Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The news flow has picked up after a slower start to the week with news of the Madbouly cabinet resigning and the House approving the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Maait says not to believe everything you see online: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that the tax policy document circulating on social media is a months-old “initial concept” that has now gone through revisions. The document laying out taxation policies throughout El Sisi’s third term is still in the works and will be opened up for community dialogue in the “coming weeks.”

SPEAKING OF- What’s in this tax doc? It includes a new tax on carbon emissions from petroleum products, according to Asharq Business.

Timing is everything: The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is set to fully go into effect starting 2026, which could have a considerable impact on Egypt’s exports — particularly from the country’s notoriously energy-intensive steel, aluminum, cement, and fertilizer industries. The carbon border tax will make up the difference between the local carbon price — if there is one — and the EU’s carbon price, meaning that if Egypt doesn’t tax the carbon on EU-bound imports, the EU will.

#2- A storage facility for Russian grain? An Egyptian firm has sent a feasibility study to the Russian government over potentially establishing a hub to store and process Russian grain, Reuters reported, citing a statement from Trade Minister Ahmed Samir to Russian news agency RIA. The hub could be built in Port Said, Damietta, or Sokhna, Samir reportedly said.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Attention, marketing professionals: The American Chamber of Commerce will hold a conference today at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza to discuss the latest and future trends in marketing. The event will host PepsiCo’s Tamer El Rafei, Microsoft’s Mohamed Salah, Talabat’s Hadeer Shalaby as speakers, along with actress Amina Khalil for a fireside chat. Register for the event here and check out the agenda here.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another hot day in Cairo, with a high of 38°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a little cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 31°C and a low of 23°C.

** DID YOU KNOW that we now cover Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

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DATA POINT-

Egyptian banks received EGP 258 bn in deposits from outside the banking system in the first four months of the year, with high-yield certificates of deposits contributing a bulk of the deposits, Al Arabiya Business reports, citing data from the Central Bank of Egypt.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

#1- OIL WATCH- Oil prices fell over 3% yesterday to their lowest in close to fourmonths in response to Sunday’s OPEC+ decision to gradually increase output towards the end of the year, which left investors worried. Brent crude futures fell 3.4% to USD 78.36 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.6% from Friday to USD 74.22 a barrel.

#2- Tension between besties Russia and China? The Financial Times is picking up on growing tension between Russia and its closest ally China, after Beijing asked to purchase Russian gas at heavily subsidized domestic prices, endangering a major gas pipeline agreement between the two countries.

#3- Closer to home: Israel’s coalition government has fallen into infighting over a proposed ceasefire plan — and relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv are ever more frosty after Israel “defied Egyptian warnings and took control of the Philadelphi Corridor.

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF ELECTION COVERAGE- Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK’s Independence Party and a Brexiteer, will be running in next month’s UK general election. Farage “has been one of the most influential politicians in Britain since the Thatcher era,” the Guardian writes in a profile about the politician. The general election will take place on 4 July — Labour is looking to form its first government since May 2010.

AND- Mexican voters have elected Claudia Sheinbaum as the nation’s first woman president. She looks on track to claim a 30 percentage point margin of victory, giving her the opportunity to “reshape the country’s political landscape” together with her allies, the New York Times notes. Some investors are spooked, the Financial Times writes, noting some have “sold the peso on fears of radical constitutional change.”

FINALLY- The rich be getting richer: Half of the CEOs running S&P 500 companies surveyedby AP made at least 196x what their median employee earned last year, up from 185x in 2022. Data from the newswire also showed that CEOs’ median pay package rose 12.6% to USD 16.3 mn in 2023, while wages of private sector workers rose just 4.1% during the same period.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We take a look at why Egypt should double down on manufacturing solar panels.

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