Are emerging markets the baby iguana?

No rapprochement? There is no high-level Saudi delegation visiting Egypt, Saudi Ambassador Ahmed Kattan announced, in an embassy statement carried by Al Masry Al Youm. Kattan issued the statement following reports that a delegation was visiting Egypt to discuss relations between the two countries, amidst reports of them souring.

The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets today to review interest rates. We expect that the color commentary from MPC will be more significant than any policy decision they may be after the CBE raised rates 300 bps with the float of the EGP.

EGX back in the green: “Positive third-quarter earnings from leading companies helped Egypt’s main index bounce back 3.4 percent, following two sessions of losses,” Reuters reports. Staff at Inktank, our parent company and the investor relations firm serving more than a few of those companies, are now counting the hours until the end of the season next week…

Drafting of the executive regulations of the value-added tax will be completed today, said Deputy Finance Minister Amr El Monayer, according to Al Ahram. These will then be sent to the business community next week to gauge opinions. He reassured the newspaper that the executive regs will officially be released this month.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is holding a workshop in Alexandria today to introduce the business community to its activities in the coastal city, according to Al Mal.

The Dutch Embassy will hold a cycling race tomorrow at 8:00am according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Press Center. The kickoff is on Al Gabalaia Street in front of the “Fish Garden.”

The Electricity Ministry is expecting to sign the final agreements for the Dabaa nuclear power plant with Russia’s Rosatom this month.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is set to visit Portugal next week, where he will meet recently elected president Marcelo de Sousa.

After numerous delays the auction for the eight new cement licences will take place on Tuesday 22 November, an unnamed source from the Industrial Development Authority had stated.

Also on Tuesday, Al Ahram Hebdo and the French Embassy in Cairo will host a conference headlined French Investments in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges at Al Ahram’s headquarters, Cairo.

In the latest in our series of conference reports, we have a look at three sessions from the North African Banking Exhibition 2016. Let us know if there’s an upcoming conference you can’t attend — but that you think would be of wider interest to our community of readers — and we’ll see what we can do. Email: hana@enterprisemea.com.

Speakers in today’s roundup include Mohamed El Sabban (group head for digital banking at CIB), Ihab Dorra (head of retail banking, Bank Audi Egypt) and Nizar Hannachi (head of corporate banking at Bank ABC). Tap here to read it in full.

Politics dominated much of the airwaves last night, with Sherif Amer of MBC Masr’s Yahduth fi Masr focusing on which young detainees could be released as part of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s parole initiative. Amer noted that none of the most influential activists now behind bars — including Alaa Abdel Fattah and Ahmed Doma were included in the list (watch the full episode here; runtime: 47:22). The names of those who will be released apparently been forwarded to prison officials, but no one is out yet. (Most of those being paroled were convicted of having violated the protest act; the Supreme Constitutional Court is expected to issue a verdict on its constitutionality of the amendments to the law passed by parliament on 3 December, Youm7 reports.)

Ibrahim Eissa dedicated a portion of his show to lambasting Prime Minister Ismail for thanking the Egyptian people for accepting the reform agenda. The fact that there were no protests on 11 November doesn’t mean the people have accepted the reforms (watch; runtime: 3:28)

Things are not that bad (yet): Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Mogahed denied allegations by the deputy head of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate Mona Mina that the ministry informed doctors that they should reuse syringes, in an interview on Al Hayah TV’s Al Hayah Al Youm with Tamer Amin (watch; running time: 19:03). “The ministries of health and military production are now cooperating on a USD 17 mn factory to produce 50 mn syringes per annum,” Mogahed said. Mona Mina herself later called in to say that her statements were (wait for it) taken out of context, “misunderstood and generalized.”

Amin had led the episode with an interview with former Oil Minister Osama Kamel on fuel subsidies. The key message: The ministry is on-point when it says this year’s subsidy bill will rise to EGP 65 bn from the EGP 35 bn set out in the budget.

