{"id":571800,"date":"2020-06-01T04:38:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T04:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/06\/01\/what-were-tracking-on-1-june-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-06-01T04:38:24","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T04:38:24","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-1-june-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/06\/01\/what-were-tracking-on-1-june-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 1 June 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s June, ladies and gentlemen \u2014 we are now in the last days of 1H. <\/strong>Since 2020 is the gift that keeps on giving, we\u2019re not gonna hold our collective breath on what the back half of the year looks like.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s nighttime curfew is now one hour shorter<\/strong> after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced yesterday it will end at 5am instead of 6am, according to a cabinet statement<\/a>. The curfew will still begin at 8pm and will remain in place until mid-June, when it is next up for review.<\/p>\n

Banks are shifting their opening hours back one hour and will open to customers from<\/strong> 8:30am to 2pm starting tomorrow<\/strong>, according to Masrawy<\/a>. The move comes as the curfew rolled back an hour. Banks are open 9:30am to 3pm today. The Federation of Egyptian Banks continues to call for a return to a full eight-hour workday<\/a> to help reduce footfall and congestion at banks.<\/p>\n

REOPENING TODAY: <\/strong>Passport, work permit and visa sections at the Interior Ministry.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Could Egypt be resuming international flights by the first week of July?<\/strong> The Madbouly Cabinet is set to discuss this week potentially lifting the ban on international flights, and while no decision has yet been made, Cabinet spokesman Nader Saad said yesterday his (unofficial) expectation is that we could have commercial aircraft on the tarmac by the first week of July (watch, runtime: 8:05<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Are you ready for a little bit of inflation? <\/strong>It\u2019s coming in the form of higher electricity costs (with all of the usual knock-on effects) and higher food prices.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Your electricity bill is going up again next month:<\/strong> The Electricity Ministry and the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Agency (Egyptera) are finalizing the figures for the upcoming hike in electricity prices, which will be implemented as of the beginning of the new fiscal year on 1 July, Al Mal reports<\/a>, citing unnamed ministry sources. The price increases will be \u201cminor\u201d and will differ for each consumption bracket, but will be capped at 10% for even the highest consumption tier, the sources say.<\/p>\n

Factories won\u2019t be paying more<\/strong>, and the ministry is also mulling exempting the agriculture industry from price increases to help shield local farmers from the financial burden of the covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see the last increase in electricity prices in July 2021<\/strong>, by which time the Electricity Ministry will have fully lifted subsidies. The ministry had originally planned to reach this point by 2019, but extended the timeline under orders from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Madbouly government expects food prices to continue rising through<\/strong> December<\/strong> as the pandemic puts pressure on global supply chains, according to a study by<\/a>the National Planning Institute (pdf)<\/a>. The study lays out three possible scenarios for food inflation for the remainder of the year: The first would see it sustained at April levels, the second would see it rise 25% beyond that, and the third scenario would see food price inflation rising 50% from where it stood in April. The study doesn\u2019t make clear the factors that would lead us to each scenario playing out.<\/p>\n

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The markets today: <\/strong>Asia-Pacific shares have started the trading week comfortably in the green from China to Australia in early dealing this morning. Futures point to a lower open in most European markets, while Wall Street apparently doesn\u2019t mind a little bit of violence: Futures at dispatch time this morning show US shares opening in positive territory later today. The EGX30 climbed 1.1% yesterday <\/strong>and is now down 26.8% year-to-date.<\/p>\n

Key news triggers coming up<\/strong> now that we\u2019re in the month of June:<\/p>\n