Top 10 Must-Read Stories for This Weekend

Updated 6/13/2025 9:00:00 AM

Arab Finance: Despite the Eid holiday, the second week of June was filled with key economic news, led by the World Bank Group (WBG) raising its projection for Egypt’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the current fiscal year (FY) 2024/2025 to 3.8%.

Here are the top 10 viral news stories of the week ended June 12th:

1- World Bank raises forecast for Egypt’s FY2024/25 GDP growth by 0.3%

The World Bank Group (WBG) has upgraded its projection for Egypt’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the current fiscal year (FY) 2024/2025 to 3.8%, up by 0.3% from a January forecast of 3.5%, according to the bank's recent Global Economic Prospects report.

2- Egypt’s external debt service rises 37% YoY in H1 FY2024/25

Egypt’s external debt service rose 37% year on year (YoY) in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY) to $21.3 billion, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

3- Egypt’s exports to BRICS up 31.5% in 2024

The Egyptian exports to the BRICS countries increased by 31.5% year-on-year (YoY) to $905 million in 2024 since Egypt joined the bloc, versus $688 million, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) data.

4-Finance Ministry refutes 174.4M-sqm-land sale claims

Egypt’s Ministry of Finance confirmed that the 174.4 million square meters of land allocated along the Red Sea will be developed, refuting claims that it will be sold, as per a statement.

5-US launches anti-dumping probe into Egyptian rebar exports

The US International Trade Commission announced a preliminary anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation into imports of steel concrete reinforcing bars (rebar) from Egypt, Algeria, Bulgaria, and Vietnam.

6-FRA approves 11 institutions to register for secondary market activity

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved 11 institutions to regularize their status and register in its official register for dealing in government securities and financial instruments in the secondary market.

7-AfDB backs Africa’s largest solar power plant in Egypt with $184.1M package

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $184.1 million financing package to support the development of the Obelisk 1-gigawatt solar photovoltaic project and 200-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system in Egypt.

8-Egypt launches 5G mobile services

Egypt has officially launched 5G mobile services in a landmark event attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, along with other officials and representatives from telecommunications firms.

9-Contact Financial appoints new CEO; total portfolio exceeds EGP 21B in 2024

Said Zater has handed over executive leadership to John Saad, who assumed the role of Managing Director and CEO of Contact Financial Holding.

10-Khalda Petroleum to bring 2 new wells into production in June

Khalda Petroleum plans to bring two new wells into production in June 2025, with an initial estimated total of 5,400 barrels of crude oil per day (bbl/d), according to a statement.