Amr Adib dedicated the first part of last night’s episode of Kol Yom (ONTV) to reporting on the fire in the Faggala district in Ramses in Downtown Wednesday evening. The 18-engine blaze raged for four hours, causing massive traffic jams (watch; running time 9:49). Adib also covered the 3aza (memorial prayers) of screen legend Mahmoud Abdel Aziz. None other than Alaa Mubarak was spotted attending the gathering by Al Hayah Al Youm’s Tamer Amin (watch, runtime: 0:16).

Adib also highlighted the “Tour n’ Cure” hepatitis C medical tourism campaign launched by Prime Pharma in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Ministry (watch: running time: 3:21), following that with updates on his donation drive for the Abou El Rish Children’s Hospital. Bait Al Zakat, the Egyptian Food Bank, the National Bank of Egypt and Faculty of Engineering Cairo University have all pledged to help out (watch; runtime: 31:33)

Atter Hanour, head of the Egyptian Rural Development Company (which manages the 1.5 mn feddan project) was interviewed on CBC’s Momken. The company wants to include young farmers in the program with funding through the central bank’s SME initiative, he said. (watch; runtime: 16:00).

Lamees El Hadidy was apparently off last night.

As of Tuesday, the banking system had pulled in USD 2.6 bn since the float of the EGP, according to a statement by CBE Governor Tarek Amer picked up Al Borsa. Amer claims that this is double what the banks took during the first week of since the float which the newspaper puts at USD 1.3 bn. Al Mal is quoting Amer as having said that Wednesday saw the banks take in USD 200 mn, which puts the current tally at USD 2.8 bn. Amer reportedly said the banking system is averaging intakes of USD 300 mn daily. (Deputy Finance Ministry Ahmed Kouchouk cited outdated CBE data, telling Reuters’ Andrew Torchia the banking system took in about USD 1.5 bn in net hard currency inflows since the float, “around 10 to 15 times the level of weekly inflows before the EGP was freed.)

”Egyptian authorities are “happy” with movements in the financial markets and the increasing inflows of FX to the banking system since the EGP float, said Kouchouk. Volatility after the float was “natural,” Kouchouk says, and the movement did not constitute a “surprise or concern.” He added that “banks are competing, we are seeing that rates are fluctuating, each bank has its own buying and selling rate — all the ingredients of a flexible, efficient system are there now … [the central bank is] very happy with what’s happening.” Kouchouk said that  He also estimated that foreign holdings of government securities have increased by USD 700-900 mn since the float.

(Elsewhere, Reuters reports that the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center is claiming that banks have provided clients with c. USD 2.2 bn in FX since the float.)

The government will decide on when it will hold investor roadshows for the planned eurobond issuance next week, Kouchouk said. He added that, while the weaker EGP will inflate the cost of energy and food imports, it will also increase some revenue streams and so would not have a big impact on state finances, keeping the government on track to cut the primary deficit, eliminating it by next year.

EFG Hermes announced it signed a “strategic partnership agreement” with Saxo Bank that will “enable full integration of Saxo Bank’s SaxoTraderGO platform with EFG Hermes’ new online trading platform, EFG Hermes One.” The new platform will give clients “one-click access” to financial instruments in multiple MENA markets and global exchanges. “MENA is a market with many interesting trading opportunities and by integrating Saxo Bank’s multi-asset, award-winning platform with EFG Hermes’ regional offering and reach, we are levelling the playing field and enabling a wide range of investors and traders to access a broad range of investment opportunities by equipping them with the latest trading and analytical tools,” said Saxo Bank’s CEO and co-founder Kim Fournais. EFG Hermes One will be available to investors across the region next month, the release noted. In its earnings release, EFG Hermes had said it will announce “ a strategic alliance with a global player which will both push new revenue lines and serve to expand our access to new markets.” The two announced the partnership at a presser in Dubai (watch, run time: 9:15)

EFG Hermes Group CEO Karim Awad gets love from Reuters in a piece that outlines the Saxo partnership as well as EFG’s plans to expand its digital product offering, grow its geographic footprint into frontier markets and the United States, and expand its non-bank finance offering in Egypt.

