CAIRO (Reuters) – The Egyptian stock exchange will allow ten companies to delay their initial public offerings due to global market conditions, Mohamed Omran, the head of the bourse, told state news agency MENA on Tuesday.

The Egyptian exchange usually requires newly listed companies to hold an initial public offering within six months, but this period can be extended if there are good reasons, such as volatile global markets.

Omran told Reuters in November that about a dozen companies had registered a new listing on the Egyptian market in 2015, but only half of these had proceeded with an initial share issue.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht, editing by Louise Heavens)