{"id":580410,"date":"2022-12-26T13:24:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T13:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/12\/26\/this-evening-el-sisi-signals-banks-will-secure-fx-for-l-cs-before-the-year-is-out-welcome-to-the-christmas-slowdown\/"},"modified":"2022-12-26T13:24:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T13:24:08","slug":"this-evening-el-sisi-signals-banks-will-secure-fx-for-l-cs-before-the-year-is-out-welcome-to-the-christmas-slowdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/12\/26\/this-evening-el-sisi-signals-banks-will-secure-fx-for-l-cs-before-the-year-is-out-welcome-to-the-christmas-slowdown\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS EVENING: El Sisi signals banks will secure FX for L\/Cs before the year is out + Welcome to the Christmas slowdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Monday, ladies and gents.<\/strong> We\u2019re in that final stretch before we wave goodbye to the new year \u2014 and we\u2019re cautiously going to say the end-of-year news slowdown may finally be making an appearance.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY TODAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Banks to secure FX for letters of credit to help clear import backlogs?<\/strong> President Abdel Fattah El Sisi suggested that banks will be securing foreign currency required to cover letters of credit in the next three or four days for goods stuck at ports. Speaking during a factory inauguration ceremony in Abu Rawash today, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly also said that authorities have agreed to prioritize the release of USD 4-4.5 bn worth of commodities from ports including those required for manufacturing, reiterating statements<\/a> from cabinet spokesperson Nader Saad from a day earlier. There are currently USD 9.5 bn worth of goods stuck in our ports that the government is working to release (watch, runtime: 5:51<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Cabinet will also be publishing a weekly tally for goods released from ports<\/strong>, detailing the amount and types of goods it has released each week, Madbouly said.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY ABROAD<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no single story driving the conversation in the international business press this<\/strong> afternoon<\/strong>, which appears to still be in the grips of the holiday slowdown. Among the stories making the rounds: Macro hedge funds have \u201cthrived\u201d this year on the back of an historic USD rally, putting the funds on track for their best year on record (Financial Times<\/a>); hospitals in China are at full capacity amid fresh covid-19 outbreaks (Reuters<\/a>); and Ukraine carried out a drone attack on a Russian military air base, killing three (Bloomberg<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>:<\/p>\n