EGYPT
Bourse to lift trading limits
Egypt’s stock exchange will reinstate the buying and selling of single stocks in the same session next month in an effort to boost volumes. The ability to buy and sell a stock in the same session was stopped in February 2011 after the uprising that swept autocratic president Hosni Mubarak from power. The head of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, Ashraf El Sharkawy, said the move would increase the number of transactions by between 30 percent and 40 percent and help to alleviate “huge liquidity problems” on the exchange. – Reuters
MOZAMBIQUE
Osaka Gas eyes LNG investment
Osaka Gas, Japan’s second-biggest supplier of city gas, had identified offshore Mozambique as one of several regions in which it would be interested in making an upstream investment, a senior company official said yesterday. The Osaka-based company was also looking at co-operating with Tokyo Gas in buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from one of the many projects planned there, the official said. – Reuters
SUDAN
Inflation rises to nearly 50%
Sudan’s annual inflation rate inched closer to 50 percent in February, data showed yesterday, reflecting a deep economic crisis that has consigned most of the country’s population to poverty. Inflation rose to 47.9 percent from 46.8 percent in February, driven by food costs, the central statistical bureau said. Inflation picked up sharply in Sudan after South Sudan seceded in July 2011. The annual rate was 15 percent in June 2011. – Reuters