The Egyptian government plans to set up a company to handle the export and rental of local properties in foreign currency, as part of its Economic Strategy for 2024-2030.
The company, whose details are yet to be disclosed, aims to generate revenues of $2-3 billion annually from exporting real estate in hard currency, in return for granting residency in Egypt for five years.
The government also proposes an investment fund with a capital of $1 billion, which Egyptians abroad can subscribe to, to invest in a portfolio of state-owned assets with high returns and diversified securities. The fund will be issued by one of the major investment banks and managed by a fund manager with international expertise.
Last year, the government implemented a series of measures to boost the export of property as one of the key ways to increase the state’s foreign exchange resources, amid a severe crisis caused by the shortage of foreign currency.
The government amended the laws to allow granting residency and citizenship to buyers of residential units worth at least $300,000, transferred from abroad, according to the rules of the Central Bank of Egypt. The government also announced, in late November, the study of a new initiative to export real estate, which would allow selling units in dollars to Egyptians abroad and foreigners only, in exchange for various incentives, in collaboration with the government and private sector companies.
Tarek Shoukry, the head of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said that the real estate export initiative requires paying the full value of the unit in dollars to get a discount rate. The buyer will get back the full value of the unit 10 years after purchase, even if the repayment method has not been decided yet, whether in dollars or Egyptian pounds at the time. This way, the buyer benefits from owning the unit and getting their money back at the same value. Meanwhile, the government benefits from the inflow of foreign currency from abroad, and the companies benefit from increasing their sales.
