The Egyptian government said on Tuesday that it had inked a series of agreements to sell $1.9 billion in interests in state-owned enterprises. Telecom Egypt, the country’s largest state-owned communications business, is among those selling.
The government has completed contracts with the private sector totaling $1.9 billion US dollars, as announced by the Minister of Planning. The Egyptian government received $1.65 billion in dollars, with the remaining $250 million being paid in Egyptian pounds.
Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, said “we’ve actually received them, or a portion of them, from the telecommunication business (Telecom Egypt, Ed.) and some other enterprises.”
The action is part of a comprehensive privatization overhaul to sell holdings in at least 32 state-owned corporations, ranging from petrochemical firms to major banks, in an effort to shrink Egypt’s public sector.
The plan was first announced in January and is part of a $3 billion bailout package Egypt received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December. This was necessary to help the cash-strapped North African economy weather recent global economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
