The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) cut key interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday, the bank said in a press release. The overnight deposit rate was lowered to 17.75 percent from 18.75 percent, and the overnight lending rate was cut to 18.75 percent from 19.75 percent.

Head of the Holding Company for Airports and Aeronautics Mohamed Mahrous told Al-Ahram newspaper that the company will be initiating a trial operation for three new airports: the Sphinx International Airport on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, the New Capital Airport, and the Bredwell Airport in Sinai. The trial will involve the operation of all devices, equipment, and systems within the three airports, in addition to operating all required facilities such as ambulances and navigation systems.

The Egyptian parliament has given its final approval to the amended Capital Market Law, the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday. Forty-five articles of the 75-article 1992 Capital Market law were amended.

Hisham Geneina, Egypt s former chief auditor and a leading aide of detained ex-military chief-of-staff Sami Anan, was arrested on Tuesday, just hours after the Egyptian army said it would take legal action against the two men over claims relating to secret state documents. Ali Taha, Geneina s lawyer, told Ahram Online that Geneina was arrested by police at his house in New Cairo s First Settlement. Taha said it was unclear if Geneina was going to be questioned by the military prosecution.

The US should revive negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis as the main guarantor of the peace process in the Middle East, Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during their meeting in Cairo on Monday. In an official statement, Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said El-Sisi affirmed Egypt s clear and unwavering stance on reaching a fair and comprehensive solution that guarantees the right of Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem in line with the June 1967 borders in accordance with international resolutions.

Production from Egypt s huge offshore Zohr field in the Mediterranean will reach 2.9 billion cubic feet per day by mid-2019, Italy s Eni said on Monday. Speaking at an industry event in Cairo, CEO Claudio Descalzi said the goal was to reach output of 1.8 bcf to 2 bcf per day by the end of 2018 and then ramp up to 2.9 bcf per day by mid-2019.

Ambassador of Cyprus to Cairo Khris Moritissis held a meeting Sunday with Tareq Radwan, head of the Egyptian parliament s committee on foreign relations. A statement issued by the committee said "Radwan welcomed the visit of the Cypriot ambassador to the Egyptian parliament, affirming that bilateral relations between Cairo and Nicosia are strong and that both seek to achieve their mutual interests on the regional and international levels."

Remittances from Egyptians abroad increased by 29.3% year-on-year in December 2017 to $2.6 billion, up from $2 billion in December 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt announced in a press statement on Sunday. Total remittances since November 2016, when the Egyptian currency was floated, and December 2017 recorded $29.1 billion, a 19.2% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.

Egypt on Sunday opened the country s first electric vehicle charging unit, as countries around the world incrasingly move toward a battery-powered car market. Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil oversaw the opening of the new unit, installed at a state-owned Wataniya gas station on the Cairo-Suez highway and owned by Revolta Egypt, a developer of electric charging infrastructure and other electric vehicle-related projects.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday that using water-preserving irrigation systems in agriculture is extremely important, stressing that "Egyptians must be careful with every drop of water they use." El-Sisi made the comments at Mohamed Naguib military base in Hammam city in Marsa Matrouh governorate, where he inaugurated the first phase of a project to build 100,000 greenhouses to grow agricultural products using less water for irrigation than used in traditional farming.

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.