PM — Let’s talk salary transparency

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).

** 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.

???? 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.

You might be waiting a while to get your hands on a new iPhone: Apple faces rising uncertainty due to the coronavirus outbreak in China that follows the lifting of zero-covid restrictions, The Financial Times reports. Supply chain experts are warning of a rising risk of months-long prolonged disruptions to iPhone production. Foxconn’s megafactory — the tech giant’s main supplier in Zhengzhou’s “iPhone City” — has been hit hard by the wave, facing nearly 1 mn new daily infections with the number forecasted to double in upcoming days. Apple has had to deal with chaos at the factory since October. Foxconn relocated some of its production to other facilities across China, and Apple has tapped component suppliers in a bid to reduce the long wait times for customers purchasing iPhones in the US, which Swiss bank UBS estimates to be around 23 days. The potential for employee shortages at component plants or assembly factories across China has arisen as a potential new longer-term risk.

The situation may be even worse than reported: City-scale tallies of covid-19 infections far exceed the national tally of infections officially reported by the government, raising concerns that infections are spiraling out of control in the country, Bloomberg reports. The surge in covid-19 cases in China since it abruptly ended its strict virus curbs have threatened to cause economic chaos as its key manufacturing industry finds itself short of workers.

Sweeteners may not be as harmless as you think: New studies disprove the claim that sweeteners are harmless with results showing how the excessive and consistent use of sweeteners can lead to several health conditions, The Guardian reports. Despite the notion that zero sugar drinks and sweets offer the chance to enjoy the taste without the calories, prolonged consumption of these treats can lead to type 2 diabetes, weight gain, tooth decay, and higher blood sugar levels according to researchers. In response, WHO produced new guidelines based on evidence gathered from scientific research on the effect of sweeteners on humans, saying that “it should not be used as a means of achieving weight control or reducing risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes or heart disease.”

How the sugar tax ushered in a spike in diet drinks: High sugar taxes imposed in over 40 countries worldwide led to an increase in the use of zero sugar alternatives, after sales declined. By 2019, 60% of soft drinks sold by Coca-Cola and 83% sold by Pepsi were the sweetened variety, according to The Guardian.

The research: A 10-year study led by experts from the Sorbonne Paris Nord University tracked 103k adults with a diet that includes sweeteners from all dietary sources including drinks, sweetener packets, and dairy products. The results found a higher risk of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and coronary heart diseases with over 1.5k recorded cases of cardiovascular events including heart attacks, strokes, and angina.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery takes you on a murder mystery romp: The highly anticipated sequel to the 2019 hit whodunnit Knives Out sees Daniel Craig reprising his role as the dapper Southern detective Benoit Blanc. The movie starts with a seemingly unrelated group of people — you’ll recognize Edward Norton and Kate Hudson — including the governor of Connecticut, a model turned athleisure designer and a YouTube influencer. They’re all invited to tech billionaire Miles Bron’s private Greek island for a weekend murder mystery party in the middle of covid lockdowns in 2020, but the fun and games come to a screeching halt when someone actually turns up dead. Of course, Blanc is tasked with determining who the murder is and we’re along for the ride. The movie is streaming on Netflix (watch trailer, runtime 2:42).

⚽ The English Premier League is back in full swing today. Games kicked off at 2:30pm with Brentford facing off against Tottenham. Brentford is currently leading by one point as we dispatch. Here’s the lineup of today’s six matches:

Leicester City v Newcastle (5pm)

Crystal Palace v Fulham (5pm)

Everton v Wolverhampton (5pm)

Southampton v Brighton (5pm)

Aston Villa v Liverpool (7:30pm)

Arsenal v West Ham (10pm)

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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Don’t miss Salsa Night Christmas Edition at Cairo Jazz Club 610 at 8pm tonight. Rasha Sadek and Salah Eissa from Soul Motion Dance Studio will teach you all the moves.

Catch a screening of Mazen Lofty's independent feature film My Girl tonight at 6pm at the Egyptian Opera House.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

For Profit looks at corporations’ roles from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley: Written by law professor William Magnuson, the book delves into business history and how the function of companies serving society has been forsaken. Instead the function has been replaced with excessive greed and an abuse of power that can have disastrous political repercussions. Corporations, Magnuson writes, “have always and ever exerted an outsize influence on world events.” Henry Ford aimed to produce low-cost automobiles made by well-compensated employees, but eventually his obsession with efficiency turned into an unsettling hold over his employees. Bottom line was not one of Mark Zuckerberg's top priorities when Facebook launched, he initially placed a greater emphasis on growth to widen networks on the platform making the experience of connecting enjoyable. Eventually, engagement on Facebook came at the expense of privacy and has recently been used by some to tamper with elections and to undermine democracy. The book explores why some people nowadays abhor corporations, and why perhaps there are reasons why we should appreciate some more than others.

The EGX30 rose 1.2% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 978.29 mn (37% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net buyers. The index is up 21.9% YTD.

In the green: Qalaa Holdings (+8.5%), Elsewedy Electric (+8.2%) and GB Auto (+6.9%).

In the red: CIB (-0.7%), QNB Alahli (-0.2%) and Eastern Company (-0.1%).

Why the discourse on salaries needs to change: Money is a touchy subject. People are taught that it’s rude to ask how much something costs, or how much someone has saved up, and most importantly never to ask someone how much they make. Talking about salaries has been a major taboo for so long, forcing people to stay quiet about how much they earn, and leaving them blind to the fair pay they should be getting.

It’s an ancient mentality: The etiquette and rules surrounding money-centric conversations has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is only one in an exhaustive list of off-limit topics. Religion and politics are also sensitive topics parents deem too controversial for a casual conversation among friends. In Middle Eastern societies especially, the mentality stems from the evil eye — an impressive salary will attract envy, while a below average salary is something to be ashamed of. “There are few things that can cause joy, shame, contentment, anxiety and stress the way that money does,” financial journalist Korrena Bailie told the New York Times.

The post-pandemic market shift: An unfortunate consequence of growing up not discussing money matters is the lack of knowledge of basic financing, saving and investing. Many people are currently struggling to make ends meet amid the ongoing cost of living crisis, soaring inflation and the Great Resignation — a recent trend where workers are quitting their jobs voluntarily — bringing the topic of money to the forefront of people’s minds, especially when discussing employment, the Financial Times wrote.

Why does it matter? An open conversation about salaries will ensure the company is devoid of pay discrepancies and create a more balanced work environment, putting employers in a position where they must pay employees with the same title an equal salary. An open conversation will also help ensure employees in the same field have similar pays across the various companies they might be working in, revealing whether a specific company is paying employees less than market value.

Employees value salary transparency: A Visier report about pay transparency found that up to 68% of employees are likely to switch employers who offer better salary transparency, regardless of whether or not that meant higher wages.

And there’s a demand for it: 63% of surveyed employees would confront their employers and request equal pay if they find out they are getting paid less than their colleagues, according to a ResumeBuilder.com survey. Around 4% said they would quit in that situation, while another 9% said they would take legal action. 85% of respondents said that they are more likely to apply for a job if the salary range was listed in the job vacancy and a majority said they are likely not to apply to a job with an unsuitable range.

Maybe we should take a cue from the US: The Colorado Wage Transparency Act came into effect last year, forcing employers to include a salary range in their job vacancy listings and prohibits employers from taking adverse actions against employees who discuss their wages with others.