Presidential decree earmarks Red Sea state land for debt reduction and sukuk
Published in the Official Gazette on 1 November, the decree replaces a clause of an earlier allocation. Reports differ on the size of the tract: either about 26,690 or about 2,669 feddan.
11 November 2026
A presidential decree has allocated a tract of state-owned land in the Red Sea Governorate to the Ministry of Finance, to be used for reducing the state's public debt and issuing sovereign sukuk. Decree No. 448 of 2026 appeared in Official Gazette issue 44 bis (C), dated 1 November 2026, and was signed at the Presidency the same day.
It replaces Article 1 of Presidential Decree No. 222 of 2026, which had already assigned land in the governorate to the ministry. According to Economy Plus, the earlier wording allowed the land to be used for issuing sovereign sukuk only, so the amendment adds debt reduction as a permitted purpose.
How much land is involved is in dispute. Al-Watan, Economy Plus, Ahl Masr and Youlyou give the area as about 26,690.45 feddan, or some 112.1 million square metres. Youm7, Osoul Misr and Mwlana quote the amended article as about 2,669.45 feddan, or some 11.2 million square metres — a tenfold difference that the published reports do not resolve.
The decree does not describe where the land is. It identifies the plot only by a survey plate and a schedule of coordinates attached to the text, neither of which appears in the reporting, so which stretch of the coast is affected is not yet public.
Bloom Gate notes that a decree published in June 2025 set aside about 41,515.55 feddan at Ras Shukeir in the Red Sea Governorate for the Finance Ministry for the same two purposes.