Good morning, wonderful people. It’s shaping up to be another morning dominated by policy — Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly’s presser yesterday is taking over the local news cycle and we are sitting tight waiting for the House to vote on the new cabinet’s policy later today.

SOME GOOD NEWS TO START OFF YOUR DAY- Prepare to bid farewell to power cuts … until mid-September, Madbouly said during a presser yesterday.

** We have full coverage of Madbouly’s presser in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets today to review rates. The CBE widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged for the second month in a row, according to the analysts and economists polled by Enterprise.

Analysts participating in a Reuters poll shared the same outlook, with the median forecast being that the CBE will leave rates on hold. One analyst is expecting a 100 bps rate cut.

Where things currently stand: The overnight deposit rate stands at 27.25%, the overnight lending rate at 28.25%, and the main operation and disc. rates at 27.75%. The MPC delivered a jumbo 600 bps rate hike following a surprise monetary policy meeting in March, which coincided with the float of the EGP and a bigger package from the IMF. The central bank left rates unchanged when it last met in May, citing a slowdown in growth rates and cooling inflation.

#2- It’s the final day for institutional investors to subscribe for a piece of Act Financial, as the subscription window comes to a close. Retail investors have until Tuesday, 23 July to subscribe. The company is offering some 32% of the company — 360 mn shares — in the first IPO the EGX has seen in a year. The shares are being offered at a price of EGP 2.90 a pop, with the company aiming to raise around EGP 1.04 bn through the offering.

Demand is through the roof: As of yesterday, the offering was 9x oversubscribed — the highest demand a subscription period has seen in six years, according to data seen by Enterprise.

#3- MPs to vote on new gov’t policy: The House of Representatives will vote on the new Madbouly government’s policy later today, after the vote was moved up from Sunday, 21 July. The ad hoc committee reviewing the new cabinet’s policy unanimously approved it earlier this week.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- EU green hydrogen targets deemed “unrealistic” by European audit body: The European Court of Auditors believes that the European Commission’s green hydrogen targets for 2030 are “overly ambitious,” and that the EU is unlikely to meet them by the end of the decade.

The commission’s response: “Our work is far from finished … We now have to accelerate the deployment and uptake of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in Europe and further develop this emerging market,” the commission said in an emailed statement picked by Bloomberg.

#2- Your overseas calls will cost you more: Mobile network operators will reportedly hike the price of international calls by 10-15% this week, industry insiders told Asharq Business. “The price hikes will vary from country to country, depending on each telecom provider’s agreements with its counterparts abroad,” one source said.

Remember: Telecom operators hiked their prices by 10-16% at the beginning of 2024, after the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) greenlit the move

RED SEA WATCH-

Maersk says effects of Red Sea shipping disruptions extend to its entire network: Danish shipping giant Maersk said on Wednesday that the impact of the ongoing Red Sea disruptions have extended beyond “the primary affected routes” and has caused “congestion at alternative routes and transshipment hubs essential for trade with Far East Asia, West Central Asia, and Europe.”

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another hot day in Cairo, with a high of 38°C and a low of 27°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s also quite toasty in Alexandria, with a high of 34°C and a low of 24°C.

And over the weekend, expect to see temps reach 39°C in the capital and 33°C for our friends on the Mediterranean.

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

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s another day dominated by a mixed bag of news in the foreign press, with more updates from Trump and Biden’s presidential campaigns and the Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, and news of new faces helming major international banks.

IN THE US-

#1- President Joe Biden was hit with another blow after testing positive for covid-19 and being forced to isolate, the White House confirmed yesterday. In the meantime, Biden is still grasping on straws to keep his candidacy, with a veer to the left in his policy seeing him promise to erase medical debt, cap rent hikes, and impose restraints on the Supreme Court, Bloomberg reports.

#2- Former President Donald Trump sent tech stocks plunging yesterday after taking a dig at Taiwan — a key chip maker — to say it should pay for US defense, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Nasdaq fell 2.8% to log its worst day since 2022.

#3- HAPPENING NOW- Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is set to make his debut at the Republican National Convention, where the topic of the day is foreign policy and the war in Gaza.

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS-

#1- HSBC appointed Lebanese-born Georges Elhedery, who has served as group CFO since January 2023, as group CEO effective 2 September. Elhedery — who has had nearly two decades of experience at the bank, mainly in the Middle East and Africa — succeeds Noel Quinn, who resigned earlier this year. WSJ, Reuters, and the Financial Times are all out with profiles on Elhedery.

#2- Meanwhile, Brookfield could see 36-year-old Connor Teskey become its next b’naire CEO, who current CEO Bruce Flatt has been training to take on the role, Bloomberg writes in its big take.

CLOSER TO HOME- The latest round of Israel and Hamas’ ceasefire talks are facing four sticking points: Whether Israel will keep its demands to bar Hamas from northern Gaza, whether Israel will be handed control over a key southern border corridor, which hostages will be released, and the commitment to a permanent ceasefire, Bloomberg writes.

On another note: The Emmys’ nominations are out, with Netflix topping networks and FX shows Shogun and The Bear racking up dozens of nominations.

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