Egyptian shares rallied after the country's cabinet it had scrapped plans to impose a capital gains tax after receiving a torrent of criticism from the business community.
Property stocks rose the most. Palm Hills Development Company rose 2.7 per cent to 2.23 Egyptian pounds a share. Talaat Moustafa Group was up 1 per cent to 4.69 pounds a share. Upper Egypt Contracting advanced 5 per cent to 1.04 pounds. The EGX30 Index was up 0.9 per cent to 5,485.26.
The plan for the 10 per cent tax, announced along with government's 2011-12 budget last week as it seeks to raise funds for higher state wages and subsidies, sent Egypt's main share index to its biggest drop in six weeks last Thursday.
The cabinet decided to drop the tax in a meeting on Wednesday to approve the budget, said the prime minister's media advisor Ahmed el Saman.
The draft budget also included an increase on the income tax to 25 per cent from 20 per cent applied to companies that earn 10 million pounds or more.
In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was up 0.2 per cent to 2,703.34 points. The Dubai Financial Market General Index was up 0.2 per cent to 1,556.71 points.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's index was unchanged at 6,306.70. Bahrain's measure was unchanged at 1,347.69. Oman's index was up 0.2 per cent to 6,016.48. Qatar's index is up 1.1 per cent to 8,276.27. The Saudi Tadawul was closed for the day.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
