Economy features

Slow burn: Govt plans gas subsidy cuts, but logistics are unclear

03 Sep 2012
In a bold break with precedent, the 2012/13 state budget presented by former Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri and his Cabinet reduced fuel subsidies by LE25 billion. But more than a month into the first quarter of the fiscal year, no...
Yes

US delegation in favor of IMF loan, protesters say no

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde looks at one of the pyramids while listening to a guide's explanation as she visits the Pyramids in Giza, at the end of her visit to Egypt, 22 August 2012. Egypt requested a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF and hopes for a deal by the end of year, officials said during a visit on Wednesday by Lagarde to discuss helping the ailing economy.
29 Aug 2012
The head of the US economic delegation said Wednesday that United States welcomes Egypt's negotiations with the IMF as the first step towards the country's economic rebound. "It will provide a foundation for sustained growth...
Yes

Inside the stock market of commercials

18 Aug 2012
Besides soaps, talk shows and religious segments, which are common features of the Ramadan media diet, a sprawling amount of ads is usually also offered. Behind these ads lie a lot of money and a thriving business for mediators between...
Yes

Out in the dark

A customer gets his haircut at a barber's shop during a power-cut in Cairo, 4 August 2012.
05 Aug 2012
“We won’t pay!” is the name of a campaign launched by the Socialist Popular Alliance on Thursday to persuade citizens not to pay their electricity bills as a gesture of protest against the recurrent power cuts that have...
Yes

Qandil’s economic appointments maintain status quo in weakened govt

جانب من إحدي جلسات التداول بالبورصة، القاهرة، 5 أبريل 2011. تشهد مؤشرات البورصة ارتفاعا ملحوظا منذ استئناف التداول مرة أخري بعد توقفه لأكثر من شهر؛ بعد اندلاع احتجاجات ثورة 25 يناير.
03 Aug 2012
As Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was unveiling the new Cabinet, unrest ensued in parts of the country. One person died outside Cairo’s Nile City towers in violence between the complex and the slum behind it, clashes between Muslims...
Yes

Ramadan consumer frenzy curtailed by anxious retailers and unsure consumers

First prayer after Iftar at Al Azhar mosq, first day of Ramadan.
21 Jul 2012
  Soheir Salem, a housewife and mother of four, walked out to the markets last Friday looking to buy her pre-Ramadan groceries in a lower middle-class neighborhood in Islamic Cairo. Her husband, an employee at a recycling factory,...
Yes

Living on borrowed time: Morsy's political economics

Mohamed Morsy at Smart Village, Presidential elections 2012
16 Jul 2012
President Mohamed Morsy is seeking to use public spending to build a base of support in diverse sectors of society, but inflation and political deadlock threaten to sink his plans. Morsy has promised a 15 percent social allowance rise to...
Yes

In Egypt’s gas industry, foreign investors rule

12 Jul 2012
Since explorers first found natural gas beneath Egypt’s sand and water, the government has struggled to manage its relationship with the foreign companies who manage the extraction of that gas. The exports which those companies make...
Yes

Demand grows and inequalities widen in Egypt’s gas industry

Crowds at a gas cylinder storehouse in Cairo, November 1, 2011. The gas cylinder crisis aggravates as shortages soar and prices go up all over Egypt particularly in winter.
12 Jul 2012
The simple act of turning on a stove can mean two very different things for Egyptian families. In one case, the turn of a stove knob ignites a stream of Egyptian-made natural gas from a pipe, giving forth a steady blue flame. In another, a...
Yes

Is the govt covering up the cause of the fuel shortage?

Egyptians line up for fuel at a gas station, Cairo, August 3, 2011. As Egypt's economy suffers, a fuel crisis surfaces again amid conflicting official reports and announcements about underlying causes. Egypt's fuel crisis is an old prolem 'which has old roots', says Hazim al-Beblawy, Egyptian Deputy PM and Finance Ministe. Meanwhile,  Mohamed Shoeib, Head of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), relates current crisis to 'technical issues', mainly marketing and coordination efforts.
01 Jul 2012
Egypt has been in the grips of an on-again, off-again fuel shortage for over a year now, with massive lines outside gas stations across the country causing headaches for drivers and sometimes even violent confrontations. It is frequently...
Yes

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