Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We close out the week with another busy issue led by Capital Economics’ take on what the strengthening EGP could mean for the country’s GDP and account deficit. We also have some good news for our automotive localization efforts — Chinese tire giant Sailun will set up a USD 1 bn plan in Ain Sokhna that will kick off production next year.

And even more good news: Home appliance distributors are slashing their prices in response to government initiatives and a strengthening EGP.

PSA-

WEATHER- Make sure to grab your sunglasses and water bottles before heading out this morning as Cairo is in for one very hot day. The capital is looking at a high of 42°C (that will feel more like 44°C) and a low of 27°C today, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a little cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 36°C and a low of 39°C.

FX WATCH-

JUST LIKE CLOCKWORK- CIB has increased the amount of USD it will sell to travelers to USD 10k and raised the ceiling on credit card FX transactions for purchases abroad, according to statements seen by EnterpriseAM. You can check out the details on the lender’s website.

ICYMI- The move to raise the amount sold to travelers comes a day after the National Bank ofEgypt and Banque Misr announced similar decisions in the latest sign that the FX crunch is a thing of the past. CIB as well as NBE, Banque Misr, and ADIB Egypt earlier this week announced that they are slashing markup fees on credit card FX transactions to 3%. The moves come as the Central Bank of Egypt and commercial banks respond to stronger USD liquidity, boosted by higher tourism revenues, and an uptick in remittances, exports, and portfolio investments, banking sources previously told EnterpriseAM.

Other banks have started following suit: QNB Egypt has cut its markup fees on credit card FX transactions to 2% and raised the monthly international limit for select premium cards to EGP 500k.

PROJECT UPDATE-

Egypt is planning to launch its new USD 1.6 bn Qena-Safaga high-speed rail line by 1H 2026, Asharq Business reports, citing three unnamed officials. The project — the third of its type in a 1.8k km new high-speed network planned across the country — will be implemented by a consortium of Siemens Mobility, Arab Contractors, Orascom Construction, and Elsewedy Electric, under the supervision of the National Tunnel Authority, one of the sources told the news outlet.

The new line will span 175 km, linking Upper Egypt’s Qena to the Red Sea’s Hurghada and Safaga and boasting a daily capacity of 200k passengers and 1.5k tons of cargo, according to the National Authority for Tunnels’ website.

DATA POINT-

Egypt aims to boost its gas production to 6.6 bn cubic feet per day by 2027, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said during his weekly presser yesterday. Production currently stands at 4.1 bn cubic feet per day.

REMEMBER- The government is preparing a new bidding round to attract energy investors and is seeking to increase natural gas production by developing several fields to produce some 300 to 350 bn cubic feet of gas, a government source previously told us. The plan to increase production will reduce the import bill for petroleum products for the current fiscal year by approximately USD 1.5 bn, according to the source.

ELECTIONS WATCH-

A total of 195 of the 200 elected Senate seats were settled in the first round of voting, National Election Authority Chairman Hazem Badawy said earlier this week at a presser where he announced the results of the Senate election (watch, runtime; 32:57). The National Unified List — the only closed party list in the race — secured all 100 list-based seats after passing the 5% threshold in all four constituencies.

Runoffs will be held for the remaining five seats across Gharbia, Beni Suef, New Valley, Luxor, and Ismailia on 25-26 August for Egyptians abroad and on 27-28 August for voters at home. Final results are expected to be announced on 4 September.

Some 11.8 mn out of 69.3 mn eligible voters cast their ballots — equivalent to 17.1% of eligible voters — with turnout reaching just over 26% in Cairo and Giza and 16% in Alexandria.

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CORRECTION- In yesterday’s issue of EnterpriseAM Egypt, we made a typo stating that Bonyan’s fair asset value was around half of its market capitalization. As stated elsewhere in the story, it is double the market capitalization. We have since amended the story on our website.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s much less of a business-focused morning in the international press this morning as US President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin dominates headlines. Trump threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t agree to a ceasefire during their upcoming meeting, and has agreed with the leaders of Ukraine and other European countries that he would not enter territory negotiations with Putin on Friday. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have more.

IN THE BUSINESS AND FINANCE WORLD- Crypto exchange Bullish saw its shares close up 83.8% on its first day of trading on the NYSE, after rising as much as 219% in intraday trading. The crypto player — which had priced its IPO above its price guidance — raised c. USD 1.1 bn in the IPO, and now has a market value of USD 9.9 bn. (Bloomberg | WSJ)

AND- Succession plans at the US Federal Reserve are beginning to take form ahead the end of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s second term next May. The US Treasury has selected a list of 11 candidates for Trump to select, including Jefferies Chief Market Strategist David Zervos, BlackRock CIO of Global Fixed Income Rick Rieder, and a handful of current and former Fed governors. CNBC and the Financial Times have the story.

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