{"id":18715,"date":"2024-02-12T18:27:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=18715"},"modified":"2026-10-09T03:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:08:25","slug":"newsletter-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/newsletter-18\/","title":{"rendered":"In Parliament: “The Government Must Go”… A New Income Tax Law… and 346,000 Lights on the Iconic Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The Government Must Go”… El-Bayady Calls for Officials to Be Tried<\/h3>\n

MP Freddy El-Bayady, a member of the House of Representatives and deputy head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, strongly attacked the Egyptian government, saying during his speech in the House: “The bonuses and raises the government is giving are just painkillers, and they also have side effects!” The MP asked (disapprovingly): “Is the government going to print money and increase inflation?!” He added: “What is the point of raising salaries by 50% and raising prices by 2,200%?”<\/p>\n

El-Bayady continued: “The government is going the wrong way and insists on going the wrong way. People say it is wrong, international institutions say it is wrong, and we have been saying for 3 years that it is wrong!” He ended his remarks saying: “It is not enough for this government to go! It must be tried for what it has done to us!”<\/p>\n

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346,000 Lighting Units… in a Light Show at the Iconic Tower<\/h3>\n

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The CBD project in the New Administrative Capital saw a trial run at the Iconic Tower, which Cairo says is the tallest tower in Africa, at a height of 385.8 metres.<\/p>\n

The “New Administrative Capital” page on the social media site Facebook published a set of photos of the Central Business District in the administrative capital, commenting: 346,000 lighting points, distributed across the administrative and residential towers, the Iconic Tower and other areas.<\/p>\n

Government officials are continuing their efforts to limit the effects of the power cut crisis, which remains the subject of widespread criticism and rejection on “social media”, especially as the duration of cuts has increased to two hours a day.<\/p>\n

The state-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company confirmed that “the electricity load-shedding plan will not continue”, and apologised to citizens for “any difficulties they are currently facing”. Replying to a question it received on its official Facebook page about the end of the load-shedding plan (Friday), it said: “We apologise for any difficulties facing citizens; the current situation will not continue, and we confirm that work is under way to stabilise the power supply completely”.<\/p>\n

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IMF Chief: Egypt Has Succeeded<\/h3>\n

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Egypt, Jordan and Morocco have succeeded in implementing comprehensive plans to reform subsidies, marked by directing greater attention to the most vulnerable groups. Georgieva added, in a speech to the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, that gradually phasing out direct energy subsidies could save USD 336 billion for countries in the Middle East region, including oil-exporting countries, as well as help achieve fiscal savings, reduce pollution and help improve social spending. She pointed out that the Fund has provided about USD 64 billion in liquidity and reserves to the Middle East and North Africa region since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including USD 8 billion last year and USD 1.6 billion from the Resilience and Sustainability Trust to help Morocco and Mauritania transition to greener economies.<\/p>\n

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Rights Groups Demand an End to the “Recycling” of Opponents<\/h3>\n

Five independent human rights organisations said the Egyptian authorities follow a policy of not releasing political detainees after their detention period ends or after the charges against them are dropped, and continuing to hold them pending new cases, in what has become known as the policy of “recycling”.<\/p>\n

In their statement, the organisations documented the Egyptian authorities’ recycling in 2023 of 251 detainees, investigated on fabricated charges after their detention periods ended and the sentences previously imposed on them by criminal courts expired, and of 620 other defendants in 2022.<\/p>\n

The organisations, namely the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, El Nadeem Center, the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights and the Committee for Justice, called for an end to the use of this arbitrary, retaliatory pattern against detainees, especially politicians, opponents and activists.<\/p>\n

They pointed out that the judicial authorities’ continued involvement in fabricating new cases against them and extending their detention proves the lack of independence of these institutions and their participation in persecuting opponents and in the grave violations against them, in a way that undermines fair trial guarantees, impugns the legitimacy of their unjust rulings and wrecks the principle of the rule of law.<\/p>\n

The rights organisations renewed their warning against the recycling policy, followed for more than 3 years, and the resulting extension of defendants’ detention for additional periods on alleged and repeated charges, no different from the charges on which they had previously been held and of which courts and prosecutions acquitted them, or on which they were released, or whose sentences expired.<\/p>\n

