By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy We may not like it, but Egypt desperately needs Gulf money. So why not change the way the Gulf lends money to Egypt to make it count. It wonât be just about wasting away cash to address a symptom without resolving the underlying problem. Indeed, without Gulf aid, the government would have …
By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy Take a look at this chart, which the Central Bank of Egypt  has been proudly parading this month: It shows how the poundâs official price, controlled by the central bank, has been appreciating slowly since the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. If we were to take this graph at face value, …
By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy Thatâs a question I put to around a dozen Egyptian businessmen over the weekend, all of whom responded with a resounding âYesâ. Here are some snippets of conversations I had with a few of Egyptâs business community over the weekend (some appeared in this story for The National newspaper): Nassef Sawiris, billionaire …
By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy Egyptâs deputy finance minister, Hany Kadry Dimian, has left his post after six years in the ministry, a source at the finance ministry told Rebel Economy, delivering a blow to the countryâs chances of concluding a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Mr Dimian, who has served as the deputy …
By Farah Halime With the rise of political Islam across North Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, Islamic finance is being touted as the solution to decades of unemployment and economic inequality. âWeâve tried socialism, weâve tried capitalism, now weâre trying Islam,â cried supporters of Mohamed Morsi, when he was …
By Farah Halime How fitting that on April Foolâs Day, the Egyptian government attempts to deceive us all by claiming that its plans to raise the price of state-subsidised cooking gas for the first time in two decades will actually make any difference to the countryâs energy subsidy spending. In fact, it wonât, and it is unlikely …
By Farah Halime In a desperate move to save power, Egyptâs international airport will close most of its runways for four hours each day from early June, Reuters has reported. The airport is the latest casualty of Egyptâs struggle to pay for fuel imports. As if to soften the blow, Reuters quoted the civil aviation minister Wael al-Maadawi …
There are few Egyptâs president can rely on more in these economic hard times than his band of Islamist brothers. Key financial supporters from Islamist-led governments have come through with cash injections at times of extreme economic hardship, when Mohammed Morsi faced a spike in inflation and subsequent social unrest. Egyptâs Islamist groupies, including Qatar, Turkey, …
By Farah Halime The people at Cairo-based brokerage firm Pharos Holding have sent investors a thorough breakdown of the reasons behind Egyptâs diesel crisis. Titled âDiesel Crisis: Unquoted Figures and Untold Stories. The Secret behind Diesel Shortages in Egyptâ, the document sheds light on the countryâs fuel crisis. Pharos Research sourced diesel import data from the main government …
At a time when many Egyptian workers are protesting against the chief executives of companies demanding better rights, employees at Orascom Construction Industries demonstrated an unusual display of loyalty against accusations from the government that the company owes EGP 14bn ($2.1bn) in back taxes relating to the 2007 sale of its cement arm to Franceâs Lafarge. Hundreds of …
By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy Circumstances beyond our control, including our parentsâ job titles, have become more important in deciding the fate of young Egyptians in the job market, World Bank data shows. The type of job a young person ends up with is heavily influenced by the occupations of their parents, underscoring the inequality …
IMF has it wrong on Egypt
Egypt steel tycoon jailed, but company lives on
Lost in translation: energy subsidies
Egyptâs Catch 22
EGYPTâS BUDGET DEFICIT: WHY NO ONE WANTS CUTS By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy While many people generally agree that governments faced with deficits must cut spending, most do not like cuts to specific programmes. Itâs the same everywhere, not least in the US where a national survey found that for 18 of 19 programs tested, the majority wanted either …
Original sin: Where did Arab economies go wrong?
Egypt runs out of cash for diesel subsidies
Egypt scales back energy subsidy reforms
Egyptâs frightening food gap
Port Said: Egyptâs Statue of Liberty By Farah Halime, Rebel Economy After yesterdayâs deadly clashes with as many as 30 killed, itâs hard to imagine how the Port Said of today was once the object of a sculptorâs fascination. In the 1850s, French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi planned to build what is now known as the Statue of …
Egyptâs weak water fight
Two former central bank governors on Egypt currency woes
Will Egyptâs new finance minister be open to discussion?
Guide to the end of the world (or explanation of currency devaluation)
Syriaâs Poundemonium
Egypt Central Bank Battle, Budget Deficit Under Morsy, Retail Always Wins
Egyptâs New Central Bank Governor â Hisham Ramez
âQuickie court casesâ must stop, South Korea eyes Egypt, KSA jobless
Citadelâs New Energy Chief, Centamin Spat, Mubarak-Era Projects
