Egypt’s stock plummets after bloody clashes

CAIRO, Dec. 6 — Egypt’s main stock index fell Thursday by 4.86 percent after last night’s bloody clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi outside the presidential palace, which left five killed and 697 injured according to Egyptian Health Ministry.

The loss of the value of shares was more than 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, and the EGX administration had to suspend trading of over 50 shares because the maximum decline limit was exceeded.

Egypt’s economy has been deteriorating since the 2011 unrest that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, as protests and clashes hardly stopped ever since. The government of the controversial newly-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, is struggling to get a loan of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars from the IMF to boost the country’s economy.

Egyptians have been protesting for weeks against a constitutional declaration issued by Morsi and the draft constitution written mainly by Islamists. On Nov. 22, Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration which rules that all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since he came into office on June 30 are final and unchallengeable by anybody, which triggered a nationwide wave of protests.