EGP breaches the 50 per USD threshold as sell-off intensifies

Good afternoon, friends. Regional tensions show no signs of subsiding, and we’ve got the rundown of the latest happenings — and how Om El Donia is being impacted — below.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

📍 The EGP breached the EGP 50 per USD barrier in midday trading today, triggered by a US advisory urging citizens to depart over a dozen regional countries, including Egypt. The fresh wave of “strong selling by foreign investors” upended Monday’s brief stability, with the USD trading as high as EGP 50.25 at private lenders. The “current state of panic” could drive the EGP toward the 52.5 mark by week’s end, banking sources tell EnterpriseAM.

In response to a financing gap expected to widen by USD 2 bn due to a surging energy import bill, the government has entered early-stage talks with the IMF, the World Bank, and the AfDB to secure emergency concessional financing and mitigate the budget impact of expected price hikes in case the conflict persists for a longer period, sources tell us.

^^ We’ll have more on this story and other angles on the unfolding regional conflict in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

🌐 It’s another packed day in the global press, with the latest developments in the Gulf — and the repercussions beyond — dominating all digital front pages. After Iran announced the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, shipping costs reached record highs, with freight rates for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) surging 94% from Friday’s close to nearly USD 424k per day. Energy prices continued their upward trajectory, and European markets suffered a blow, with the Stoxx 600 dipping as much as 3.5% in early trading.

^^Read more on: CNBC, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and Reuters here and here.

Also in today’s issue: We take a look at why “hustle culture” has turned rest into a source of guilt, and why you should have suhoor at Maadi’s Ful Party.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 5:55pm in the capital, and you’ll have until 4:51am tomorrow to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of fajr.

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

• The greenback edged closer to the EGP 50 mark on Monday for the first time in 10 months as geopolitical tensions set off a familiar pressure cycle;
• Egypt’s tourism industry has so far escaped the fallout from the war in the Gulf largely unscathed — with European visitors still arriving on schedule and hotel cancellations limited to guests who simply can’t get flights out of the GCC;
• Two major regional data centers experienced outages, with one appearing to have come after it was hit by falling debris from a drone or missile interception.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s another cool, breezy day in Cairo, with the mercury set to peak at a high of just 21°C, with a low of 11°C, according to our favorite weather app.