{"id":574862,"date":"2020-09-24T03:59:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T03:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/24\/what-were-tracking-on-24-september-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-24T03:59:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T03:59:09","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-24-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/24\/what-were-tracking-on-24-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 24 September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends<\/strong>, and welcome to interest rate day, where the consensus is that the Central Bank of Egypt will leave rates on hold when its Monetary Policy Committee meets later today. All 11 economists and analysts surveyed in our poll<\/a> said rates will likely remain unchanged as the central bank looks to support the EGP and protect the carry trade. A subsequent Reuters poll<\/a> suggested much the same.<\/p>\n

The IMF will be back in town at the end of the year: <\/strong>An IMF delegation will visit Egypt in December to conduct the first of two reviews ahead of disbursing the second USD 3.2 bn second tranche of the one-year, emergency USD 5.2 bn stand-by loan<\/a> agreed earlier this year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Al Shorouk<\/a>. Egypt onboarded the first, USD 2 bn tranche of the loan in July to help cushion the economic fallout of covid-19.<\/p>\n

EFG Hermes\u2019 virtual investor conference is on its fourth day<\/strong>, with more than 650 institutional investors with aggregate AUM north of USD 17 tn connecting with top listed companies to chew over how things look in frontier and emerging markets. The conference runs until next Thursday, 1 October. You can visit the conference website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

US stocks plunged yesterday for the fifth time in six sessions<\/strong> amid signs business activity is cooling and that lawmakers aren\u2019t going to roll out more stimulus. The S&P and the Nasdaq both fell more than 2%. Asian shares are down in early trading this morning<\/strong>, and futures point to more of the same in Europe later this morning.<\/p>\n

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VACCINE WATCH- <\/strong>We\u2019ll learn more about Russia\u2019s Sputnik V vaccine in the coming days<\/strong> when Russia\u2019s sovereign wealth fund holds a conference on the vaccine, the date of which was not specified, Al Mal<\/a> reports. Egypt is in talks with Moscow to get its hands on the vaccine and is among the countries expected to take part in phase 3 clinical trials<\/a>. Pfizer is about to start <\/strong>phase three trials of its vaccine<\/strong>, applying more extensive data analysis<\/a>, perhaps paving the way for regulatory approval soon after October, Reuters<\/a> reports. And phase three trials of Johnson & Johnson\u2019s single-shot vaccine started yesterday<\/strong>, the company said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one big caveat to all of this talk of phase three trials: Kids aren\u2019t covered<\/strong>, according to the New York Times<\/a>, which writes that a vaccine for children may not arrive before fall 2021, saying that \u201cno trials have yet begun in the United States to determine whether these vaccines are safe and effective for children.\u201d The best primer on covid vaccines: <\/strong>How close is a coronavirus vaccine?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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COME BE OUR STYLE AND GRAMMAR NAZI- <\/strong>We\u2019re looking for a full-time copy editor <\/strong>to enforce house style, police facts and generally make us sound smarter than we really are.<\/p>\n

OR HELP US MAKE AWESOME GRAPHICS<\/strong>, bring our brand to life in all media (including new products and IRL) and develop our photo style as our first in-house photo and design editor. Solid chops with the usual apps (Adobe\u2019s suite, Procreate, Pixelmator, etc) a requirement, as is a strong visual aesthetic. It would be awesome if you had strong opinions (loosely held) on FF vs APS-C vs. film, too.<\/p>\n

Interested in applying?<\/strong> Send us your CV along with proof y\u2019all can edit (if you are interested in the copy editor vacancy) or that you have visual taste (for the design gig) and a solid cover letter telling us a bit about who you are and why you\u2019re a good fit for our team. The CV is nice, but the most important thing is a well-written cover letter. Please submit all applications to jobs@enterprisemea.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry <\/strong>reported<\/a><\/strong> 121 new covid-19 infections yesterday<\/strong>, up from 113 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 102,375 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 16 new deaths, bringing the country\u2019s total death toll to 5,822. We now have a total of 91,843 confirmed cases that have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s tourism rebound is outperforming its regional peers <\/strong>and the country has contained covid-19 cases among foreign visitors \u201cquite well,\u201d Tourism Minister Khaled El Enany said in an interview with Business Media Georgia (watch, runtime 6:01<\/a>). Egypt has seen some 250k tourists<\/a> visit Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada since resuming flights in July, and as of late August, only a single suspected case of the virus<\/a> had been detected among foreign tourists.<\/p>\n

France will allow flights to Egypt\u2019s coastal cities to resume in October,<\/strong> El Enany said in a statement<\/a>yesterday.<\/p>\n

The Education Ministry has extended until 1 October the deadline for students to transfer<\/strong> between schools<\/strong>, Youm7<\/a> reports, citing a ministry statement. The new academic year for public schools begins on 17 October and runs until 24 June 2021, with the mid-year break from 6-18 February 2021. The ministry has also distributed safety plans to some 60k schools<\/strong>, in collaboration with the health ministry, with guidelines on classroom capacity and distancing, Mubasher<\/a> reports, citing Education Minister Tarek Shawki, who spoke during a virtual session of the MENA Innovation and Technology Transfer (MITT)<\/a> Summit.<\/p>\n

A <\/strong>resurgence<\/strong> in covid-19 cases is threatening to dent the Eurozone\u2019s economic recovery<\/strong>, with the block\u2019s flash PMI data (pdf)<\/a> for September falling to 50.1, down from 51.9 in August. The EU\u2019s composite purchasing managers index aggregates activity in the services and manufacturing sectors. The reading \u2014 which remains in expansionary territory despite the dip \u2014 suggests the \u201cinitial rebound\u201d after the lifting of lockdown measures is not here to stay, says Bloomberg<\/a>. Governments have reintroduced some lockdown measures after cases began rising<\/a> in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s poorest countries could be getting tailored debt restructuring plans<\/strong> from large private lenders<\/strong> to resolve \u201cfundamental solvency concerns,\u201d Reuters<\/a> reported, citing a letter sent by the Institute of International (IIF) to G20 governments. A one-size-fits-all debt relief package would make it harder for riskier borrowers to access capital markets, making a case-by-case review more appropriate, the group said. This comes as creditors from around the world are expected to extend a debt relief initiative first announced in April<\/a>, and from which north of 70 of the poorest countries have benefited.<\/p>\n

Around our region:<\/strong><\/p>\n