Good morning, friends. We’ve (nearly) slogged through a crazy week together. We hope you’re looking forward to sliding into the weekend as much as we are, but with an interest rate hike and a downgrade both likely in the cards, it’s unlikely there will be any rest for the wicked among us.

HAPPENING TODAY- It’s interest rate day: The Central Bank of Egypt is expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it meets today, according to a majority of the analysts we surveyed this week.

FYI- The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged yesterday — but is it done tightening? The Financial Times and Bloomberg have different interpretations of Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments in the post-meeting presser yesterday. We have more information in this morning’s Planet Finance, below.

HAPPENING TOMORROW- A third downgrade in the cards? Fitch Ratings will publish its review of our sovereign credit rating on Friday, 3 November. Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings both downgraded our rating deeper into junk territory in recent weeks due to our foreign-currency shortage and mounting debt problems.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Egypt is courting ADQ for more investment: The UAE will discuss “a broad plan” for investments in Egypt, said Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ chief and UAE Investment Minister Mohamed Alsuwaidi following meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, according to a Cabinet statement released Tuesday.

Jordan is also looking for a little bit of love: The UAE’s Investment Ministry signed an MoU with Jordan to provide USD 2 bn for infrastructure and development projects in both countries, including renewables, manufacturing, transportation, and pharma, the Emirati state news agency WAM reports. It was also agreed that the ADQ set up a joint investment fund with Jordan Capital and Investment Fund.

DATA POINT- Lebanon: We have high real food inflation. Egypt: Hold my beer.Real food price inflation in Egypt was the highest globally in the three-month period between June to September, according to the World Bank’s latest food security update (pdf). The metric — a measure of food inflation minus overall inflation — came in at 36% y-o-y in September. Egypt also ranked fifth on the list of countries with highest nominal food inflation, which registered 74% last month. The report got ink in Bloomberg.

HELP SUPPORT GAZANS-

Want to support relief efforts in Gaza, but don’t know where to start? We’ve got you. More than 1 mn people in Gaza have been thrown from their homes and every human being there lacks access to food, water, and fuel amid the most intense bombardment any population has endured this century. The charities we’re listing below are Egyptian organizations working on Gaza relief that we think you can trust if you want to make a donation.

#1- Egyptian Red Crescent Society is one of the nation’s leading providers of humanitarian and emergency medical services. The Egypt Red Crescent accepts donations in EGP online and is on Fawry with the service code 99981. You can also donate to the organization through this Banque du Caire account: 49/403/30 (EGP) or 1065/601/30 (USD — code: BCAIEGCX030).

#2- Egyptian Food Bank: The food bank has launched “Aid Gaza,” a hunger-relief campaign to supply essential food items to the people of Gaza. You can make an online donation through EFB’s website or the unified bank account number 888777 at every bank in Egypt. Do you live abroad? The EFB has a list of its verified accounts at major institutions (along with account numbers) here.

#3- The Mersal Foundation is a non-profit medical organization running medical aid convoys to Gaza. It is on Fawry using service code 9200 or you can donate through its EGP accounts at major national banks including CIB (100034654454), Banque Misr (5450001000003297), Emirates NBD (1019409332701), National Bank of Egypt (1953071376769426268), AAIB (1015996610010201), QNB (7352031181714268). The group lists other ways you can donate on its Facebook page.

#4- Lifemakers: The NGO, which has a record of providing medical, educational and social care services to Palestinians, has been helping to prepare aid convoys ahead of dispatch to deliver food, medical supplies, water, blankets, clothing, and other essentials to the besieged Gaza strip since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Donate through the foundation’s website or use Fawry code 950. Lifemakers also accepts donations for Gaza relief in EGP via CIB (account 100034226827) and NBE (0773070478998401017).

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

This morning, all eyes are on Rafah after Egypt opened the Rafah border for the first time since the conflict broke out in Gaza on 7 October, allowing in hundreds of foreign nationals and injured Gazans. We have more in this morning’s War Watch, below. (Associated Press | Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | New York Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal | BBC)

The latest on ground: Israeli forces are continuing to push deeper into Gaza and are currently launching attacks close to the Al Quds Hospital in Tel Al Hawa, a neighborhood in southwest Gaza, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Blinken is heading back to the region tomorrow: US State Secretary Anthony Blinken will arrive in Israel on Friday, before traveling to Jordan where he will discuss the need to deliver humanitarian assistance to those in Gaza. Blinken’s visit comes amid increased US pressure on Israel to minimize civilian casualties, and two days after Jordan recalled its ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest at Israel’s war.

What is Hezbollah’s next move? We might get a better idea on Friday when its leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver his first public comments since the war started more than three weeks ago.

THE BIG BUSINESS STORY OF THE DAY- Major countries have come together to try to prevent the robots from turning us all into Clippy — but is it enough? Twenty-eight major countries have for the first time agreed on the need for the safe development of artificial intelligence and common regulations to rein in increasingly powerful large language models, the Financial Times reports.

Arab countries have signed the Bletchley Declaration: The declaration, signed at the first AISafety Summit by countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, and China, is designed to prevent AI from having potentially “catastrophic” consequences for humanity. Ahead of the summit, Chinese AI scientists have called for tight controls such as implementing kill-switches in AI systems and requiring developers to spend 30% of their budget on safety measures.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s the beginning of a new month. Among the news triggers to watch out for in the coming weeks:

  • PMI: S&P Global will publish its Egypt PMI figures for October on Sunday, 5 November;
  • Foreign reserves: The central bank will release October’s foreign reserves figures next week;
  • Inflation: Capmas and the CBE will publish the latest inflation data on Thursday, 9 November.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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