Egypt’s stock exchange climbs 3% buoyed by coronavirus stimulus plan

Egypt’s stock exchange (EGX) closed higher on Monday triggered by stimulus announcement announced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus.

President al-Sisi announced Sunday evening that the central bank would support the bourse to the tune of 20 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.3 billion) as part of stimulus measures to support the economy in the face of the virus pandemic.

Egypt’s main stock index, EGX 30 rose 3.04 percent to 10,047 points.

EGX’s market capitalisation has made gains worth 16.5 billion pounds backed by local and Arab investors’ buying appetite.

Two state-run lenders, the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr had earlier on Thursday injected 3 billion pounds into the Egyptian stock market. Late Tuesday, the Egyptian government also unveiled cutting a tax on dividends for companies listed on its stock exchange by half to 5 percent and lowering a stamp duty on stock market transactions.

Bloomberg described the index’s surge during midday session as the highest “among major peers globally.”