The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has opened this week posting gains of EGP 960 million powered by Orascom Construction Industries' announcements as regard to reaching a final settlement agreement with Tax Authority within the current week. The capital market has amounted to EGP 361.984 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad English at 11:05 a.m. Cairo time (09:05 GMT) during Sunday's opening session. The EGX indices opened this week in green notes. Benchmark EGX30 inched up by 0.36% to 5250.39 p; while EGX20 rose by 0.58% to 6140.48 p. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 advanced by 0.21% to 455.58 p. Price index EGX100 went up by 0.23% to 758.39 p. During Sunday's opening session, the trading volume has reached 11.829 million securities worth EGP 33.319 million, exchanged through 1.862 transactions. This was after trading in 81 listed securities; 9 declined, 52 advanced; while 20 keeping their previous levels. Egyptians and Arabs' buying transactions have backed EGX's opening gains as they were net buyers seizing 76.31% and 4.64% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 1.280 million and EGP 120.745 thousand, excluding the deals. Meanwhile, the non-Arab foreigners' were net sellers seizing 19.06% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 1.400 million excluding the deals. Anticipatory Tax Settlement: Omar Derwaza - Head of Investor Relations at Orascom Construction Industries – announced that the ongoing negotiations between OCI and the Egyptian Tax Authority are likely to conclude very soon, expecting that the two parties are going to reach a final settlement agreement within the current week. OCI's stock edged up by 0.61% to EGP 240.00. Derwaza declined to give a comment when he was asked about the value and the schedule of the installments OCI pledged to pay off. He said OCI is going to disclose within days all the details of the anticipatory agreement with the Tax Authority. On Saturday afternoon, sources close to the ongoing negotiations told Amwal Al Ghad that Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA) is offering to pay off US$ 350 million as a first installment to reconcile with Egypt's Tax Authority over taxes dues worth EGP 7.1 billion. For the remaining sums, they will be paid over a number of years to be defined in coordination between the company and the Tax Authority, sources said. The sources further added that OCI has refused to pay the EGP 7.1 billion as one tranche due to reasons related to default on payments besides the lack of a sufficient liquidity for the current phase. Amwal Al Ghad has quoted Tax Authority Chief Mamdouh Omar by saying the negotiations with the OCI are still ongoing, asserting that the reconciliation option is very attainable at any moment. Omar has denied that the ETA's negotiations with OCI have reached a deadlock. The anticipatory settlement agreement comes after 7-month tax disputes over EGP 14 billion tax evasion claims against OCI erupted by selling Orascom Building Materials to French Lafarge for EGP 68.6 billion in 2007.
