank attempted to put a stop to the foreign exchange crisis by restricting the amount of dollars a company could deposit in banks. But the measure caused imports to pile up at ports and has been widely criticized as a blunt instrument.
In a statement on Tuesday, the central bank said local banks would have to obtain import documents directly from foreign banks, instead of from the clients, as is the current practice.
In a separate statement, Egypt's customs authority said the move was aimed at preventing importers from manipulating receipts.
In addition, importers will have to provide 100 percent cash deposits on letters of credit for imports instead of the current 50 percent, the central bank said.
Medicine and food as well as manufacturing components and machinery are excluded from this rule.
Egyptian manufacturers have long complained that unscrupulous importers put artificially low values on customs bills to avoid duties. The practice, which merchants say is widespread, robs the government of tax revenues and makes it difficult for local produce to compete on price.
"They are just fine-tuning the present regulations amid the foreign currency shortage. This definitely could increase the pressure on importers," Beltone Financial economist Ziad Waleed told Reuters.
"The central bank is trying to use all available measures to try to limit imports and this could limit the import of luxury goods, but it is not the key to solving the foreign currency shortage," he said.
In 2014, Egypt imported goods worth $60.8 billion compared with exports worth $22.1 billion.
It was not clear if the new regulations announced on Tuesday were a prelude to lifting the deposit caps, which had made it difficult for companies to open letters of credit to pay for imports, which piled up at ports.
Goods were finally released in November after state banks supplied $1.8 billion to clear the backlog and process new letters of credit.
Egypt's central bank tightens import controls
Egypt's central bank tightens import controls
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 11,183
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Monday, losing 44.79 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,183.85.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.05 billion ($1.08 billion), as 69 of the listed stocks advanced, while 191 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 6.63 points or 0.44 percent, to close at 1,504.73.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 328.20 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 23,764.92. This comes as 22 of the listed stocks advanced, while 49 retreated.
The best-performing stock was Maharah Human Resources Co., with its share price surging by 7.26 percent to SR6.50.
Other top performers included Arabian Cement Co., which saw its share price rise by 6.27 percent to SR22.71, and Saudi Research and Media Group, which saw a 4.3 percent increase to SR104.30.
On the downside, the worst performer of the day was Arabian Internet and Communications Services Co., whose share price fell by 8.01 percent to SR207.80.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology and Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 5.61 percent and 4.46 percent to SR12.79 and SR75, respectively.
On the announcement front, Etihad Etisalat Co. announced its financial results for 2025 with a 7.9 percent year-on-year growth in its revenues, to reach SR19.6 billion.
In a Tadawul statement, Mobily said that this growth is attributed to “the expansion of all revenue streams, with a healthy growth in the overall subscriber base.”
Mobily delivered an 11.6 percent increase in net profit, reaching SR3.4 billion in 2025 compared to SR3.1 billion in 2024.
The company’s share price reached SR67.85, marking a 0.37 percent increase on the main market.
