Economist says Red Sea land moved to finance ministry is not for sale
Mohamed El-Bahwashy told Egyptian state television the 2,669 feddans stay in public ownership and could be invested, leased or used to back sovereign sukuk.
13 November 2026
The Red Sea state land transferred to the finance ministry under a presidential decree is meant to be invested rather than sold, the economist Mohamed El-Bahwashy said in remarks on Egyptian state television.
Speaking on the programme Min Maspero on the Al-Oula channel, he said the land remains public property and that only guardianship over it moves to the finance ministry. The ministry could invest it, grant usufruct rights for an annual income, or use it as backing for sovereign sukuk, he said.
He said the decree covers unused state land and that the area would be developed with other bodies, including the investment ministry and the investment authority, with the proceeds going to the finance ministry.
Presidential decree 448 of 2026, published in the Official Gazette, sets the area at about 2,669.45 feddans — roughly 11.2 million square metres — and states its purpose as reducing public debt and issuing sovereign sukuk. El-Bahwashy's remarks are the assessment of an outside economist, not a government statement.