Good morning, friends. We have a packed issue for you this morning, led by fuel price hikes and a whole lot of oil and gas updates.

DATA POINT-

Foreign investors continue to love local debt: Foreign investments in Egypt’s t-bills stood at USD 35.2 bn (EGP 1.70 tn) by the end of April, up from USD 32.0 bn (EGP 1.54 tn) in March, the according to the central bank’s Monthly Statistical Bulletin (pdf).

Remember: Investors have been loving Egypt’s short-term debt instruments post-float and their confidence was affirmed after the likes of JPMorgan and Citigroup recommended buying one-year EGP t-bills.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

The third review of our IMF loan: The IMF Executive Board is scheduled to discuss the third review of our USD 8 bn loan program, which the Fund pushed back from an earlier date of 10 July to “finalize some details.”

Remember: The greenlight from the board will see the Fund disburse a fresh USD 820 tranche into the state coffers and will allow Egypt to apply for an additional USD 1.2 bn in climate finance. Egypt and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement on the third review early last month.

FinMin assures IMF of its commitment: Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk asserted Egypt’s commitment to economic reforms in a meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the G20 meetings in Brazil over the weekend, according to a statement. The government is committed to achieving financial discipline to lower the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio whilst ramping up spending on education, health, and social protection, he said, outlining the measure that would be taken to boost private investment and attract FDI.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

Top US officials are coming to the region: US CIA director William Burns and Joe Biden’s top Middle East advisor Brett McGurk “will likely” travel to the region this week to discuss ceasefire efforts with Egyptian, Qatari, and Israeli officials, Axios reported Wednesday. Burns is expected to meet with Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian officials — including intelligence chief Abbas Kamel — in Rome today.

As things stand: Israel has thrown another wrench into ceasefire talks after stipulating that Palestinians returning to Gaza’s north should be vetted before being allowed to return to their homes, sources told Reuters. This comes amid persistent claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stalling a ceasefire agreement in order to protect his fragile political coalition.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has wrapped up his trip to Washington having received both a warm welcome from the US Congress and clear signals from both US presidential hopefuls that the time to end the country’s assault on Gaza has come.

PSA-

WEATHER- It is quite warm in Cairo today, with a high of 35°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It feels pretty much the same in Alexandria, with a high of 32°C and a low of 25°C.

And for our friends in Sahel, strong wind will keep waves high throughout the day, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s a mixed bag on global front pages this morning with no single story capturing the attention of the business press.

#1- Harris wants the votes of crypto bros: US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign advisers have contacted a number of crypto firms to attempt to “reset” relations between the party and the crypto sector at large, as the Harris campaign looks to mend relations with the industry following its criticism of the Biden administration, Financial Times reports, citing four people familiar with the matter. Harris’s embrace of the industry comes as prominent crypto groups are largely expected to be an important source for funding in the upcoming US presidential elections.

The sector already has a favorite candidate: Republican nominee Donald Trump enjoys a high level of support from the crypto industry — he was the keynote speaker at the BTC 2024 gathering, where he promised to fire the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission if he returns to the White House.

Silicon Valley grandees including Andreessen Horowitz’s namesake partners have also lined up behind Trump, the Verge notes.

#2- An odd remark from Trump raises eyebrows: The Republican candidate told attendees during a conservative Christian event that they “don't have to vote again” if they vote for him in November. He promised to “fix” all Christian-related concerns if he secures a second term so that Chritians will not need to be politically engaged again.

#3- New UK Finance Minister Racher Reeves is promising the most “pro-growth, pro-business” treasury that the country has seen to date.

#4- The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full swing: China secured the first gold medals of the 2024 Paris Olympics in mixed air rifle shooting and women synchronized diving. Australia currently leads the medal table with three gold and two silver medals. Stay up to date with who secured what with Bloomberg’s tracker.

TEAM EGYPT- Egypt was one step away from its first medal yesterday before Ziad El Sisi lost the third-place match in the sabre fencing competition to Italian veteran Luigi Samele. Additionally, Mohamed Amer was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the same competition after a strong match against Samele. El Sisi and Amer, along with Adham Moataz, still have the chance to secure a medal in the team competition later this week when Egypt clashes against France at 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

You can follow Team Egypt through this schedule or by heading over to our Enterprise Guide.

#5- Big tech sell-off: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both saw their biggest single day falls since 2022 last Wednesday, falling 2.3% and 3.6%, respectively, as investors sell off shares in major tech players like Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Apple. Recent earnings reports have sparked concerns over whether “the euphoria about artificial intelligence had run too far,” derailing the market rally that kept pushing indexes to fresh record highs, Bloomberg reports.

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