{"id":575113,"date":"2020-10-04T04:02:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-04T04:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/10\/04\/what-were-tracking-on-4-october-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-10-04T04:02:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-04T04:02:27","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-4-october-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/10\/04\/what-were-tracking-on-4-october-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 4 October 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends<\/strong>, and welcome to the first full workweek of October. It\u2019s going to be a short one, as we\u2019re all off on Thursday in observance of Armed Forces Day<\/strong>, the government confirmed<\/a> \u2014 sensibly not giving in to nighttime talkshow host Ahmed Moussa\u2019s suggestion that we backtrack on the new policy of moving midweek holidays to the weekend. Armed Forces Day is formally 6 October.<\/p>\n

The best news of the morning: Egypt is on track to be the only country in the EBRD\u2019s <\/strong>footprint to grow this year<\/strong> \u2014 and we should see the economy expand at a 5% clip in 2021. That and a pile of investment news dominate this morning\u2019s Speed Round.<\/p>\n

You heard it here first: <\/strong>We suggested a couple of weeks back<\/a> that \u201cSpacs\u201d would soon be on the regional investment menu, and Nassef Sawiris has made it official, as we note in Speed Round, below. We\u2019re aware of two other investors kicking the tires on Spacs, so watch this space.<\/p>\n

Analysts expect the government to leave fuel prices on hold for 4Q<\/strong> when the fuel pricing committee holds its quarterly meeting this week, Masrawy<\/a> reports. Although global prices remain well below the USD 61\/bbl benchmark used in the FY2020-2021 budget, the increase in public spending necessitated by the pandemic means that the government will prioritize revenues over handing consumers a discount on their fuel, said Mona Bedier, senior economist at Prime Holding. The committee kept prices on hold<\/a> when it last met in July, leaving 95-octane at EGP 8.50 per liter, 92-octane at EGP 7.50, and 80-octane at EGP 6.25.<\/p>\n

Factories could yet see their gas bills cut<\/strong>, though: MPs sitting on the House Industrial Committee last week called on the government<\/a> to reduce utility costs for industries. And last month, government sources suggested<\/a> gas prices could be lowered to at least USD 4\/mmBtu from USD 4.50\/mmBtu. The government has reduced prices twice in the past year: once last October<\/a> and once in March<\/a> as part of its stimulus measures to protect industry through the covid lockdown.<\/p>\n

Our newly-elected Senate will sit for its inaugural session two weeks from today<\/strong>, on 18 October, after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued a decree<\/a> calling for the upper chamber of parliament to convene.<\/p>\n

Key news triggers over the coming weeks:<\/p>\n