(4 minutes read)
Egypt has eased the conditions for granting its nationality to foreigners who are willing to invest in dollars in the country. This is expected to accelerate the flow of investments into the country, which is facing a massive rate of inflation and erosion of the value of its currency
Egypt has eased the conditions for granting its nationality to foreigners who are willing to invest in dollars in the country. This is expected to accelerate the flow of investments into the country, which is facing a massive rate of inflation and erosion of the value of its currency. In one year, the Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar, while the country’s foreign exchange reserves have melted away.
A law passed by parliament in 2018 and amended by the prime minister in 2019 paved the way for Egyptian nationality to be obtained through investment and deposits in banks. This can be either depositing in an Egyptian bank or buying real estate in dollars.
According to the new amendments, foreigners can be granted an Egyptian passport if they buy a real estate property belonging to the State or a public company worth at least US$ 300,000 dollars, against US$500,000 previously. Alternatively, citizenship can be granted if foreigners make a deposit in an Egyptian bank account of US$500,000 against the US$ 750,000 as was the case earlier.
A combination of reasons played out against Egypt in recent times including the Russian -Ukraine war and the consequent global price spiral for oil and other commodities including foodstuff. Egypt has a population of 105 million and most of the people are being affected by inflation, including households and businesses. The Northern African country is one of the largest importers of food grains in the world and was sourcing mostly from Russia and Ukraine. The war had disrupted the supply side of grain imports.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/egypt-tops-the-list-in-dealing-with-startups-among-mena-countries/
https://trendsnafrica.com/egypts-foreign-exchange-reserves-at-us34-billion/
https://trendsnafrica.com/egypt-tops-the-list-in-dealing-with-startups-among-mena-countries/
The country’s inflation reached 26.5% in January; almost four times higher than what it existed earlier. Analysts say if the situation continues to be grim as it is now, there is every possibility of the country defaulting on its debts as dollar reserves shrunk to US$34.2 billion. Of that, US$ $28 billion came from the Gulf. Egypt in October obtained a new loan from the IMF in December. This seems to be much lower than its requirements as the country is staring at a debt service of US$ 42 billion in 2022-23. On top of it, Egypt, as a precondition for getting loans from multilateral organizations, is pruning the subsidies being granted to people making every product costly. The fuel prices have already scaled up by 20% on account of the cut in subsidies.
