The Egyptian stock exchange rose by 3.4 per cent yesterday, regaining the LE6.6 billion that was lost on Monday. However, experts fear future collapses if Egyptian expatriates working in Dubai are laid-off due to the recent debt crisis that the emirate is facing.
A source at the Ministry of Economic Development said the ministry is closely monitoring the number of Egyptians coming back from the United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai. There are 250,000 Egyptian workers in the Emirates.
According to a Central Bank report, money transfers from Egyptians abroad dropped from US$279.4 million to US$259.8 million in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year.
In a related development, a statement by the Arab African Bank said the loans it had granted to companies working in Dubai do not exceed 4 per cent of its total credit lines, of which US$35 million went to Dubai International Capital (DIC), the emirate’s international investment arm.
Meanwhile, the Gulf stock exchanges continued to drop by 8.2 per cent in Doha, 5.6 per cent in Dubai, 3.5 per cent in Abu Dhabi, 3 per cent in Kuwait and 2.2 per cent in Oman.
United Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the state will support Dubai. "There’s a difference between DIC and the government of Dubai," he explained, pointing out that Dubai is a financially strong emirate.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
