Good afternoon, friends and welcome to another workweek. As polls open for the first day in the presidential elections, the business news cycle here at home is also beginning to gain traction.

PSA- Voting for the presidential candidates runs from 9am-9pm today, tomorrow, and Tuesday. Find your nearest polling station by entering your national ID on the official elections website. You can also call or text 5151 with your national ID number to find your nearest location and receive your voting number.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- Sold in FX = VAT only in FX: Businesses selling a service or product in foreign currency will be required to settle their VAT dues only in foreign currency, and not in EGP equivalent, according to a Finance Ministry document seen by Enterprise.

No leeway: The new amendment canceled a rule introduced last month that allows businesses to settle their foreign-currecy VAT in local currency if they present evidence that they’ve exchanged FX worth the same amount or more than the value of the VAT within a month of the sale being booked.

We should know more soon: The new amendment should be published soon in the Official Gazette, and the ministry will issue detailed directives naming every entity that is required to pay its VAT dues in FX.

#2- November brought a second month of cooling inflation figures: Annual urban inflation in November eased for the second consecutive month due to slowing food and beverage price inflation.

Consumer prices in urban areas decelerated to 34.6% y-o-y from 35.8% in October, marking the lowest figure since May, according to data released today by state statistics agency Capmas.

This was a better recovery than analysts had predicted: The median forecast in a recent Reuters poll of analysts had inflation at 34.8%.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Climate is in the center of the conversation in the international press today wherePresident of COP28 Sultan Al Jaber is holding a ‘majlis’ meeting of ministers to push for a deal on reducing fossil fuel use, which has been a key demand of several other nations during the summit, says Bloomberg. Meanwhile, a draft of the Global Goal on Adaptation text to determine how poor countries will prepare for the effects of climate change, was released. The text explains that there is a financial need to help struggling countries adapt, but this draft fails to specify the amount necessary, according to the Associated Press.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

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*** It’s Inside Industry day —your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: We have our Manufacturer of the Month column, wherein we profile an industrial player with a manufacturing base here in Egypt. Manufacturer of the month is dedicated to looking at locally bred or international players to examine the success and challenges that came with being a manufacturer in Egypt, as well as their paths forward. Today, we speak to plastic product manufacturer El Khanagry Plastics.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s going to be a sunny day with a high of 23°C in the day time and a low of 15°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

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