Good morning, friends, and a happy hump day to you all. In today’s issue, we’ve got plenty of welcome news stories for you to perk you up this morning, including — but not limited to — significant reductions in car prices across the market, yields on our first EUR-denominated t-bill issuance of the year dropping 1.25 percentage points, and continued Chinese investor appetite for our textile sector.

BUT FIRST- Does your business have a pre-2020 tax dispute that is yet to be settled? Today is the last chance for companies to submit requests to settle tax disputes dating back to before 2020. And don’t hold out on the belief that the already extended deadline will be extended again, as the Finance Ministry will not extend the deadline any further, a senior government source told EnterpriseAM.

PSA-

WEATHER- Cairenes are in store for another hot and humid day, with a high of 40°C and a low of 28°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s going to be almost just as hot in Alexandria, with a high of 39°C and a low of 26°C. While those of us further south in Luxor and Aswan will see temperatures rise to a sweltering 48°C.

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

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FROM THE DEBT MARKETS-

The Central Bank of Egypt’s first auction of EUR-denominated t-bills this year saw yields drop 1.25 percentage points, with yesterday’s auction selling EUR 591.7 mn worth one-year bills at an average yield of 2.25%, according to data from the central bank. The auction outdid its EUR 550 mn target and received some EUR 726.7 mn worth of bids.

The issuance marks the lowest yields for the bills since August 2022, when the bank issued bills with an average yield of 1.70%. The bank’s two issuances in 2024 had average yields of 3.5% and 3.75%, while its two issuances in 2023 both had yields of 4.00%

WATCH THIS SPACE-

The government has given the greenlight to the establishing four new public freezones, which will be situated in Tenth of Ramadan City, New October, New Borg El Arab, and New Alamein, according to an Industry Ministry statement. Under the Ministerial Group for Industrial Development-approved plan, factories in the zones will only be allowed to export their goods, except in cases approved by the ministerial group, and be charged market rates for energy prices without subsidies.

The move follows occupancy rates in existing public freezones hitting 95%, according to the statement.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The results of the Senate elections will be unveiled this evening, with the National Elections Authority set to hold a presser at 6:30pm CLT to tell us who will be heading to the upper house. Egyptians at home and abroad headed to the polls earlier this month to elect the 200 elected members of the 300-member body.

#2- Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly is in Amman today to co-chair the Egyptian-Jordanian Joint Higher Committee alongside his Jordanian counterpart, according to a cabinet statement. The meetings will be followed by the signing of several cooperation agreements to strengthen bilateral ties, particularly on the economic front.

#3- Will unemployment fall for the third consecutive quarter? Capmas is expected to publish Egypt’s unemployment figures for the second quarter of 2025 today. The previous quarter saw the unemployment rate dropping 0.1 percentage point from 4Q 2024 to 6.3% in 1Q 2025, as 342k more people entered the workforce.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Washington and Beijing’s decision to extend their tariff truce for another day is broadly leading the conversation in the international business press this morning. US President Donald Trump confirmed on Truth Social overnight that he signed an executive order to extend the pause, just hours before the US’ blanket tariffs on Chinese imports were scheduled to come into effect. “All other elements of the agreement will remain the same,” Trump said. The story is getting ink in Axios, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Reuters.

Meanwhile, the White House’s relationship with tech firms is also in the spotlight, after Trump confirmed reaching an agreement with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices allowing them to sell chips to China in exchange for a fee on these sales. Nvidia could separately be allowed to sell a version of another next-generation chip to China, Reuters reports. Intel is also getting ink after its CEO met with Trump yesterday, after the president called for Lip-Bu Tan’s “immediate” resignation from the company over his ties to China. (Reuters | CNBC | Financial Times)

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’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 how refuse-derived fuels are becoming a key energy supply for power-intensive industries.

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