They said the recycling policy refutes the Egyptian government’s claims about the national dialogue launched in the middle of last year, whose agenda included proposals for legislative amendments on prolonged pretrial detention, exceeding the legal limits of pretrial detention and recycling policies, and confirms the absence of the political will to change this approach and the continued disregard of all the demands of human rights organisations and political parties in this regard. Moreover, reusing the same charges to throw individuals back into prison after their legal sentences for these charges have expired constitutes a violation of international human rights law, which prohibits trying people for the same crime more than once.<\/p>\n

The organisations cited as an example of the recycling policy the case of Sayed Moshagheb, head of the Zamalek club fans’ association, who was investigated in a new case, No. 910 of 2021, Supreme State Security, in which the prosecution charged him with joining an illegal group and spreading false news, and ordered his detention pending the case.<\/p>\n

The organisations said that, in a clear violation of fair trial guarantees, his lawyers were unable to learn the nature of the new case or view its file.<\/p>\n

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Loading: A New Income Tax<\/h3>\n

Deputy Finance Minister for Tax Policy and Development Rami Youssef said on Sunday that a new income tax law will be issued soon, adding that reforms and amendments are being made to the current income law so that it keeps pace with successive economic changes.<\/p>\n

Youssef pointed out that Law No. 30 of 2023 was enacted, amending some provisions of the income tax law issued by Law No. 91 of 2005 and provisions of Law No. 182 of 2020, cancelling the exemption on returns from treasury bills and bonds and the capital gains resulting from them, and that the amendments made, such as Law 30 of 2023, were taken into account and retained, stressing that there is no scope for raising the tax rate.<\/p>\n

According to a previous statement by the head of the Egyptian Tax Authority, Fayez El-Dabaani, the simplified tax treatment under the provisions of the third article of Law No. 30 of 2023 is as follows: if turnover is less than EGP 250,000, the annual tax due is EGP 1,000; if turnover is from EGP 250,000 to less than EGP 500,000, the annual tax due is EGP 2,500; and if turnover is from EGP 500,000 to less than EGP 1 million, the annual tax due is EGP 5,000. He added that if turnover is from EGP 1 million to less than EGP 2 million, the annual tax due is 0.5% of turnover; if turnover is from EGP 2 million to less than EGP 3 million, the annual tax due is 0.75% of turnover; and if turnover is from EGP 3 million to EGP 10 million, the annual tax due is 1% of turnover.<\/p>\n

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The Authorities Pursue Anyone Holding Foreign Currency<\/h3>\n

The Egyptian authorities continued what they called security strikes to uncover “crimes of illegal trading in foreign currency and speculation on currency prices by hiding it from circulation and trading in it outside the banking market”, and their negative repercussions on the country’s national economy.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours, police forces opened 61 cases of trading in various foreign currencies, with a financial value estimated at about EGP 48 million.<\/p>\n

Legal measures were taken, and the cases are being referred to the Public Prosecution to begin investigations. The Egyptian authorities had announced the day before yesterday the seizure of 54 cases of trading in foreign currency outside the banking market within a single day.<\/p>\n

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Banking Steps to Facilitate Remittances to Egypt<\/h3>\n

As part of their efforts to facilitate the remittances of Egyptians working abroad, the global company “Visa”, a leader in digital solutions for moving money and electronic payment, signed a memorandum of understanding with Egyptian Banks Company for Technological Advancement “EBC”, the operator and developer of national payment networks and systems, in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt. The aims of the cooperation include expanding the scope of the “InstaPay” application to cover remittances from Egyptians abroad, providing innovative digital solutions that ensure fast, easy and efficient remittances from Egyptians abroad, and supporting the Egyptian economy by boosting foreign currency inflows and stimulating economic growth.<\/p>\n

“Visa” has a network ensuring access to financial institutions and banks in more than 200 countries around the world and supports 160 different currencies, allowing users to make transfers easily, quickly and at a reasonable cost.<\/p>\n

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The Government Plans to Sell “Shaq El-Teaban”<\/h3>\n

The General Authority for Land and Dry Ports and Logistics Zones intends to offer the “Shaq El-Teaban dry port” to the private sector for management and operation during the first half of this year.<\/p>\n

