{"id":599125,"date":"2019-06-19T04:00:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T04:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2019\/06\/19\/what-were-tracking-on-19-june-2019\/"},"modified":"2019-06-19T04:00:23","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T04:00:23","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-19-june-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2019\/06\/19\/what-were-tracking-on-19-june-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 19 June 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt greeted the death of Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi with a collective shrug<\/b>, but it remains this morning the defining story about our country in the outside world, driving the narrative from North America to Europe.<\/p>\n

Where is the \u201c<\/b>Shut Up Your Mouse<\/b><\/a>\u201d woman when you need her? <\/b>The usual suspects are braying<\/a> (note the dateline if you\u2019re clicking on that last one), led by the nutter in Turkey, who \u201ccast doubt on the official explanation<\/a>\u201d for Morsi\u2019s death. \u201cI don\u2019t believe this is a natural death,\u201d Erdogan said at symbolic funeral prayers for Morsi in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

World leaders remain relatively mute on Morsi\u2019s <\/b>death<\/b> on Monday after suffering a heart attack in a Cairo courtroom<\/a>, but the UN\u2019s human rights office (no fan of Egypt for some time now) joined Erdogan in calling for an independent investigation, spokesman Rupert Colville said in a statement<\/a>. Human Rights Watch<\/a> wasn\u2019t far behind, and Iran issued a statement<\/a> offering condolences and wishing \u201csuccess for the great Egyptian nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, in the world most of us inhabit:<\/b><\/p>\n

Pharos\u2019 <\/b>annual investor conference (pdf)<\/b><\/a> will kick off today in Hurghada.<\/b> The two-day event will bring together investors, IPO prospects and more than 40 listed companies for meetings with institutional investors.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile: <\/b>Cairo Technology Week<\/a> will wrap up tomorrow, marking the end of this week\u2019s series of tech-heavy events. The week also saw the IDC CIO Summit 2019<\/a> for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey and Seamless North Africa<\/a> fintech and ecommerce conference, at which CBE governor Tarek Amer made public statements<\/a> about the sales of United Bank and Banque du Caire.<\/p>\n

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Is the Fed about to cut interest rates? Not this time, says El Erian: <\/b>The US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce today its decision on interest rates as it wraps its two-day meeting. Emerging market economies, some of which have begun cutting interest rates this year, are hoping for a rate cut, but markets sage and Allianz chief economic advisor Mohamed El Erian thinks they\u2019ll be left waiting another month: \u201cThe first cut will probably not take place this week but rather at the next FOMC meeting scheduled for 30-31 July,\u201d he writes in a must-read piece for Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cIt is likely to amount to a 25-basis-point reduction as part an open-ended cycle of rate cutting, with a smaller probability of a 50-basis-point \u2018one and done\u2019 approach,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

El Erian suggests that the Fed wants to stick to its \u201cdovish\u201d narrative on rates<\/b> signalled by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the beginning of the year, meaning a rate cut is coming. But at the same time, the Fed\u2019s own data on the FOMC\u2019s views about where interest rates should go could point to a rate hike, which is sending mixed signals to investors, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. In the face of a turbulent maco climate and \u201ca fluidity\u201d in the US economy, \u201cthe Fed will wish to retain as many policy options as possible, even if there is some risk of disappointing markets that are pressing for upfront signals of very dovish Fed measures,\u201d El Erian says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signaled <\/b>in a speech yesterday<\/b><\/a> that further rate cuts<\/b> and fresh stimulus<\/a> could be in the cards as soon as July. The Donald wasn\u2019t happy about the idea of EU stimulus,<\/b> taking to Twitter<\/a> to accuse Brussels of \u201cunfairly\u201d manipulating the EUR, and warning that it had been \u201cgetting away with this for years, along with China and others.\u201d The Financial Times<\/a> has more.<\/p>\n

Dude, this isn\u2019t a reality TV show: <\/b>The Donald also said yesterday he would like to \u201cdemote\u201d Fed Chair Jay Powell, CNBC<\/a> reports. A step below \u201cYou\u2019re fired,\u201d at least\u2026<\/p>\n

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Facebook has unveiled its latest plans for world domination:<\/b> The social media monolith plans to launch a new global currency, Libra<\/a>, which the company says<\/a> would allow bns of users to make purchases and low-cost money transfers around the world. Libra will launch as a standalone app and on WhatsApp and Messenger by 2020. It is the most significant move yet to bring blockchain technology into mainstream use, with Facebook claiming its primary goal is financial inclusion.<\/p>\n

Zuckerberg apparently wants his currency to eventually challenge the USD,<\/b> extending the social media giant\u2019s power over not just our data and access to information, but a global means of exchange. To achieve this, the company is looking to apply the same processes used to introduce hard currencies in the past, Bloomberg<\/a> writes.<\/p>\n

Members of Congress have some minor reservations about the idea\u2026<\/b> Several US legislators have cast doubts on whether a company with such a troubled history of handling data and protecting privacy should be given the power to control a global currency, Axios<\/a> notes.<\/p>\n

The move is being backed by 28 companies<\/b>, including Visa, Mastercard, Lyft and Spotify, but traditional banks and large tech groups are not yet on board. The FT<\/a>, Reuters<\/a> and the Guardian<\/a> all have more.<\/p>\n

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In miscellany this morning:<\/b><\/p>\n