{"id":588700,"date":"2023-06-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/06\/15\/el-sisi-says-flexible-exchange-rate-wont-come-at-egyptians-expense\/"},"modified":"2023-06-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T00:00:00","slug":"el-sisi-says-flexible-exchange-rate-wont-come-at-egyptians-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/06\/15\/el-sisi-says-flexible-exchange-rate-wont-come-at-egyptians-expense\/","title":{"rendered":"El Sisi says flexible exchange rate won\u2019t come at Egyptians\u2019 expense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and a very happy THURSDAY. <\/span>We would say the ne<\/span>ws cycle was slowing down to close out the week \u2014 if it wasn\u2019t for a few big business headlines packing a punch on the local and global fronts this morning. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/a> <\/span>THE BIG STORY here at home: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has suggested there will be <\/span>no further devaluation of the EGP if it negatively impacts citizens.<\/span> \u201cWe are flexible on the exchange rate, but not when it comes to Egypt\u2019s national security and the harm to the Egyptian people. When the effect of the exchange rate is taking a toll on the lives of Egyptians, we don\u2019t sit in place,\u201d El Sisi said at the National Youth Conference in Alexandria yesterday. <\/span>Bloomberg<\/a><\/span> and <\/span>Reuters<\/a><\/span>both have coverage, as do we below in Last Night\u2019s Talk Shows. <\/span><\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-<\/span><\/p>\n

Fed leaves rates untouched for first time in more than a year:<\/span> Front and center <\/span>across the business press this morning is the US Federal Reserve\u2019s decision to leave interest rates unchanged for the first time in 15 months following its two-day policy meeting. The decision to leave rates at 5.0-5.25% was widely anticipated, as the central bank takes time to assess the impact of the 500-bps in hikes made over the past year. <\/span><\/p>\n

The pause likely won\u2019t be for long<\/span>: The Fed signaled its support for two more rate rises this year, one of which could come as soon as July. \u201cNearly all committee participants view it as likely that some further rate increases will be appropriate this year,\u201d said Fed head Jerome Powell. (<\/span>Financial Times<\/a><\/span> | <\/span>Washington Post<\/a><\/span> | <\/span>AP<\/a><\/span> | <\/span>Bloomberg<\/a><\/span> | <\/span>NYT<\/a><\/span> | <\/span>Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

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

<\/a> <\/span>BEBA mission continues in London:<\/span> The British Egyptian Business Association <\/span>(BEBA) is in London for a three-day mission that began yesterday, titled <\/span>Green Growth: Boosting Trade and FDI Linkages Towards a Sustainable Future<\/a><\/span>. Egyptian officials are set to meet with UK partners to discuss cooperation and investment in strategic sectors including green finance, decarbonisation, hydrogen, financial services, and mining. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla, GAFI head Hossam Heiba, and CBE Deputy Governor Ramy Aboulnaga are all participating. <\/span><\/p>\n

HAPPENING TOMORROW-<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>African leaders in Ukraine, Russia to pursue peace:<\/span> President Abdel Fattah El Sisi<\/span> will reportedly join a group of African heads of state traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for <\/span>peace talks<\/a><\/span> on Friday, according to the <\/span>Financial Times<\/a><\/span>. The group will fly to Moscow the next day for further talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the FT says.<\/span><\/p>\n

PRIVATIZATION WATCH-<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>National Dialogue to take a closer look at the state ownership policy: <\/span>National <\/span>DIalogue participants will hold a second session on the government\u2019s privatization roadmap where \u201ceconomic experts will see whether the philosophy of [the policy] should be amended or reconsidered,\u201d said Mahmoud Samir, assistant rapporteur for the dialogue\u2019s public investment committee. The news comes a day after National Dialogue participants <\/span>criticized<\/a><\/span>slow progress on the policy, with Ahmed Galal, head of the dialogue's economic committee and former cabinet minister, calling for a separate session to discuss the \u201cmany problems\u201d facing its implementation. <\/span><\/p>\n

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DATA POINTS-<\/span><\/p>\n

#1- Fewer cars on the road:<\/span> The number of licensed vehicles on our roads fell by 9% to 9.9 <\/span>mn in 2022, compared to 10.9 mn in 2021, according to <\/span>figures (pdf)<\/a><\/span> from state statistics agency Capmas. <\/span><\/p>\n

#2- Industrial land allocations have risen 180% <\/span>on an annual basis<\/span>, h<\/span>ead of the <\/span>Industrial Development Authority Mohamed Abdel Karim told <\/span>Asharq Business<\/a><\/span>. Land prices range from EGP 650 to EGP 1.25k per sqm, according to their facilities, he added. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>#3- Travel activity in Egypt and the Middle East will recover to pre-pandemic levels <\/span>by the end of this year<\/span>, <\/span>Al Mal<\/a><\/span> reports, citing Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) <\/span>Kamil Al Awadhi.<\/span><\/p>\n

#4- MENA weighted more heavily in EM index:<\/span> Middle East and Gulf regions\u2019 <\/span>participation in the MSCI Emerging Markets equity index has increased to around 8% from 2% in recent years, HSBC\u2019s head of equities for Europe and EMs, Camille Asmar, said in an interview with <\/span>CNBC Arabia<\/a><\/span> (<\/span>watch, runtime: 1:27<\/a><\/span>). <\/span><\/p>\n

THE REALIGNMENT-<\/span><\/p>\n

Bahrain could normalize ties with Iran, following Riyadh's lead: <\/span>Bahrain will likely <\/span>restore full diplomatic relations with Iran \u201csometime soon\u201d, seven years after cutting ties, <\/span>Reuters<\/a><\/span> reports, citing a senior US Middle East diplomat. Bahrain followed Saudi Arabia\u2019s lead in cutting ties with the Islamic Republic in 2016 after protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response to Riyadh\u2019s execution of a prominent Shi\u2019ite cleric.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could we see an improvement in US-Iranian tensions? <\/span>The US has reportedly reinitiated <\/span>talks with Iran in an attempt to achieve the release of American prisoners held by Tehran and curb the country\u2019s advancing nuclear program, sources close to the discussions told <\/span>the Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Remember:<\/span> Saudi Arabia and Iran <\/span>agreed in March to restore diplomatic<\/a><\/span> ties in an agreement <\/span>brokered by China. Iran <\/span>reopened its embassy<\/a><\/span> in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check out our full calendar on the web<\/a><\/span> for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.<\/span><\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help <\/span>us build some very cool new things.<\/span> Enterprise \u2014 the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region \u2014 is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have tons more in the pipeline \u2014 come help us build new publications.<\/span> We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, we're looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions<\/span>, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you\u2019re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we\u2019re a great place to come work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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During the program you will learn:<\/span><\/p>\n