Picking up where we left off this morning, the story about a bump to the private-sector minimum wage seems to have legs. Al Watan quotes a source at the National Wages Council, which sets the minimum wage, as saying the body may indeed push through a hike that would bring the minimum to EGP 2k per month some time this year. Planning Minister Hala El Said, who is head of the wages council, is set to meet with private sector players soon to hash out how this could take place, we said this morning.

Other stories we’re watching as the workday starts to slow down:

• EgyTrans and HA Utilities Holding will wrap up due diligence and potentially move forward within three months on a high-profile transaction that will see HA Utilities take a majority stake in EgyTrans through a reverse merger (background here).

• Tourism from the Baltics: Tour operator Novaturas Group is doubling the number of weekly flights from Latvia to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh to four starting April.
• Production of Egyptian oranges could rise by almost 6.3% to reach a total of 3.4 mn tons in FY2020-2021 thanks to favorable weather conditions.
• The Mubarak family is mulling lodging a lawsuit against the European Council for erroneously sanctioning five members of the family over the past decade.
• The Prosecutor General ordered the detention of three men yesterday over their alleged involvement in the death of a woman who died after falling from her apartment balcony. The suspects are alleged to have physically assaulted the woman and a man inside the flat.