{"id":556110,"date":"2021-10-12T04:02:19","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T04:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/10\/12\/this-morning-new-real-estate-industry-regs-in-the-works-plus-imfs-kristina-georgieva-gets-a-reprieve\/"},"modified":"2021-10-12T04:02:19","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T04:02:19","slug":"this-morning-new-real-estate-industry-regs-in-the-works-plus-imfs-kristina-georgieva-gets-a-reprieve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/10\/12\/this-morning-new-real-estate-industry-regs-in-the-works-plus-imfs-kristina-georgieva-gets-a-reprieve\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: New real estate industry regs in the works? Plus: IMF\u2019s Kristina Georgieva gets a reprieve."},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to hump day. We had crazy thunder <\/strong>and lightning overnight<\/strong>, accompanied by light rain. There\u2019s still rumbling in all four corners of the capital city as we slide toward dispatch time, and the air outside is as thick as pea soup, with humidity at 85%.<\/p>\n

Our favourite weather app shows there\u2019s a chance of more thunder, lightning and light <\/strong>rain until about 8am<\/strong>, after which we\u2019ll see sunny skies and a high of 34\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably a good idea to throw your work \/ school \/ whatever address into Maps this <\/strong>morning <\/strong>and see whether you want to leave a few minutes early to beat traffic.<\/p>\n

BIG NEWS HERE AT HOME- EFG Hermes has met all regulatory conditions necessary <\/strong>to complete its<\/strong> acquisition of a 76% stake in the Arab Investment Bank<\/strong> in partnership with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), according to a statement (pdf)<\/a> from EFG. The next step: EFG and the SFE will take possession of newly issued capital increase shares in AIB. This comes shortly after the two institutions received cabinet approval<\/a> for the transaction. The two institutions will acquire the shares via an EGP 3.8 bn capital increase, which will raise the bank\u2019s capital to EGP 5 bn and give EFG a 51% stake and SFE 25% once executed.<\/p>\n

Are new real estate industry regulations on the works? <\/strong>Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and top officials including the housing minister held a meeting with several unnamed real estate investors and developers yesterday to discuss potential new regulations for the sector. While there was nothing concrete on what those regs would entail, a cabinet statement<\/a> noted they could cover what developers can and can\u2019t do with so-called maintenance payments collected from homebuyers and nationwide standards on payment plans and construction timelines, among other things we\u2019re yet to hear more on. Housing ministry officials had last month floated the prospect<\/a> that developers could soon come under new regulations designed to mitigate risk in the sector, while parliamentarians are currently considering sweeping regulatory changes<\/a> to the sector.<\/p>\n

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

The IMF\u2019s updated World Economic Outlook is set to be released this morning<\/strong> as the IMF \/ World Bank Fall Meetings enter their second day. You can find the report on its landing page here<\/a> once it\u2019s released at c. 3pm CLT.<\/p>\n

A little bit of foreshadowing? Goldman Sachs has cut its forecast for US growth in 2021 <\/strong>and 2022<\/strong>, \u201cblaming a delayed recovery in consumer spending.\u201d The analysts \u201cnow expect growth of 5.6% on an annual basis in 2021 versus their previous estimate of 5.7%, and 4% next year, down from 4.4%,\u201d Bloomberg<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

<\/a> IT\u2019S A BIG DAY FOR- Embattled IMF director Kristalina Georgieva, who now looks set to serve out her term in office <\/strong>after the IMF\u2019s executive board issued a lengthy statement that says it has \u201cfull confidence\u201d in Georgieva\u2019s \u201c<\/a>leadership<\/a> and ability to continue to effectively carry out her duties. The board trusts in the managing director\u2019s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of governance and integrity in the IMF,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The background: Georgieva has been being dogged by allegations she pressured staff to fudge data<\/strong> and boost China\u2019s ranking in the now-defunct Doing Business report. Leading European members of the board were pushing for Georgieva to finish her full term in office, while the US and Japan are apparently leading a faction of countries that want her tenure cut short. Her five-year appointment would normally expire in fall 2024. <\/strong>Reuters<\/a> has more on the story.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> THE BIG STORY ABROAD- It\u2019s the energy crisis<\/strong>, which dominates headlines in the global business press and beyond this morning.<\/p>\n

US crude hit a fresh seven-year high (breaking the USD 80 \/ barrel mark) and Brent, the <\/strong>international benchmark, looks set to hit USD 85 <\/strong>even as there are signs that consumption is dropping because of rising prices. The price of oil is up more than 16% since the start of September, driven by global economic growth, a shortage of natural gas, and careful management by OPEC+.<\/p>\n

The story leads the front pages <\/strong>of the Financial Times<\/a>, the WSJ<\/a> and Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The natural gas shortage and rising prices are hitting industrial and household <\/strong>consumers in Europe<\/strong>, where natural gas consumption is now 12% lower than before the pandemic, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. This comes as falling temperatures are about to start driving fresh demand.<\/p>\n

Supply to Europe is continuing to get worse,<\/strong> as Algeria yesterday officially announced it will no longer be pumping gas into Spain via a pipeline that cuts through Morocco due to long standing political tensions, and will instead ship LNG on board vessels, Algeria\u2019s official press agency<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s largest natgas exporter, Qatar, also says it can\u2019t do anything about the <\/strong>record prices and has no supplies left for export,<\/strong> even as steelmakers in Britain and Spain and large factories in China say they\u2019re quickly running out of energy, Reuters<\/a> reported yesterday.<\/p>\n

The shortage of natural gas and rising oil prices are not going to be good for the <\/strong>environment: <\/strong>India said over the weekend that it has locked in plenty of coal to fire its power plants, while coal futures in China have hit an all-time high <\/strong>as severe floods compounded the country\u2019s energy crisis<\/strong>, the FT<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

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SIGN OF THE TIMES- JP Morgan\u2019s Jamie Dimon continues to wage jihad against BTC<\/strong>, blasting cryptocurrencies as \u201cworthless<\/a>\u201d and saying the burgeoning industry will inevitably be regulated by governments.<\/p>\n

***CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> with the top stories from yesterday\u2019s edition of EnterprisePM:<\/p>\n