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ROUND UP: The month at a glance

APACHE UPS INVESTMENT: Apache Corp. said in September that, together with partners Repsol and Novus Petroleum, it would double its budget to $100 million over the next two years to increase oil production in the Khalda concession. The partners aim to boost the concession’s production from today’s 30,000 barrels per day to 45,000 by the end of 1999. Apache’s Egyptian holdings account for about one third of the company’s worldwide oil production.

BANK SALE DELAYED: Egypt might not meet its stated goal of selling off one state-owned bank and one state-owned insurance company by the end of 1998, Minister of Economy Youssef Boutros Ghali said in Sep-tember. Ghali said Egypt had started the process of valuing its state-owned banks and insurance companies, but implied that the valuations would not be ready in time to sell those institutions this year.

INFLATION RISES: Egypt’s year-on-year CPI inflation rose to 4.3 percent in July from 3.6 percent in June – a result of reweighting to reflect new results from the nation’s household income survey, the Ministry of Econ-omy said in September. The government’s statistics bureau, CAPMAS, reweights the CPI basket every five years, the ministry said. Year-on-year CPI inflation in July 1997 was 4 percent.

CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT NARROWS: Provisional figures from the Central Bank of Egypt show the nation’s current account deficit narrowed to $663 million in the third quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30 from $927 million in the second quarter, as a shrinking trade deficit outpaced a decline in net income from services. Egypt’s trade deficit narrow-ed to $2.6 billion in the third quarter from $3.1 billion in the second quarter, as imports fell to $3.9 billion in the third quarter from $4.6 billion in the second quarter. Exports also fell, however, to $1.3 billion in the third quarter from $1.5 billion in the second quarter. Net income from services shrank to $821 million in the third quarter from $1 billion in the second quarter. Egypt reported a $299.9 million current account surplus in the third quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1997.
BUDGET DEFICIT ON TARGET: Egypt reported a budget deficit of £E 2.7 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, after registering a £E 160 million surplus in the fourth quarter, the nation’s first quarterly surplus in at least 13 quarters. Analysts said the result roughly met Egypt’s target of 1 percent of gross domestic product. The Central Bank of Egypt said that the nation brought in £E 68.1 billion in revenues and spent £E 70.8 billion over the fiscal year. Egypt reported a budget deficit of £E 2.3 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1997.

PETROLEUM EXPORTS UP: Egypt’s petroleum exports grew to $75 million in July, up $16 million from June but still well below the $124 million ex-ported in July 1997, the Cabinet In-formation & Decision Support Center reported. Petroleum production for July grew by 400,000 barrels to 25.3 million barrels from June, but stayed below the 26.7 million barrels produced in July 1997. Natural gas production for July grew by 44,000 tons to 895,000 tons from June, a total that also topped July 1997 production of 882,000 tons.

TOURISM IMPROVES IN JUNE: Egypt’s tourism sector continues to suffer but improved in June, when 250,000 tourists arrived – a 16 percent drop from June 1997, compared with a 27 percent year-on-year drop in May, the Central Bank of Egypt re-ported. In July, Minister of Economy Youssef Boutros Ghali pointed to re-covery in the sector, a key source of foreign exchange earnings that was flattened by last November’s massacre of 58 tourists in Luxor. June’s year-on-year decline was the second narrowest since the massacre, coming in just behind April’s 14 percent shortfall.

MOBINIL TO ISSUE NEW SHARES: Egyptian Co. for Mobile Services (MobiNil), owner and operator of Egypt’s cellular telephone network, said in September that it will offer £E 400 million in new shares to existing shareholders to raise capital to meet unspecified financial needs. Share-holders will have the right to buy up to 66 percent of their holdings at the par-value price of £E 10 – about a third of the current market price for the shares. MobiNil was to discuss the issue at an extraordinary general assembly on Sept. 29. The offering would be Mobi-Nil’s second. The company raised £E 180 million via the sale of 30 percent of its shares in a wildly popular IPO that closed in February. l

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