{"id":548199,"date":"2022-07-31T04:00:54","date_gmt":"2022-07-31T04:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/07\/31\/this-morning-a-busy-first-week-of-the-new-month-beltone-chimera-pmi-and-the-national-dialogue\/"},"modified":"2022-07-31T04:00:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T04:00:54","slug":"this-morning-a-busy-first-week-of-the-new-month-beltone-chimera-pmi-and-the-national-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/07\/31\/this-morning-a-busy-first-week-of-the-new-month-beltone-chimera-pmi-and-the-national-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: A busy first week of the new month: Beltone-Chimera, PMI and the National Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to the last day of July <\/strong>\u2014 and with it, the first glimpse of summer\u2019s end. A handful of schools reopen in August. And with the year now about 60% complete, lots of us are kickstarting 2023 planning.<\/p>\n

This morning\u2019s Calendar section on the web includes key fall and 2023 events<\/strong>, including our calendar of national holidays to help you plan.<\/p>\n

<\/a> MORNING MUST READ- As we start looking towards autumn, how long <\/strong>should we expect the global food crisis to continue?<\/strong> Wheat prices have plunged almost 40% since May as Russian grains have come back to the market, recession fears have grown, and \u2014 as of last week \u2014 the market has awaited the return of Ukrainian wheat. But, as the Financial Times<\/a> reminds us, falling prices don\u2019t mean that we\u2019re out of the woods yet.<\/p>\n

Are we looking at a particularly hungry 2023? <\/strong>Analysts say that many of the food price shock\u2019s aggravating factors are yet to dissipate and that the worst days may not yet be behind us. Experts are particularly worried about the likelihood of soaring energy costs this winter and what that might mean for the production of fertilizers. \u201cIf we don\u2019t sort out [the issue with] agricultural inputs \u2014 in particular fertilizers \u2014 then the crisis of affordability will turn into a crisis of availability come next year,\u201d Arif Husain, chief economist at the UN World Food Programme, told the newspaper.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S HAPPENING THIS WEEK-<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll find out how much of Beltone Financial will be acquired by Chimera this week:<\/strong> Shareholders have until Wednesday, 3 August, to subscribe to Chimera Investment\u2019s mandatory tender offer for the financial services firm. The Abu Dhabi-based investment firm has already acquired a 56% stake in Beltone after Orascom Financial last week agreed<\/a> to sell its shares. Chimera is offering to pay EGP 1.485 per share<\/a> for up to 90% of Beltone, valuing it at around EGP 690 mn.<\/p>\n

PMI out on Wednesday:<\/strong> We\u2019ll get an idea of how the private sector fared in July when S&P Global releases its latest purchasing managers\u2019 index (PMI) on Wednesday. The index fell to its lowest level in two years<\/a> in June as surging inflation hit demand and output.<\/p>\n

The National Dialogue board will talk about the economy this week:<\/strong> The board of trustees overseeing preparations for the National Dialogue will meet Wednesday to discuss the economic agenda. We have more on last week\u2019s meeting in Last Night\u2019s Talk Shows, below.<\/p>\n

LATER THIS MONTH-<\/strong><\/p>\n