Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund has signed an $800 million deal to sell a stake in seven prominent hotels to Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) in its drive to raise funds and foreign currency, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Wednesday.
Revenues from selling stakes in state assets have reached $5.6 billion so far, said Madbouly, whose government is grappling with a long-running shortage of foreign currency and a rising debt burden. He provided no breakdown of the revenues.
The stake sales, which some expect to accelerate after a presidential election earlier this month, are seen as crucial to Egypt’s chances of easing prolonged pressure on the Egyptian pound, attracting badly needed dollars, and launching economic reforms under an IMF loan programme.
The programme to offload assets has stumbled in the past, and the state and military retain a dominant position in the economy.
Under the deal for the portfolio of hotels, TMG acquired a 39% stake with the right to raise the share to 51%, the cabinet said in a statement.
Hisham Talaat Mostafa, CEO of TMG, told Reuters that other, international investors would increase the capital of the TMG holding company. “We are going to present that on the closing of the deal with all the details. It will take like another two or three weeks to have these details.”
