Egypt will start trading on the exchange-traded fund (ETF) certificates next January 15th, bourse's chairman Mohamed Omran announced. This is the first time to enlist this financing channel in the Egyptian bourse. The local equity market is eager to see the start of trading ETFs that will allow investors to cover whole markets in various countries or several sectors at lower costs than other investment channels. Asked about the timing to start the trading of the ETF certificates, the Egyptian official told Reuters in a phone interview; "It'll start next Thursday (January 15th) ..." "We are working on offering the investors new investment tools, and in the long run, those certificates will help in creating liquidity in the market." Omran added In March, Egypt's financial market regulator released the rules to facilitate the creation of index and real estate funds as well as amendments to margin trading rules in an attempt to increase liquidity in the market and draw more local and foreign investors. Exchange traded funds serve as open investment funds which follow the movement of specific indicators, listing and trading their supplementary documents on the stock market as shares and bonds. They allow investors to gain a broad exposure to entire stock markets of different countries and specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing. *This story has been translated by Amwal Al Ghad English
