{"id":542750,"date":"2022-01-16T03:59:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T03:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/01\/16\/this-morning-banks-given-green-light-to-lend-via-mobile-wallets-pandemic-vs-endemic-us-russia-tensions-rise\/"},"modified":"2022-01-16T03:59:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T03:59:25","slug":"this-morning-banks-given-green-light-to-lend-via-mobile-wallets-pandemic-vs-endemic-us-russia-tensions-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/01\/16\/this-morning-banks-given-green-light-to-lend-via-mobile-wallets-pandemic-vs-endemic-us-russia-tensions-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Banks given green light to lend via mobile wallets; Pandemic vs. Endemic; US-Russia tensions rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to what\u2019s shaping up to be a very busy <\/strong>news week. <\/strong>Let\u2019s jump right in:<\/p>\n

The Central Bank of Egypt will allow banks to launch digital lending services via <\/strong>mobile wallets this year<\/strong>, the bank announced in its financial stability report (pdf)<\/a>. The regulations on the decision, which will allow loans to be approved immediately with reliance in part on an online credit rating, were issued in April last year<\/a>. The rules are part of the CBE\u2019s drive to improve financial inclusion.<\/p>\n

PSA #1- It\u2019s going to be another cold week:<\/strong> Temperatures will remain low<\/a> across the country and there could be moderate rainfall today and tomorrow from Cairo through the Delta and along the North Coast. Expect winds to be elevated all week. In the capital, look for daytime highs of 15-17\u00b0C and overnight lows of 8-9\u00b0 this week.<\/p>\n

PSA #2- First, every Egyptian guy of a certain age had to say he was reading <\/strong>Yuval<\/a><\/strong>Harari\u2019s Sapiens<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong> Then it was investor Ray Dalio\u2019s Principles<\/a>. Is Dalio\u2019s follow-on book, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order<\/a>, up next? It\u2019s flooding our social media.<\/p>\n

ALSO- The <\/strong>Financial Times<\/a><\/strong> would like you to understand how the world got hooked on Wordle.<\/strong> If you haven\u2019t yet played the fun \/ frustrating once-per-day word game, try it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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There are plenty of BIG STORIES ABROAD <\/strong>that you need to know about on this chilly midwinter morning. Among them:<\/p>\n

US-Russia tensions over Ukraine spiral after high-stakes talks collapse:<\/strong> Officials from all sides of the battle for Ukraine\u2019s future are openly warning of conflict in Europe after last week\u2019s talks failed<\/a>to overcome differences between the US and Russia. Moscow declined to pull back its troops deployed on the Ukrainian border, while Washington and Europe have refused to discuss ending Nato expansion, a red line for Russian president Vladimir Putin. The AP<\/a> and Reuters<\/a> have more.<\/p>\n

Rhetoric is hardening and tensions are rising on the ground:<\/strong> The White House over the weekend accused Moscow of planning a false-flag attack<\/a> in Ukraine, a day after Kiev was hit by a cyberattack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US is preparing for the worst<\/strong> and is drawing up contingency plans with several energy companies over supplying gas to Europe in the event that conflict hits Russian supplies to the continent, Reuters<\/a> reports. European gas prices jumped on Friday<\/a> after the breakdown in talks, with the benchmark European gas contract climbing almost 25% to reach EUR 90 per megawatt hour.<\/p>\n

Also worth noting this morning:<\/strong><\/p>\n