…Separately, Awad told Reuters the firm is "seeing evidence of investor interest in treasury bills which will be of extreme importance to the government in growing bond yields and supporting the currency going forward."

The Oil Ministry owes 70% of its arrears to five international oil companies (IOCs), unnamed sources at the ministry told Al Mal. The companies are BP, Shell, Eni, Apache, and Dana Gas, who together are owed over USD 2.5 bn out of total of USD 3.7 bn the ministry owes the industry. BP is owed the lion’s share, with around USD 1 bn owed for supplies of crude and natural gas, the source added. The ministry intends to pay USD 500 mn in arrears using part of the first tranche of the IMF loan. The UAE’s Dana Gas has previously said it will review 2017 Egypt investment plans if not repaid. Meanwhile, sources from Eni have reported that the company received an EGP 1 bn payment in early November as part of a mass payment of arrears by the government to a number of IOCs ahead of the float of the EGP. These payments were reportedly all made in local currency, the source told Al Borsa. The company used the funds to pay local contractors working with the company. The UK Embassy had previously released a statement that makes clear that Britain made certain Egypt committed to making good on the arrears it owes energy producers as a condition of the facility.

Elsewhere: The patronizing reportedly continues, with diplomatic sources telling Al Shorouk that UK advisors have been dispatched to train top-level officials of the Finance Ministry on how to manage the economy and ‘properly disperse’ the IMF loan.

Egypt’s unemployment rate in 3Q2016 has also inched upwards to 12.6% from 12.5% in 2Q2016, according to a report by CAPMAS. Males’ unemployment rate increased to 8.7% from 8.5% during the same period and females’ to 25.9% from 25.6%. Fully 88.4% of the unemployed are in the 15-29 age bracket, the report says, and 88.4% of them have college degrees. The total labour force grew by 2.9% y-o-y to stand at 28.8 mn at the end of 3Q2016.

M&A NEWS- The Egyptian American Enterprise Fund is set to invest EGP 12 mn in Smart Medical Services, Smart Managing Director Amr El Tayeb told Al Mal. The company will use the funding to drive its MENA expansion plan and to upgrade infrastructure. The story does not give any particulars on valuation, advisors or any of the other customary data points. Smart Medical offers both managed care and third-party benefit administration as well as its own version of a discount card for uninsured patients.

Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding is looking to sell a 7% stake in Beltone Financial shares via private placement at a price of EGP 12.56 per share, Al Borsa reports. The EGX is currently reviewing the company’s proposal, which OTMT has said is meant to “increase the stock’s liquidity and strengthen [its] investor base.”

The Ismail cabinet held its weekly meeting on Wednesday. Decision taken include:

• Approved granting temporary, one-year permits to factories to tide them over until they receive full licensing, as per the package of incentives ordered by the Supreme Investment Council;
• Approving the offering of incentives to get welfare frauds to come forward and get off the smart card system. The same incentives would apparently apply to snitches, too;
• Approved extending an MoU with Lekela power to develop a 250 MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez for another year;
• Setting up a company to facilitate funding for the 1,000 factories projects in New Cairo. (The Trade and Industry Ministry will begin withdrawing land from 200-300 “uncommitted” investors in the long-delayed project, something Prime Minister Ismail encouraged recently. This comes despite all previous reports pointing to the government’s delay in issuing permits as the primary reason behind the lag in the project);
• Approved closing out the FY2015-16 budget;
• Approved the development of two universities, one each in Kafr El Sheikh and Assiut.

Egypt’s population should be “extended some short-term emergency help,” Patrick Werr writes for The National. He says the point of the IMF agreement is to provide “short-term support to enable short-term economic adjustments.” Werr suggests that the government injects a temporary increase to the family ration cards to help households weather the price increases. “The smart card system benefits 71 mn of Egypt’s 92 mn people, which means that every one-pound increase in benefits would cost the government an extra 71 mn pounds a month, or about USD 4.6 mn, at the current exchange rate, assuming everyone spent their entire allotment,” Werr writes.