The port is located in the Shaq El-Teaban area in Tora, Maadi, in Cairo, the largest industrial cluster for marble and granite in Egypt, and is used as a base for exporting marble, with expected investments estimated at about USD 100 million. The area covers 1,608 feddans, an estimated 6.5 million square metres, with a 1.8-kilometre frontage on the Autostrad road. It consists of three zones, “Kotsika, Badr El-Leithy and Shaq El-Teaban”, and contains 2,525 factories and workshops for manufacturing and exporting marble, supplied from the quarries of Ras Gharib, Ain Sokhna, Minya, Gebel El-Galala in Suez, the Red Sea and Aswan.<\/p>\n

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Cigarettes Are on Fire… and the Division Head: “I Am Afraid They Will Reach 100 Pounds”<\/h3>\n

Ibrahim Imbaby, head of the general division of tobacco and cigarettes, said the increases in cigarette prices by Philip Morris Misr, of about EGP 11 at once, are “a bit exaggerated”, adding: “I understand that freight rates have risen and production inputs have also risen because banks are not providing dollars”.<\/p>\n

Imbaby added, in a phone interview with TV host Ahmed Moussa on the programme “Ala Mas’ouleyati” on Sada El-Balad TV, that this is the first time such increases have happened, as they were usually between EGP 5 and 6.<\/p>\n

He warned of cigarettes rising to EGP 100, saying: “I am a frank man… the company brings the state money because of taxes… the distribution pyramid must be turned upside down… whoever feels safe from punishment misbehaves”.<\/p>\n

Philip Morris Misr had announced the new price list for all its products of heated tobacco, “HEETS” and “TEREA”, and traditional cigarettes of the “Merit, Marlboro and L&M” brands in all their varieties.<\/p>\n

Philip Morris Misr assures all adult smokers and nicotine users that the new prices are transparently displayed on product packs through the quick response “QR code” placed on packs of traditional cigarettes and heated tobacco sticks since 2022.<\/p>\n

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The Government Offers a Majority Stake in “Egyptian Propylene” for Sale<\/h3>\n

Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company has appointed the direct investment firm “Compass Capital” to promote the sale of part of a 22% stake it owns, along with Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO), in Egyptian Propylene and Polypropylene Company, to investors in the Gulf and China, according to statements published by Asharq Business with Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

Local reports had said last October that the government intends to sell between 10% and 15% of its 22% stake in the Egyptian company to a foreign investor, while a private Saudi company expressed its desire to acquire the stake. According to announced government data, the company is included in a list of 32 other state-owned companies to be offered under the government offerings programme, in order to sell stakes in them to investors, with the aim of raising five billion dollars by June this year. The government has already sold 14 of these companies.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had announced in February 2023 that the government would offer 32 state-owned companies to strategic investors and for public offering on the Egyptian Exchange over a year, until the end of the first quarter of 2024, as part of the so-called government offerings programme. The programme includes a number of state banks, companies in which the Ministry of Public Business Sector owns stakes or which it fully owns, as well as companies affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum and others with the National Service Projects Organisation affiliated with the armed forces.<\/p>\n

Last year, Cairo sold full or partial stakes in a number of companies, most notably its exit from Paints and Chemical Industries “Pachin” in favour of the Emirati “National Paints Holding” for about USD 25 million, and it sold about ten per cent of Telecom Egypt’s shares last May in the secondary market for about USD 120 million. The sovereign fund concluded a deal to sell a stake in the hotel company affiliated with the Ministry of Public Business Sector, through a 37 per cent capital increase, to an Egyptian consortium led by “ICON”, for USD 700 million.<\/p>\n

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt concluded three deals worth USD 800 million to sell stakes ranging between 25 and 30 per cent of Egyptian Linear Alkyl Benzene Company (ELAB), Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO) and Egyptian Drilling Company. It also executed a deal for the exit of an Egyptian private sector investor from Ezz El Dekheila Steel, worth USD 241 million, through the sale of a 31 per cent stake in the company.<\/p>\n

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Facilities for Egyptians in the UAE to Pay Income Tax<\/h3>\n

Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait signed, with the UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Mohamed bin Hadi Al-Hussaini, the supplementary agreement to the protocol on avoiding double taxation and preventing income tax evasion.<\/p>\n

