The Ministry of Finance has started three projects that will be financed through sukuk which are Ain Shams-10th of Ramadan Train Project, Black Sand Project in Kafr El-Sheikh and Wheat Silos, said the Minister Fayad Abdel Monem. Abdel Monem added to Amwal Al Ghad that the executive regulation will be open for discussion on the Ministry’s website in the coming days. More»

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to provide Egypt with US$ 920 million worth of finances; of which US$ 800 million allocated for water pumping stations and US$ 120 million for an electricity generation plant in Damietta, said Zain Zahran, executive director of IDB. On the sidelines of Sukuk Practical Applications Conference today, Zahran added to Amwal Al Ghad that IDB financed South Helwan Power Plant with US$ 450 million, although the bank’s maximum finance amount for institutions is US$ 220 million. In addition, the bank financed Egyptian Chemical Industries (KIMA) with US$ 90 million and IDB Group financed Al-Nouran Sugar Company with US$ 325 million last week, he said. More»

The Egyptian Minister of Finance Fayad Abdel Monem stated that issuing sukuk (Islamic bonds) is an important step towards achieving sustainable development in Egypt in the upcoming period as the new instrument can finance all investment fields and activities. Abdel Monem has inaugurated on Sunday the first workshop on practical applications of sukuk in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank which is “the first financial institution committed to supporting Egypt and boosting its economy through expanding in different investment fields,” the Minister added. Abdel Aziz Al Hinai, vice president of Islamic Development Bank, and Hussein Hamed Hassan, member of Shura Council, as well as representatives from 82 ministries, banks and associations have attended the workshop. The Finance Minister noted that the Egyptian economy has long suffered from structural economic problems, but the Ministry implements a new policy to coordinate and integrate among different economical instruments and mechanisms to employ economic incentives and achieve optimal use of resources. The Minister emphasized on the importance of implementing new financial mechanisms and taking the right steps to make sukuk succeed in achieving economic and social development. Egypt’s economy suffered from repeated economic and financial crises because of a fundamental flaw in the economic structure which impedes advancement and prosperity, he added. More»

Bank Muscat, the main victim of a $45 million global cyber heist, is examining all options to recover the money it lost in an unprecedented fraud brought to light by U.S. authorities. In a globally coordinated campaign, hackers broke into two unidentified payment processing companies in India that handled the prepaid debit cards for two Middle Eastern banks, including Bank Muscat, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday. The payment processing firms were EnStage Inc, which operates from Bangalore, and ElectraCard Services, which is based in Pune, several sources told Reuters. Bank Muscat had outsourced its card processing functions to EnStage, according to the sources. More»

THE trade of the 18 countries in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) grew 11 percent in 2012 to $2.1 trillion, according new IMF trade data. This built on two prior years of strong trade growth of over 20 percent, Qatar Tribune reported. However, most of the increase is the result of higher hydrocarbon prices rather than increases in the real volume of trade, according to QNB Group. GAFTA has a high trade surplus versus the rest of the world with exports totalling $1.2 trillion in 2012 and imports $0.8 trillion. The trade surplus of $400 billion in 2012, or around 15 percent of GAFTA GDP, has grown steadily since 2009 when it contracted to $64 billion as oil prices averaged lower. GAFTA has been in force since 1998 and aims to support efforts to establish an Arab common market to encourage intra-regional trade and economic unity. It aims to help achieve these goals by removing barriers to intra-regional trade, primarily by creating a customs union and cutting customs duties. Under the agreement customs duties were eliminated within GAFTA in 2005, but this does not apply to all goods and significant non-tariff barriers remain in place. More»