Good afternoon, all. Both the weather and the news cycle are heating up this week — the region is seeing a lot of activity today as we track President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s second stop in the GCC, and we receive news of Egypt’s FY 2025-26 budget statement submission to the House of Representatives.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

El Sisi is in Kuwait: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah earlier today as part of his official visit to Kuwait, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The visit — the second stop of a GCC trip that saw El Sisi land in Qatar earlier this week — will focus on boosting ties.

Could we be in for fresh Kuwaiti investments? Kuwait is reportedly looking to up its investments in Egypt to USD 5.3 bn by the end of the year, equal to a 20% jump in the GCC nation’s investments in Egypt, according to unconfirmed reports out in March. The news came out following investment talks between the two sides during Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly’s February visit to Kuwait.

The FY 2025-26 budget goes to the House: Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk delivered his budget statement to the House of Representatives today, giving us the first proper look at the draft state and public government budgets for the next fiscal year.

Among the most important figures: The state sees revenues rising some 23% y-o-y to EGP 3.1 tn in FY 2025-2026 and spending jumping 19.2% to EGP 4.6 tn. Economic growth will accelerate to 4.5% during the coming fiscal year, up from this year’s projected GDP growth of 4.0% and headline inflation will average 13% over the 12-month period.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The Trump administration has frozen USD 2.3 bn in federal funding to Harvard after the university rejected demands to change its policies, which it said would give the government control over its operations. The university could be in for further cuts with the White House looking into USD 9 bn in federal contracts and grants granted to the institution due to what the administration claims is a failure to combat antisemitism on its campuses during pro-Palestinian protests. The administration has frozen hundreds of mns in funding to other top institutions and began deporting foreign students who took part in campus protests. (Reuters | BBC | CNN)

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Tomorrow is setting off an upswing in temperature, with the mercury set to rise to a sunny 27°C in the capital before sharply cooling down to 15°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.