Former Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik’s name has been removed from the airport watch list, “clearing the way for him to return home,” his lawyer told Reuters. Shafik “had faced various corruption charges but was either acquitted or had cases against him dropped in most instances. He filed a motion to be removed from the watch lists and a Cairo criminal court accepted it on Wednesday.”

El Sewedy Electric reported a 153% y-o-y rise in net profit after minority interest in 3Q2016 to EGP 721 mn on revenues of EGP 4.874 bn, up 20% y-o-y, the company said in a statement. Net profit after minority interest in 9M2016 recorded EGP 2.352 bn on revenues of EGP 15.427 bn. The largest contributors to revenues during 9M2016 were the wires & cables segment at 58%, followed by the turnkey projects segment at 33%. The meters segment contributed 4% and the transformers and electrical products remained unchanged at a combined 5% in 9M2016. Revenue growth was driven by the wires and cables segment having posted an 11% y-o-y increase in top-line and contributed over 85% to consolidated revenue growth.

Israel happy with just 2-3 players drilling for energy off its shores: Israel began accepting bids from energy companies looking to drill for oil and gas in 24 offshore blocks and its Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said “he would be happy choosing just two or three foreign exploration groups,” Reuters reported. Steinitz also says he is not worried that big oil companies might be “hesitant to enter the Israeli market, fearing a backlash from oil-rich Arab states,” as “Israel is now more involved in regional partnerships and because hostility toward Israel among Arab countries with no diplomatic relations has diminished.” With Israel in talks to export gas to Turkey and Egypt, Steinitz declined to mention which option his country preferred.

Other national and international news worthy of a read this morning if you have the time:

• It seems refiner Phillips 66 is substituting (in part) for KSA, having sent the first gasoline shipment in 16 months to Egypt, Bloomberg briefly notes in a piece that otherwise focuses on the record pace at which US refiners are exporting fuel.

• At least we’re not India: “One week after India’s sudden declaration that 500- and 1,000-rupee notes were no longer legal tender, the economy is in chaos. And that’s perhaps because the policy was designed as much to shock and awe observers with the government’s command of the Indian economy as to control India’s “black money” problem. What seemed at first to be a masterstroke by Prime Minister Narendra Modi now looks like a grave miscalculation.” (BloombergView) (Background here)

• “Saudi Arabia is preparing to lift the lid on one of the global energy industry’s most closely guarded secrets as it prepares to sell shares in Saudi Aramco: how much crude lies beneath the desert kingdom’s sands.” (Financial Times)
• Alwaleed is very talkative the days, telling Bloomberg in a lengthy sit-down that he will no longer hold a stock “forever” and bluntly saying that his beloved holdings in Citi or Twitter could go — at the right price. He also said it’s a possibility — “2-3 years down the line” — that KSA could face the prospect of decoupling the SAR from the USD.
• It’s not just Toblerone that are getting smaller: “Quality Street tins are getting lighter, there are only five eggs in a Creme Egg multipack and famous chocolate bars have shrunk as the shortage of cocoa butter bites.” (Financial Times)

CORRECTION- In yesterday’s issue, we incorrectly attributed statements made by Pharma Syndicate head Mohei Ebeid in a call-in to Mehwar TV’s Sabahak Ma’ana, to Ahmed El Ezaby, head of the Pharma Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries. Please forgive our night editor’s insomnia, acquired in the service of our esteemed readers.

At least we _chose_ to let the EGP sink. (Or: Have fun, Erdogan.) The Turkish lira sank to a new record low yesterday as the sell-off in emerging market currencies gained steam again after a brief pause on Tuesday. EM currencies tracked by the JPMorgan currency index have now slumped five of the last six days, by our math. Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election “is causing investors to re-evaluate their EM thesis and the adjustment is being compounded by the surge in the US [10-year] yield … [and] if the macro community senses a ‘trend’ developing there is plenty of scope for the EM FX sell-off to accelerate,” Reuters quoted a Societe Generale research report as saying.

The currency to avoid? Not our friends in Mexico, where the battering the peso has taken is “unsurprising given Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric,” writes Capital Economics (pdf), but unlikely to cause major damage to balance sheets because across Mexico, “USD debt burden is relatively low and concentrated in companies with USD-denominated earnings.” No, Capital Economics is worried about the lira, which continues to fall against the USD in an economy with plenty of USD-denominated debt.

