The Egyptian government plans to set up a company to handle the export and rental of local properties in foreign currency, as part of its Economic Strategy for 2024-2030. The company, whose details are yet to be disclosed, aims to generate revenues of $2-3 billion annually from exporting real estate in hard currency, in return for granting residency in Egypt for five years. The fund will be issued by one of the major investment banks and managed by a fund manager with international expertise. This way, the buyer benefits from owning the unit and getting their money back at the same value. Meanwhile, the government benefits from the inflow of foreign currency from abroad, and the companies benefit from increasing their sales.

Spain's 2023 World Cup winner Aitana Bonmati was voted the best women's player of the year. City's Pep Guardiola won the Best Men's Coach award. Sarina Wiegman claimed the Best Women's coach prize after leading England to the World Cup final where they lost 1-0 to Spain. Seven of her Lionesses were included in the Women's World XI, including Mary Earps, who also took the Best Women's Goalkeeper Award. Brazil's Manchester City keeper Ederson won the men's award.

DOHA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Jordan crushed Malaysia 4-0 in the Asian Cup while Iraq cruised to a 3-1 win over Indonesia as the west Asian sides flexed their muscles in their respective group openers on Monday. Al-Taamari grabbed his second when he lobbed the keeper in the 85th minute to complete the rout. However, Iraq burst Indonesia's bubble late in added time just before the interval when Osama Rashid scored from close range after the keeper spilled a save. Substitute Aymen Hussein then won a header in the 75th minute and volleyed home from the edge of the six-yard box to make it 3-1. Iraq are second in Group D behind four-times champions Japan, who beat Vietnam 4-2 on Sunday.

It also said that the Israeli forces had carried out 12 massacres in the Gaza Strip, killing 132 people, in the last 24 hours. The Civil Defence in Gaza reported that over 70% of the northern Gaza Strip was uninhabitable, due to the Israeli bombing. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that there were one million displaced women and about 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip mainly relies on about 80% of the flour supplied by UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies. The Israeli military said on Monday that 18 officers and soldiers were injured in clashes in Gaza in the last 24 hours.

Cairo – January 15, 2024: Egypt’s cement industry’s annual output of 92 million tons has enabled the country to be ranked among the top 10 cement producers globally, providing essential support for the country's industrial landscape, according to Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir. Samir also emphasized the pivotal role of Egypt's cement sector as a pillar for the nation's infrastructure and urban development projects, as well as the industrial sector’s role as a key player in Egypt's recovery, addressing global and regional economic challenges. Samir stressed the importance of continued efforts to navigate opportunities and challenges in achieving sustainable development within Egypt's industrial sector, particularly in cement production. He emphasized the government's commitment to incentivizing local and regional manufacturers, fostering a conducive industrial environment, and promoting the pivotal role of the private sector. Egypt's cement exports witnessed substantial growth during the first nine months of 2023, surging by 22 percent to reach $625 million, compared to $512 million in the same period in 2022.

Egypt ranked sixth in the world and fifth among low and middle-income countries in receiving financial remittances from overseas workers in 2023, according to a branch of the World Bank. About 200 million overseas workers sent money to their home countries, benefiting 800 million family members. This would reduce the cost and time of money transfers and direct informal transfers to official channels. Post offices charged around 7%, money transfer companies 5.3%, and mobile money transfers 4.1%. However, mobile money transfers were the least used, representing less than 1% of the total volume.

CAIRO – 15 January 2024: The Cabinet's media center denied reports about issuing a decision cancelling exams in some schools nationwide temporarily over the spread of chickenpox disease among the students. The ministries denied as baseless the reports about the cancellation of the exams or the spread of chickenpox among the students in schools, it added. The health ministry asserted the health situation is safe and stable in all schools. The education ministry said no decisions were made in this regard. All mid-term exams are held on schedule, the education ministry said, pointing out to precautionary and preventive measures being applied to protect against any contagious diseases.

Housing Minister Essam al-Gazzar said on Sunday 14/1/2024 a new boom is now being witnessed in the new Egyptian State, stressing that fruits of what was achieved over the past period will be reaped within the coming stage. In New Egypt, there is a chance for all citizens at all levels. The business district also houses the Iconic Tower, a supertall skyscraper with a total structural height of almost 400 meters. The first stage includes the construction of three out of 20 high-rises in the district to be constructed by China State Construction Engineering Company (CSCEC) for the Egyptian Housing Ministry the minister said. He thanked the Chinese company for its efforts in completing Phase I, saying the same company will be responsible for carrying out another project at the business district in the New Alamein City.

