{"id":603771,"date":"2023-08-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/08\/21\/the-ifc-could-hold-an-egp-denominated-bond-issuance-to-raise-funds-for-investment\/"},"modified":"2023-08-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T00:00:00","slug":"the-ifc-could-hold-an-egp-denominated-bond-issuance-to-raise-funds-for-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/08\/21\/the-ifc-could-hold-an-egp-denominated-bond-issuance-to-raise-funds-for-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"The IFC could hold an EGP-denominated bond issuance to raise funds for investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people. <\/strong>A flurry of reported interest in the potential sale of two state-owned banks, together with Rameda Pharma\u2019s acquisitiveness, make M&A the headline story of this morning\u2019s edition. <\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE- Are our friends at the IFC possibly looking to raise <\/strong> funds for investment in Egypt? <\/strong>Cabinet said last week it has given the Finance Ministry the green light to engage with the International Finance Corporation on a potential local-currency bond issuance. The brief statement<\/a> says the transaction could potentially see IFC invest more in Egypt as well as give the institution more FX to \u201cfinance the needs of the private sector.\u201d <\/p>\n

Background: <\/strong>The IFC raised a heavily oversubscribed USD 2 bn bond<\/a> last September to support its investment in emerging and developing markets and issued local currency bonds a decade ago in both Nigeria<\/a> and Russia<\/a> in transactions it said would help deepen domestic capital markets. <\/p>\n

HAPPENING THIS WEEK- <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- Brics summit: <\/strong> Expect plenty of talk about de-dollarisation<\/a> and geopolitics when the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa (but not Russia<\/a>) meet in South Africa for the annual Brics summit<\/a> this week. <\/p>\n

The verbal pyrotechnics have already started: <\/strong>China is urging the Brics to become a \u201cfull scale\u201d geopolitical rival to the G7 group of industrialized nations \u2014 and Beijing is already clashing with New Delhi over the proposed expansion of the group, the Financial Times<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Egypt is on the guestlist: <\/strong> South Africa has invited all African heads of state<\/a> to the summit, though we\u2019re yet to hear from the presidency about whether President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will attend in person.<\/p>\n

Remember: Egypt wants in. <\/strong> Egypt has reportedly submitted a bid<\/a> to join the loose alliance of emerging economies, having earlier this year became a member country<\/a> of the group\u2019s multilateral lender.<\/p>\n

Could this be the moment Egypt gets an invite? <\/strong> Several officials tell the salmon-colored paper that several countries could be invited into the organization during the summit. Each of the five members have come out in support of enlarging the bloc, the most recent of which was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who said yesterday<\/a> that a bigger BRICS will create \u201ca more balanced world order.\u201d More than 20 countries have formally applied to join the organization, he said.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> #2- Tansik results out Wednesday: <\/strong> Prospective students who applied for places in public universities during the second phase of tansik will know by Wednesday where they\u2019re heading, the Higher Education Ministry said<\/a> yesterday. The third and final phase will be announced after the results are announced.<\/p>\n

<\/a> #3- The financial markets will have their eyes on Wyoming this week <\/strong> when global central bankers, economists and policymakers head to Jackson Hole for an annual meeting of central bank officials<\/a>. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell\u2019s speech will be the headline event as investors try to gauge where interest rates are heading in the coming months. The event runs Thursday through Saturday. <\/p>\n

<\/a> The Fed is probably done hiking rates -poll: <\/strong> Ninety percent of 110 economists polled by Reuters<\/a> think the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged at its meeting next month and 80% don\u2019t expect any further changes for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, a slim majority believe the central bank will wait until at least 2Q 2024 before beginning to loosen policy.<\/p>\n

The historically-low pre-2022 interest rates could be gone for the foreseeable future: <\/strong>That\u2019s an idea gaining traction among some economists as the US economy holds up amid the highest interest rates in more than two decades. Per the Wall Street Journal<\/a>, economists are now debating whether structural changes in the economy have pushed up the \u201cneutral rate of interest\u201d \u2014 which if true could mean higher rates for longer even if inflation falls back to target. The Brookings Institute has deep dive on the neutral rate of interest here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING SOON- <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> The Japanese FM could be paying us a visit: <\/strong> Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi could visit Egypt alongside his planned trip to Saudi Arabia in early September, Kyodo news agency<\/a> reported yesterday, citing diplomatic sources. Hayashi will meet with GCC foreign ministers during his visit to the kingdom, and could head to Cairo for talks with Arab League ministers, according to the report.<\/p>\n

This would be the second high-level Japanese visit to Egypt in four months: <\/strong> Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was in town in May<\/a> for talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and PM Moustafa Madbouly.<\/p>\n

The National Dialogue: <\/strong> The National Dialogue will hold a new round of public sessions in the coming days to discuss the remaining issues on its agenda.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORIES ABROAD- <\/strong><\/p>\n

China\u2019s 40-Year Boom Is Over. What Comes Next? <\/strong> That\u2019s the headline of the leading story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal<\/a> this morning in the latest obituary of the Chinese economic model.<\/p>\n

Storm Hilary: <\/strong> Much of the US media is leading with Storm Hilary, which hit the Californian coast last night, bringing heavy rain and flooding. The tropical storm is said to be the first to hit the south of the state in 84 years. (Associated Press<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | New York Times<\/a> | Washington Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Russia just made it to the moon for the first time in almost 50 years. It didn\u2019t go <\/strong> well. <\/strong>Russia\u2019s first moon mission in 47 years ended in disaster on Saturday after the Luna-25 probe crash landed. (Reuters<\/a> | Bloomberg<\/a> | Financial Times<\/a> | Wall Street Journal<\/a>)<\/p>\n

MORNING MISCELLANY- <\/strong><\/p>\n