Egyptian shares slumped for the third consecutive day on Wednesday’s close after the interim premier, Hazem El-Beblawi, said no right thinking investors would buy Egypt’s expensive shares unless they were certain about the future of the troubled country’s bourse.

The Egyptian  bourse’s benchmark index EGX30 slipped 0.6 percent, reaching 6,205 index points. And the bigger EGX70 index tumbled 0.5 percent during Wednesday’s trading.

Analysts told Al Ahram Online that they put blame squarely on the shoulders of the premier’s comments for the poor showing of the shares on the day and possibly the two days before.

“The strange statements that came from El-Beblawi on several occasions coincided with daily incidents, affecting trading over the week,” Eissa Fathi, the deputy head of securities at Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online.

Fathi said comments by the premier had – to some extent – led to the flat performance in the past couple of days.

On Monday, El-Beblawi allegedly asked: “Who is the donkey that will buy high-price shares unless they are sure that there will be a better future for the Egyptian bourse?”

According to reports, domestic stockholders were net vendors with some LE31 million ($4.4m). But Arab and foreign investors were net purchasers.