{"id":547126,"date":"2022-06-09T04:17:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T04:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/09\/this-morning-its-ecb-rate-day-madbouly-drums-up-investment-interest\/"},"modified":"2022-06-09T04:17:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T04:17:47","slug":"this-morning-its-ecb-rate-day-madbouly-drums-up-investment-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/06\/09\/this-morning-its-ecb-rate-day-madbouly-drums-up-investment-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: It\u2019s ECB rate day + Madbouly drums up investment interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an eerily quiet news day<\/strong>, the likes of which we haven\u2019t seen in what feels like many eons \u2014 and that\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing after the months we\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

Also, commutes might get a little easier after next Thursday <\/strong>as public schools will close for the summer. Can\u2019t say we\u2019re not a little eager for that to happen.<\/p>\n

Inflation continues to be the big theme for the day at home and abroad<\/strong>, along with key news triggers on interest rates expected.<\/p>\n

<\/a> BUT FIRST-<\/strong> The Egypt roadshow continues:<\/strong> Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly continued the government\u2019s push to attract new foreign investment yesterday, explaining the government\u2019s privatization plans and promoting the Egyptian economy in a meeting with some of the world\u2019s largest asset managers, according to a cabinet statement<\/a>. With representatives from Fidelity Investments, Prudential Financial, Capital Group and Barclays in the audience, Madbouly pitched the economy as private sector-friendly and spoke in detail about the government\u2019s ambitions to increase private investment and roll back the state\u2019s involvement in the economy.<\/p>\n

This marks the latest in a string of meetings from government officials<\/strong>, who have in the past two weeks met with investors from Qatar<\/a>, the UAE<\/a>, the US, France and Poland<\/a>, in a push to lure new investment into the country and promote the government\u2019s economic reforms and Egypt as an investment destination.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY here at home: Are we expected to see a hike in electricity prices next month? <\/strong>If we go by the government\u2019s scheduled plan to phase out subsidies, then yes. We break down what to expect in the newswell below.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,<\/strong> the government\u2019s drive to keep our supply of key commodities got a shot in the arm, <\/strong>as it has extended its ban on exports of wheat and other staple foods, while the Agriculture Ministry has announced plans to further grow our local wheat harvests.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/strong>UN puts world on mass hunger alert as talks on Black Sea grain agreement collapse<\/strong>: Hundreds of mns of people worldwide face \u201chunger and destitution\u201d over blocked Ukrainian grain, UN Chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres has warned, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. Talks between Russia and Turkey on a potential corridor to transport Ukrainian wheat out of the country\u2019s blockaded ports ended without an agreement yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. At least 20 mn tonnes of grain are trapped in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

An agreement was \u201cessential for hundreds of mns of people in developing countries<\/strong>, including in sub-Saharan Africa,\u201d Guterres said, adding that the crisis \u201cis threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake.\u201d<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- <\/strong>The OECD has become the latest economic body to warn of <\/strong>storm clouds <\/strong>gathering<\/strong>, forecasting a \u201csharp\u201d slowdown of global growth this year on the back of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and covid lockdowns in China and the resulting inflation. In a new report<\/a> out yesterday, it revised downwards its 2022 global growth forecast to 3% from 4.5%, and projected GDP to fall further to 2.75% next year. The World Bank on Tuesday downgraded<\/a> its global growth forecast by nearly a third to 2.9% for the year and warned of an impending 1970s-style bout of stagflation.<\/p>\n

On the plus side: The OECD said that inflation should start to abate by next year<\/strong> if supply chains normalize and commodity prices fall back. That\u2019s a big \u2018if\u2019 right now, as a quick glance at this morning\u2019s Planet Finance section will attest.<\/p>\n

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MARKET WATCH- <\/strong><\/p>\n

US gas futures fell more than 6% overnight following an explosion at one of <\/strong>the country\u2019s key LNG export terminals, <\/strong>Bloomberg<\/a> reports. No one was injured in the incident, but it will trigger a three-week closure at the terminal \u2014 which is one of only seven such facilities in the US and processes as much as 20% of the country\u2019s LNG, according to Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hold up \u2013 why is the fire sending US prices down? <\/strong>Because the loss of the terminal will hobble LNG exports, meaning more supply will be redirected to the US market.<\/p>\n

Europe won\u2019t like waking up to this news:<\/strong> Expect the European and Asian markets to respond to this knock to LNG supply from the US. It\u2019s bad news for Europe in particular, which is already struggling with some serious supply issues as it looks to wean itself off Russian gas.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY- <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s interest rate day for the ECB: <\/strong>The European Central Bank will likely call in a \u201cnew era of monetary policy\u201d at its meeting today, Bloomberg<\/a>reports, as analysts expect the bank to start winding down its pandemic-era stimulus and start on the path to tightening to combat surging inflation.<\/p>\n

Next up, the Fed: <\/strong>The US Federal Reserve is \u201call but certain\u201d to hike interest rates by another 50 bps when it meets midway through next week, Bloomberg<\/a> writes, continuing the tightening cycle that the central bank embarked on<\/a> in May with a 50-bps hike (its biggest since 2000).<\/p>\n

The Central Bank of Egypt holds its policy meeting<\/strong> on Thursday, 23 June.<\/p>\n

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Here at home, the <\/strong>Digital Transformation Summit<\/a><\/strong> gets underway today,<\/strong> bringing together public and private sector players in the tech industries to share and discuss views on the current landscape of the market, recent tech innovations, and proposed strategies.<\/p>\n

Other conferences worth keeping an eye on this month: <\/strong><\/p>\n