Stocks sliding in Egypt

The Egyptian stock market went in to free-fall after President Morsi's decision to increase presidential powers, and comes after a slew of bad news for the Egyptian economy.

Shares on the Egyptian stock exchange [2] continued to slide dramatically in early trading on Sunday, according to Reuters.

The sudden drop is reportedly caused by Mohammed Morsi’s recent decree, granting himself extensive new powers [3]. There have been widespread protests across the country since the announcement.

Trading was suspended for 30 minutes soon after opening as the free-fall exceeding allowed limits. By 0915GMT, the market was down 8.7 per cent, according to Reuters. This comes at a bad time for Egypt's economy, as the deficit continues to grow and the GDP slumps to 2.6 per cent, well below targets of 4.5 per cent. [4]