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Egyptian businessmen rattled by new regulations

The Egyptian government has upset the local business community with the issuance of regulations for laws imposing a 10% tax on stock market profits and restricting dollar deposits.
The Egyptian Exchange bell is seen at the stock exchange in Cairo, March 12, 2015. After four years of political turmoil, Egypt is staking its economic revival on an investment summit in Sharm el-Sheikh it hopes will burnish its image and attract billions of dollars. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR4T2G3
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In a move that led to the loss of billions of Egyptian pounds on the stock market, the Ministry of Finance issued implementing regulations April 7 for a law ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in mid-2014 imposing a 10% tax on stock market profits for shareholders and speculators. The law had been met with opposition from businessmen and preceded the loss of billions of pounds on the stock market after the government began discussing it on May 31, 2014, until its ratification by Sisi on July 2, 2014. Mohamed Omran, head of the stock exchange board, had issued a statement April 6 calling for postponing the issuance of the regulations for fear of further stock market losses.

A source from the Egyptian Businessmen Association who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity expressed his opposition to the new tax law. He said it would serve as a disincentive to investors at a time that requires attracting investments. Awad al-Tarsawi, legal adviser for the Egyptian Association for Financing and Investment, a nongovernmental association of stock market employees, including businessmen, said in an April 15 statement that the association was preparing to appeal the implementing regulations before the administrative court and challenge the constitutionality of the law itself.

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