Egypt - A government document says that Egypt will aim to achieve price stability and lower inflation rates to 7% (±2%) by the end of 2024, and to 5% (±2%) by the end of 2026, while keeping it below 5% by 2030. It expects inflationary pressures to ease from this year, with an average inflation rate of 9.2% during 2024-2028. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has been pursuing a tight monetary policy to rein in inflation, which reached 34.2% in December 2023. The MPC has stressed that the interest rate path depends on expected inflation rather than current inflation and that it will use all available tools to reduce monthly inflation and achieve the announced targets. Moreover, the growth rate of exports of outsourcing services would increase by 10% annually to reach a target of $13bn.

Salah's spot-kick went in off the post after Mozambique defender Domingos Macandza committed a foul in the box. But they were denied a first victory at the Cup of Nations in their 13th game as Salah kept his nerve. Egypt now look ahead to a second pool fixture against Ghana on Thursday, while Mozambique meet Cape Verde on Friday. They then turned the game on its head with a second three minutes later as they cut Egypt apart down the middle. Egypt came close to an equaliser when Hamdi Fathi's clever flick looped onto the post and away, before they won the penalty that denied Mozambique one of the greatest shocks in Cup of Nations history.

Goals from Karim Ansarifard, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Mehdi Ghayedi and Sardar Azmoun gave Iran all three points while Tamer Seyam scored a consolation for Palestine, who are still seeking their first win at the Asian Cup. Huge cheers greeted the Palestine squad before their national anthem was played as the Iranian fans showed solidarity with their Middle Eastern counterparts, with some holding the Iran flag side-by-side with the Palestine colours. "I thank all the fans that were in the stadium, the Iranian fans, the Qatari fans, the Arab fans, everyone who supported Palestine," Palestine coach Makram Daboub told reporters. Although the Palestinians managed to mount a couple of promising attacks, Iran held firm to go top of the group while Palestine are bottom. Despite notching up the biggest win of the tournament so far, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei was not entirely impressed with his team's performance.

Egypt’s external debt burden eased in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2023/24, inching down to $164.521bn from $164.727bn at the end of the previous quarter. This welcome decline is driven by a drop in long-term debt, which stood at $134.252bn in September 2023, down from $136.577bn in June. The government played a key role in reducing external debt, with its liabilities falling to $82.527bn from $83.428bn, all of it long-term. This breakdown includes $24.563bn in long-term debt and $19.822bn in short-term debt. Banks’ external debt remained largely stable at $20.905bn, with a slight decrease from $20.978bn in the previous quarter.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday to discuss the situation in Gaza and ways to enhance their strategic partnership. In a related context, Shoukry emphasized that Egypt continues to strive to strengthen bilateral relations and coordinate with China on regional and international issues. Shoukry and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held a joint press conference on Sunday, where they discussed bilateral relations, regional issues, and the situation in Gaza. He added that Egypt supports the one-China principle and seeks to develop bilateral relations and coordination on regional and international matters. Wang Yi, for his part, stressed that China and Egypt will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation to find a lasting, comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian issue.

The Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health said that the Israeli forces carried out 11 massacres, killing 125 people, in the past 24 hours. On the 100th day of the Israeli attacks, the ministry said that the Israeli army deliberately bombed residential areas with their families, and targeted the health system and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said on Sunday that the Israeli army arrested about 5,875 Palestinians, including 355 children and 200 women, in the occupied West Bank in 100 days. Moreover, the Israeli army also announced that 1,106 soldiers were injured since the start of the ground operation, 240 of them seriously. The army reported that 12 officers and soldiers were injured in the battles in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.

The pricing crisis in medication is the biggest challenge facing the pharmacy sector in Egypt, said Ashraf Kordy, Board Member of the Giza Chamber of Commerce. He spoke at a meeting led by Ahmed Al-Wakil, President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce Egypt, with pharmacy profession leaders and representatives from chambers of commerce in various governorates. Kordy said that this crisis caused significant capital losses for pharmacy owners, exceeding 50% in one year. Kordy added that meeting participants suggested solutions to ease the crisis, such as printing barcodes instead of prices to standardize selling prices in all pharmacies. The meeting also discussed the difficulty of securing funding for pharmacies, as they resort to personal loans due to the Central Bank’s classification of pharmacies as “High Risk”.