Happy Monday, ladies and gents. We’re in that final stretch before we wave goodbye to the new year — and we’re cautiously going to say the end-of-year news slowdown may finally be making an appearance.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Banks to secure FX for letters of credit to help clear import backlogs? 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 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).

Cabinet will also be publishing a weekly tally for goods released from ports, detailing the amount and types of goods it has released each week, Madbouly said.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

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

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** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• CBE drives home jumbo 300 bps rate hike: The Central Bank of Egypt raised interest rates by 300 bps on Thursday — its biggest rate hike since 2016, before floating the EGP — as it looks to clamp down on rising inflationary pressures.
• Are import backlogs going to be cleared soon? Some USD 300 mn worth of food commodities — vegetable oils, meats, and legumes — were released from our backlogged ports last week, putting the total value of goods released since the beginning of December at USD 5 bn.
• FinMin pencils in 5.5% growth for FY2023-2024: Egypt is targeting GDP growth of 5.5% in its draft budget for the next fiscal year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Companies have until this Saturday, 31 December to register with the Tax Authority’s e-invoicing system after the Finance Ministry earlier this month gave companies another two weeks. Only 150k companies had signed up to the new system as of the end of November, well below a sought goal of 1 mn companies to register under the system.

REMEMBER- This deadline no longer applies to the self-employed: The Finance Ministry pushed the deadline for self-employed professionals — including doctors, pharmacists and lawyers — to 30 April 2023 after widespread opposition to the system.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a sunny Tuesday after a cloudy couple of days. Temperatures in Cairo will hit 21°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 11°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.