Egypt fixes fuel prices until the end of 2022 following 3 hikes this year – Arab News
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RIYADH: Egypt’s Petroleum Products Automatic Pricing Committee has announced that the price of fuel in the local market will remain unchanged, for the period from October to December 2022.
The move has defied expectations of another raise and ended a series of three consecutive petrol price hikes during 2022, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The decision also comes amid the devaluation of the local currency against the dollar, despite a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a loan ranging from $3 billion to $7 billion.
The price of 80-octane fuel will remain at 8 Egyptian pounds ($0.41), while 92-octane fuel will be sold at 9.25 Egyptian pounds. 95-octane fuel will cost 10.75 Egyptian pounds, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources reported.
The price of diesel will be 7.25 Egyptian pounds, while the industrial-use mazut will be 5,000 Egyptian pounds per tonne.
The committee’s latest decision comes after Egypt started implementing a quarterly price index mechanism on all petroleum products in July 2019.
The mechanism of automatic pricing aims to amend the prices of petroleum products quarterly.
It should not increase or decrease by more than 10 percent, in accordance with the international price of Brent crude oil, and the rate of the dollar against the Egyptian pound.
In July, the Egyptian government raised fuel prices after steep inflationary pressures in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
During 2022, the north African country witnessed two other fuel price hikes during April and February.
In 2021, the price of octane-80 fuel was 6.75 Egyptian pounds per liter, 92-octane fuel was 8 Egyptian pounds per liter, and 95-octane fuel was 9 Egyptian pounds per liter.
Last Sunday, Egypt finalized a staff-level agreement with the IMF on the components of its program, and will issue an announcement “very soon,” the country’s finance minister said.
“Very productive bilateral discussions were held with IMF staff on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank’s annual meetings in Washington, and significant progress was made across all policies,” Mohamed Maait said in a statement.
Egypt began talks with the IMF for a financial support package in March.
The war in Ukraine threw its already unsettled finances into further disarray, leading foreign investors to pull nearly $20 billion out of Egyptian treasury markets in a matter of weeks.
RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has announced that it will launch the second edition of the Future Minerals Forum in January 2023, according to a statement.
To be held at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh between Jan. 10 and Jan. 12, the conference will discuss a number of topics including developments in the mining sector in the region extending from Africa and West and Central Asia, ways to attract investments, the use of cutting-edge technology in the sector, applying the best standards of sustainability, and more.
The conference will also tackle global bottlenecks that could potentially affect the supply of mineral and energy, the future of mining on a domestic level and worldwide, as well as the contribution of mining projects, and any growth opportunities for the sector.
With the prices of valuable minerals, especially gold, copper and zinc rising, Saudi Arabia expects the value of its current mineral wealth to double from the previously estimated SR5 trillion ($1.3 trillion), CEO of the Saudi Geological Survey Abdullah Al-Shamrani said in September.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has submitted a non-binding offer to acquire a 51 percent stake in the telecom towers unit of Saudi Telecom Co., known as stc.
stc will maintain the remaining 49 percent of Telecommunications Towers Co., or Tawal’s shares, according to a bourse filing.
Tawal is valued at SR21.9 billion ($5.85 billion) on a cash and debt-free basis.
The offer does not represent a binding commitment on both parties and is subject to completing the due diligence.
They will reach a final and binding agreement upon obtaining all regulatory approvals.
Saudi Telecom is a digital enabler of telecommunications services and is 64 percent owned by the PIF.
RIYADH: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s profits grew by 25 percent during the third quarter of this year, thanks to a rise in financing interests and Islamic financing revenues.
The bank’s profit of 1.59 billion dirhams ($430 million) exceeded analysts’ average expectations of 1.46 billion dirhams, asharq reported.
The bank’s net revenues also grew by 17.3 percent to 2.56 billion dirhams during the third quarter, most of which came from conventional interest income, which amounted to 2 billion dirhams.
The net revenue from Islamic financing and investment products amounted to 500 million dirhams.
Meanwhile, the bank’s provisions decreased by the end of the third quarter by 20 percent to 1.586 billion dirhams.
The bank is constantly seeking to strengthen its financial statements, as it is in talks to sell nearly $1 billion in bad debt to clean up a balance sheet affected by a series of large corporate defaults.
RIYADH: Arab National Bank has reported a 33 percent profit increase during the first nine months of 2022.
The bank recorded a net profit of SR2.3 billion ($612 million), compared to SR1.7 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to a bourse filing.
The profit growth is primarily attributable to higher gains from special commissions, financing, and investment activities, along with a rise in net exchange and trading income.
The value of the bank’s assets grew by 13.7 percent on the year to SR207 billion, with deposits rising 14 percent.
Founded in 1979, Riyadh-based Arab National Bank is one of the ten largest in the Middle East, operating 156 branches throughout the Kingdom.
RIYADH: Bank AlJazira’s net profit for the first nine months of 2022 rose 11 percent to SR865 million ($230 million), according to a bourse statement.
The statement noted that the total operating profit of the bank until the end of September stands at SR2.67 billion compared to SR2.65 billion, during the same period last year.
The profit hike was driven by lower operating costs, mainly due to a decrease in a net impairment charge for financing and other financial assets, the statement added.
On Oct. 23, three of the top banks in Saudi Arabia — Saudi National Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank, and Riyad Bank — also reported a rise in net profits during the first nine months of 2022.
In the first nine months, Saudi National Bank posted a 42 percent surge to SR14 billion, while Al-Rajhi Bank reported a 19 percent rise to SR13 billion.
Riyad Bank saw its profit soar by 13 percent to SR5 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
