Foreign investment in Egypt’s bourse at 13 bln pounds since pound float: chief

Egypt’s stock exchange has attracted a net of 13 billion Egyptian pounds ($737.6 million) in foreign investments since the country floated its currency in November, its chairman said Monday.

Mohamed Farid made these remarks in a phone interview with private television channel CBC.

The central bank floated the Egyptian pound in November to attract foreign capital after years of political instability drained the country’s reserves, and the currency has since more than halved in value.

Foreign currency flows have also been boosted after Egypt signed a $12 billion, three-year loan programme with the International Monetary Fund. The programme calls for radical economic reforms, including energy price increases and the introduction of a value-added tax.

Farid, who was appointed as chairman of the Cairo bourse in August, told Reuters in his first interview with international media about plans to launch a raft of reforms aimed at increasing trading volumes over the next six months, with the listing of big companies high up on the list.