Egypt s National Elections Authority (NEA) spokesperson Mahmoud El-Sherif said on Wednesday that the NEA is set to start printing 60 million ballot papers for the 2018 presidential elections, which are scheduled for 26-28 March. El-Sherif added that the NEA has contracted a third party to print the ballot papers.

Egypt warned on Wednesday against any attempts to infringe or disparage its sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), following statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that a 2003 maritime border demacration agreement between Egypt and Cyprus was invalid. In an official statement, Egypt foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that any attempts to breach Egypt s rights were "unacceptable" and would be contested, slamming Cavusoglu s statements.

A Giza Criminal court upheld on Wednesday a decision by Egypt s prosecutor-general to seize the funds of Menoufiya governor Hesham Abdel-Baset, who is facing trial over corruption charges. Abdel-Baset was arrested in January for purportedly receiving an EGP 2 million (around $113,000) bribe from a businessman in return for a plot of land.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday where he discussed with Dubai Emir Mohamed Al Maktom and Abu Dhabi Emir Mohamed Al Nahyan ways to boot cooperation between the two countries in different fields, the presidency said in a statement. The officials also discussed regional issues, including fighting terrorism through a comprehensive strategy that stops terrorist organisations from receiving arms, money and fighters, as well as stopping their political cover and media representation.

Egypt s stocks closed in red on Tuesday following a sharp fall in the Dow Jones and the European stock market since Friday. The market capital lost EGP 15 billion, the worst since the start of this year, closing at EGP 841.2 billion.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al-Said, Oman s deputy prime minister, in Muscat on Monday, to discuss bilateral relations and enhancing economic ties. "The Egyptian president highlighted the national projects currently implemented in Egypt that provide promising investment opportunities, expressing Cairo s keenness on bolstering economic, trade and investment relations with Oman," a statement by El-Sisi s spokesman Bassam Rady read.

Egypt is to issue dollar-denominated Eurobonds worth $4 billion to $5 billion within days, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said on Sunday. Egypt sold $7 billion in five-, 10- and 30-year bonds last year as it begins its return to international markets after turmoil following the ousting of president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan, as well as the heads of both countries intelligence agencies, will meet in Cairo on Thursday to discuss bilateral coordination over a number of regional issues of mutual interest, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry announced on Sunday. Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Thursday s upcoming meeting follows plans by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to form a quadrilateral strategic cooperation mechanism between their countries foreign ministers and intelligence chiefs.

Egypts foreign reserves spiked to reach $38.209 billion at the end of January, up from $37.019 billion at the end of December, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Sunday. Reserves have been climbing since Egypt signed a $12 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November 2016, following the government decision to float Egypts currency.

Egyptian presidential candidate Moussa Mostafa Moussa said during an interview with the Masaa program on the DMC TV on Saturday that if elected president, he will "put those who called for boycotting [Egypt s 2018] elections on trial" for "high treason." "These calls incite foreign countries against Egypt," Moussa said during the interview. Mousa s statements come in response to an announcement last week by the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM), a coalition of liberal and leftist political parties and organisations, that it will boycott Egypt s upcoming presidential elections, citing what it described as "the lack of any positive signs from the regime to guarantee a free and fair electoral process."

Egypt s tax system has many flaws that not only limit its contribution to boosting economic growth, but also deepen inequality, with most of the burden being shouldered by those on lower incomes. Tax revenue represents only 12.5 per cent of GDP, as compared to 20 to 25 per cent on average in countries within the same income group. And while there are five income-tax brackets ranging from LE7,200 to LE200,000 annually, these brackets are not organised on a progressive scale.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ghandour announced that an agreement has been reached with Egypt and Ethiopia to establish railways and roads linking the three countries, reported the Sudan Tribune. The three leaders agreed on establishing a joint-fund to finance integrated projects, he added. Monday’s tripartite summit held on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia’s leaders has yielded positive results and overcome the crisis regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to Ghandour.

In the wake of the ongoing economic reforms in Egypt, Daily News Egypt sat down with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of the IMF s Opportunity for All conference in Marrakesh. She discussed her insights and laid out what she views as the progress that has taken place and how these reforms can achieve the aspirations of the Egyptian people. The first of two essential ways the Egyptian government can maximise the benefits of its economic reform programme, she said, is through job creation. The public sector is no lon- ger able to achieve this; only the private sector can create the needed jobs, she said.

Presidential candidate Moussa Mostafa Moussa said, at a press conference on Monday, that economic growth will be at the forefront of his priorities. The press conference came a few hours after he submitted his nomination papers to run for the presidency 15 mintues before the scheduled deadline on Monday.

The Egyptian parliament s 25-30 bloc said in a statement on Tuesday that they did not give endorsements to any candidate in the country s upcoming presidential elections, which are scheduled for March. The 14-member opposition bloc said in a press conference in parliament s Pharaonic hall that "we refused to give endorsements to any of the candidates in an election process that was manipulated in a way that forced the country s sons, who can bear its gross responsibilities, to refrain from exercising nomination rights."

The beginning of the 2018 presidential elections witnessed various prominent figures demonstrate interest in competing against current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the presidency. Strong figures such as former army chief of staff Sami Anan, rights lawyer Khaled Ali, and former-Prime Minister and 2012 presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafik, among others, appeared as potential contenders to Egypt’s current leader.

Egypt s National Elections Authority announced shortly after 2pm on Monday that the deadline to receive requests to run in Egypt s 2018 presidential elections had passed. The spokesperson for the NEA, Mahmoud El-Sharif, said that the authority had received two requests for candidacy; from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who will run for a second term in the March election, and from the head of the Ghad party, Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

Following a tripartite summit between the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in the Ethiopian capital on Monday to discuss differences over the Grand Ethiopian Renainssance Dam, Egypt s president told reporters, "People should be assured. None of [us three] countries – Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia – will be harmed." President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi added, "Egypt s interests are one with Ethiopia s and also one with Sudan s. We are speaking as one voice."

The leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will meet on Monday on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Al-Ahram s Arabic website reported. The meeting is aimed at breaking the deadlock in negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Reuters quoted official sources as saying on Sunday. The dam is under construction on the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian highlands.

Egypt was elected by African leaders in Addis Ababa to head the African Union s upcoming 31st session in 2019, the Egyptian presidency announced. In a statement issued Sunday, Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Radi stated that Egypt would be a member in the troika of the African Commission in the African Union, which includes the current, previous and upcoming presidents of the African Union.

The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) will issue its ruling in the conflict of jurisdiction between the State Council courts and Summary Proceedings courts over the Red Sea islands agreement on March 3, judicial sources said on Sunday. The date for the ruling was set during a special session for the SCC over the Egyptian-Saudi Tiran and Sanafir maritime border agreement on January 21.