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Good afternoon, friends. The news cycle shows no signs of winding down ahead of the weekend. A VAT revamp is in the works in our neck of the woods, US markets are tanking as Trump’s Greenland grab rattles investors, and we meet the duo building AI-powered ticketing out of Egypt.
THE BIG STORY TODAY-
? The Finance Ministry is reviewing a proposed overhaul of VAT to scrap exemptions on select goods and services that won’t have a negative inflationary impact, a senior government official told EnterpriseAM. The move would shift some goods and services at lower, non deductible rates into the standard 14% rate. While the headline rate will rise for these sectors — which include, professional services, and sugar for industrial uses — the change allows businesses to deduct the VAT paid on their inputs.
Why it matters: This fiscal recalibration is intended to bolster state coffers. VAT — which stands as the largest individual source of revenue for the state — generated EGP 428 bn of the EGP 961.6 bn in tax revenue during the first five months of the current fiscal year.
THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
? “Selling America” is back en vogue as US President Donald Trump renews tariff threats against Europe amid his push for Greenland. The US stock markets took a beating on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones dropping by close to 1.8%, the S&P 500 falling over 2%, and the Nasdaq closing 2.4% lower — the worst daily performance for all three since October of last year. The USD index also slid nearly 1% against a basket of six currencies, while the EUR jumped 0.6%.
Investors are dumping US stocks, bonds, and USD to seek safety in gold, with prices surging above USD 4.8k per ounce on Wednesday, setting a fresh record. Analysts expect prices to reach USD 5k, while a commodities strategist at ICBC Standard Bank sees the metal pushing as high as USD 7.1k.
The Greenland standoff is also rattling bond markets. Danish pension fund AkademikerPension announced Tuesday that it would sell around USD 100 mn in US Treasurys, with investing chief Anders Schelde citing “poor US government finances.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shrugged off the move at Davos, telling reporters, “It’s less than USD 100 mn [...] Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant.”
^^Read more on: BBC and CNBC here and here.
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** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:
- Your chance to bring in a phone from abroad without being charged customs fees is now gone, after the Madbouly government ended the exemption, which granted Egyptians the right to bring in one handset without customs or taxes every three years. This comes almost a year after the policy on personal mobile-phone imports was first introduced;
- A Dutch court just threw a spanner in Orascom’s works — and it’s a warning to every Egyptian company that set up shop in the Netherlands. Dutch-listed fertilizer giant OCI Global will remove its proposed merger with EGX- and ADX-listed Orascom Construction from the agenda of tomorrow’s shareholder meeting after a ruling from the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal that effectively blocks the transaction;
- USD 1.3 bn worth of new projects are heading the Suez Canal Economic Zone’s way, after they were greenlit by the Ministerial Group for Industrial Development.
☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a cool day in C-town, with temperatures in the capital peaking at just 21°C before cooling down to 13°C, according to our favorite weather app.