The minister said the government is working to provide facilities and remove any tax or customs obstacles that Emirati investors and companies may face in Egypt, in a way that contributes to expanding the base of their business, investment and production activities and increasing trade between the two countries, inviting the Emirati business community to benefit from the measures taken by the Egyptian government to stimulate production and exports in various fields, including the “Golden Licence”, the “State Ownership Policy Document” and the “government offerings”.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Presidential Decree No. 558 of 2020 was issued approving the agreement between the governments of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on avoiding double taxation and preventing tax evasion with respect to taxes on income.<\/p>\n

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Foreign Drug Companies Hold 45% of the Egyptian Market<\/h3>\n

Ali Auf, head of the general pharmaceuticals division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, said in a TV interview on Al-Mehwar channel that foreign companies perform strongly and dominate the local market, and their products are the best-selling and the most expensive, despite the existence of Egyptian alternatives of the same efficiency and effectiveness at half the cost, noting that they hold 45% of the Egyptian drug market.<\/p>\n

The head of the pharmaceuticals division at the chambers of commerce estimated Egyptians’ consumption of medicines last year at about EGP 135 billion, an increase of more than 15% compared with 2022, which saw sales of EGP 117.7 billion, and expected it to rise to about EGP 150 billion this year, growth of more than 11%. Sources told the “Souq Al-Dawaa” platform that sales in the Egyptian market rose last year to about EGP 146.6 billion, growth of 24.4% over 2022.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian market includes more than 179 pharmaceutical factories, hundreds of companies manufacturing through third parties, 70,000 pharmacies and 1,200 trading companies offering their services to others, while about 21 foreign pharmaceutical companies operate in the Egyptian market. According to “Souq Al-Dawaa” data, the ranking of the best-selling pharmaceutical companies last year was as follows: the British GlaxoSmithKline, the French Sanofi, Pharco, Amoun, Novartis, EIPICO, Eva Pharma, Marcyrl, AUG Pharma, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Apex Pharma, Abbott, Global Napi and Medical Union Pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n

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“Talaat Moustafa” Acquires 51% of “Legacy Hotels”<\/h3>\n

The Arab Company for Hotel and Tourism Investments (ICON), part of Talaat Moustafa Group Holding, signed the final contract to acquire a 51% stake in Legacy Hotels and Tourism Projects, which includes seven of the country’s historic hotels, through a capital increase, according to its statement on the Egyptian Exchange yesterday.<\/p>\n

Talaat Moustafa Group expects the seven new hotels to help double the combined US dollar revenues of the hotels owned by the ICON group in 2024 to more than USD 250 million. The acquisition will increase the group’s operating hotel room base by 2,500 rooms, doubling ICON’s hotel capacity to five thousand rooms and making it the largest owner of a luxury hotel group in Egypt.<\/p>\n

According to the announced details of the deal, ICON initially bought a 39% stake in Legacy Hotels under an agreement it signed with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) last December. The plan was to eventually raise its stake to 51% after transferring USD 800 million to the new hotel company’s account as consideration for the deal. Talaat Moustafa Group sold a 40.5% minority stake in ICON to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund “ADQ” and its “ADNEC” group for USD 882.5 million last month, to finance the deal to increase its stake in Legacy.<\/p>\n

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A Government Initiative to Sell Sugar at EGP 27<\/h3>\n

First Assistant to the Minister of Supply, head of the Internal Trade Development Authority and head of the Egyptian Commodities Exchange, Dr Ibrahim Ashmawy, announced that the strategic reserve of basic goods is safe and sufficient for more than 4 months.<\/p>\n

He pointed to the continued production of sugar from cane, adding that the beet crop will be supplied next March, and that a kilo of sugar is being sold at EGP 27 under the cabinet’s initiative to reduce prices, while it is also offered on ration cards, which benefit about 64 million citizens, at EGP 12.60 a kilo.<\/p>\n

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Hemedti Hints at the War in Sudan Ending Soon<\/h3>\n

The head of the Sovereignty Council and commander of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, stressed that anyone talking about a coup within the army is “lying”, adding that his forces are advancing on all fronts and working hard for victory over the Rapid Support Forces.<\/p>\n

The commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), later posted an audio recording on the X platform (formerly Twitter), in which he said the war will end quickly in the coming days, adding that he and his forces prefer bringing peace to all of Sudan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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