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Good afternoon, friends, and congratulations on making it to the end of a shorter-than-usual work week. The best part? We’ve got another one coming right up.
**A QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTE- EnterprisePM is taking a publication holiday tomorrow in observance of the Islamic New Year and will be back in your inboxes on Sunday afternoon.
THE BIG STORY TODAY-
The Finance Ministry completed a USD 1 bn sovereign sukuk issuance on the Vienna Stock Exchange today, in a private placement offering an annual yield of 7.875% with a three-year maturity, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry and another from the Vienna Stock Exchange. The private placement was fully subscribed by Kuwait Finance House and follows Egypt’s maiden sukuk issuance in February 2023.
The details: Sukuk holders will be paid a coupon every six months, with the first coupon set to be paid out tomorrow, according to the Vienna Stock Exchange statement. The issuance will help diversify funding sources and the investor base, the ministry statement reads.
Remember: A government source told us last month that the Finance Ministry could complete an issuance of international sukuk before the second half of June in order to repay some USD 1.5 bn of maturing 10-year bonds issued back in June 2015.
Israel will gradually resume natural gas exports to Egypt from the Leviathan field, starting with a reduced volume of less than 200 mn cf/day, as it restarts production from the field today, a government source told EnterpriseAM. Supply is expected to hit 850 mn cf/day in July and August — down from the 1 bn cf/day that would have been supplied at full capacity — before returning to normal levels later in the year. Reuters reported earlier today that the gas field would reopen within hours.
ICYMI- Israel halted Egypt-bound natural gas exports on Sunday as the US launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Israel had only just resumed gas exports on Thursday after a six-day pause, although most of this made its way to Jordan, with Egypt receiving only minimal volumes.
The government has restarted gas supplies to Mopco and Abu Qir Fertilizers, industry sources told EnterpriseAM. The government is also reportedly weighing an increase in domestic gas prices to offset the mounting cost of importing LNG from international markets, sources told Al Arabiya.
THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
It’s all eyes on the Nato summit: Nato leaders meeting at a summit in The Hague today are expected to endorse a significant increase in defense spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade, more than double the current 2% target, as the alliance responds to growing European concerns about Russian threats to security. The new framework being considered at the two-day summit would split spending between 3.5% for core defense like troops and weapons, and 1.5% for broader security measures including cybersecurity and infrastructure protection.
US President Donald Trump put anxious Nato leaders at ease about his commitment to the alliance’s mutual defense obligations after telling reporters “We’re with them all the way.” He had previously raised alarm among allies by suggesting that there were “numerous definitions” of Article 5, the cornerstone agreement that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
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☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s another sunny day in Cairo tomorrow, with the mercury set to peak at 35°C before dropping to 20°C at night. The North Coast will continue to have cooler weather, with temperatures peaking at just 26°C before slightly dropping to 24°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.
