The Egyptian equity market is among the most developed in the area with over 633 listed firms. Market capitalization on the exchange climbed in 2005 from الجنيه المصري مقابل الدولار الامريكي 47.2 billion to USD 93.5 billion in 2006, peaking at USD 139 billion in 2007. Subsequently, it has fallen to USD 58 billion in 2012, with turnover from USD 1.16 billion in January 2005 to USD 6 billion in January 2006. Private equity has not been widely used in Egypt in the past for a source of financing for companies. The government, however, has instituted a number of policy reforms and changes specifically meant to develop internal private equity funds and also to attract private equity funding from international sources. The significant industries include textiles, hydrocarbon and chemical manufacturing, and generic pharmaceutical production. Unemployment is high at approximately 10.5%. Until 2003, the Egyptian market suffered from shortages in foreign currency and excessively elevated interest rates. A series of budget reforms were conducted in order to fix flaws in Egypt's financial environment and to boost private sector involvement and confidence in the economy. Major monetary reforms were introduced in 2005 in order to tackle the informal sector that based on quotes represents somewhere between 30% to 60% of GDP. Tax cuts for corporations have been introduced for the first time in Egyptian history. The new Income tax Legislation No 91 for 2005 reduced the tax rate from 40% to 20 percent. According to government figures, tax filing by corporations and individuals increased by 100 percent. Many modifications were made to reduce trade tariffs. One of the legislators' aims were handling the black economy, reducing bureaucracy and pushing trade liberalization steps. Amendments to Investment and business legislation were introduced so as to draw foreign investors. By way of instance, the number of times needed for establishing a company was radically reduced. Substantial improvement to the domestic economic environment increased shareholders' confidence in Egypt. The Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange is considered among the greatest ten emerging markets in the world. The alterations to the policy also brought increased amounts of foreign direct investment in Egypt. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development's World Investment Report, Egypt was ranked the second biggest nation in bringing foreign investment in Africa. Given the high number of amendments to laws and regulations, Egypt has succeeded to a certain scope in adapting to international standards. Very recently the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) was welcomed with full membership into the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE)--the first Arab nation to be invited. Enforcement of these recently adopted regulatory frameworks remain, sometime debatable. Problems like corruption hamper economic development in Egypt. Many scandals involving bribery were reported throughout the previous decades. "In 2002 alone, as many as 48 high-ranking officials--including former cabinet ministers, provincial governors and MPs were convicted of influence peddling, profiteering and embezzlement. Maintaining good relations with politicians is sometimes a secret to business success in Egypt. Based on the 2006 Corruption Perception Index developed by Transparency International (where the higher the ranking the greater the level of corruption), Egypt ranked 70 out of 163. On a scale from 0 to 10 (with 0 being highly corrupt), Egypt scored a 3.3 . According to a research from the International Organization for Migration, 20% of Egyptian remittance-receiving households interviewed channeled the remittances towards various forms of investment, while the huge majority (80 percent) was more worried about utilizing remittances for meeting the daily needs of their families including spending on health care and education. Among the 20% of households that chose to invest, 39% invested in real estate, 22% invested in small businesses employing fewer than five people and also the smallest percentages of investors (6%) invested in medium private company employing no more than 20 people. According to Egypt's Human Development Report 2008, despite representing roughly 5% of GDP, remittances provided the first capital for only 1.4% of recently established small and medium enterprises in Egypt in 2003-2004. The stock market capitalisation of listed Firms in Egypt was valued at الجنيه المصري مقابل الدولار الامريكي 79.672 billion in 2005 by the World Bank Falling to $58 billion in 2012
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