The Chairman of Real Estate Development Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Tarek Shoukry expected on Tuesday a new rise in the prices of real estate on the market by 15-20 percent in the next few days.
During a telephone interview with Lamis al-Hadidi on Egypt’s “Last Word” (Kalema Akhera) television show on ON satellite channel, Shoukry said that the increases in cement and iron prices before and after the Central Bank’s measures have not had any effects so far, and it is not unlikely that we will be surprised by these changes early next week.
Shoukry added that Egypt is currently going through a re-pricing, and the situation has not settled, due to time constraints, as daily changes are monitored, and it is noted that there is a 40 percent increase in cement and iron prices.
He added that real estate developers are in a difficult situation because they sold units last month at certain prices on installments for periods of up to two years.
The units have not yet been delivered, but by the end the developers are committed to the prices they contracted before the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Shoukry pointed out that imported products such as elevators are still fully imported so far and therefore the new US dollar exchange rates made a difference of 20 percent in its prices.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt decided in its extraordinary meeting on Monday to raise the overnight deposit and lending rates.
The central bank’s main operation rate by 100 basis aims to reach 9.25 percent , 10.25 percent and 9.75 percent , respectively. The credit and discount rate was also raised by 100 basis points to 9.75 percent .
The Central Bank of Egypt affirmed that it believes in the importance of exchange rate flexibility to serve as a tool for absorbing shocks and maintaining Egypt’s competitiveness.
The exchange rate of the US dollar started increasing on Monday’s morning to LE17.5, compared to LE 15.74 in Sunday’s trading. The exchange rate continued to increase during the same day to close trading at LE18.22. It continued to increase on Tuesday’s trading, reaching LE18.53. It stabilized on Wednesday at the latest reported prices.