…and the simultaneous “Trump taper” in emerging markets assets hasn’t yet run its course, Bloomberg warns.

EM outflows at the worst level since the China scare last year? The Institute of International Finance said in a note yesterday (pdf) that its seven-day moving average of daily portfolio flows to emerging markets “fell sharply over the past week … to its lowest level since the China worries-induced sell-off in August 2015.” What’s more the IIF says: “As noted in our latest Weekly Insight, market behavior has been quite divergent following the election of Donald Trump, with US equities (biotechs, banks, small-caps, and construction, in particular) rallying while global bonds, EM equities and FX sell-off. Since election day, foreigners have pulled nearly USD 6 bn from the EM countries in our daily sample, evenly spread between debt and equity

"Seen in a certain light, all of this may be good news for Egypt: While the EM carry trade is on the “early list of losers from a Donald Trump presidency … as soaring U.S. Treasury yields undermine the case for riskier government debt,” Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told reporters yesterday that “foreign holdings of Egyptian debt have grown by as much as USD 900 mn since the pound was floated.”

And while you’re here, the people at Moody’s think 2017 looks — for want of a better word — decidedly “meh.” Global economic growth, it said in an emailed statement, will stabilize next year, “but remain at historically low levels.” We’re also going to be looking at “heightened political uncertainty stem[ming] from a busy election schedule in Europe, the start of the UK’s formal withdrawal from the EU, and likely changes in policy direction after the US presidential vote.” The result? A “growing risk of a re-pricing of assets, or a loss of confidence in the ability of China to manage its deleveraging and rebalancing process” stand out as risks to keep your eye on next year.

It’s a quiet morning for Egypt in the Western press, with limited pickup of news from Reuters and the Associated Press that “an Egyptian court sentenced a policeman who killed a man over the price of a cup of tea to life in prison on Wednesday, a rare lengthy punishment for police violence in a country that rights activists say has a culture of impunity.” The New York Times also has coverage. Meanwhile, a report from Reuters that former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq can now return to Cairo after being removed from an airport watch list is also getting little traction.

Getting wider pickup than when it first broke Tuesday night: Ahmed Abouleinein piece “Challenging government, Egypt’s parliament approves ‘repressive’ NGO bill.”

The new NGO law that was passed by the House of Representatives “has raised an outcry across Egypt’s NGO community for its exceedingly restrictive language, severe legal penalties that would allow prison sentences of up to five years, and the sudden and undemocratic process that brought it before parliament,” writes Nancy Okail for Lawfare. The timing is deliberate, she says, with the draft appearing just before the IMF decision, the rest of the country distracted by economic developments, and the world by Donald Trump winning the elections.

Egypt gets the tiniest bit of love from the Economist: “The Egyptian state has taken several steps lately that have defied expectations. In October the government instituted a value-added tax, after years of consideration, and passed reforms to the civil service. Then, in November, its central bank floated the Egyptian pound, which had been overvalued for months, and allowed the price of subsidised fuel to rise. An Egyptian court has now added to the trend by showing leniency to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that won Egypt’s first elections following the revolution of 2011.”

Smartphone partnership gets some international ink: India’s Mint has a piece covering homegrown smartphone maker Lava’s lash-up with Egyptian cosmetics maker Easy Group to sell lower-cost smartphones in Egypt. Lava apparently expects to start selling the phones “in the next four to five months, and will initially sell phones in the USD 300 bracket.” Egypt, the story suggests, is “the second largest mobile phone market in Africa, with sales of about 1.5 mn handsets a month.”

Former MP and Al Masry Al Youm columnist Amr El Shobaky says the government can’t float the EGP, raise fuel prices and then continue to blame traders and drivers for price increases. By not implementing a fair system to price transportation services, he says, the government “buries its head in the sand” and allows constant conflict between white taxi drivers and commuters in the same manner it did with consumers and commodity traders. (Yes, yes, we’ll just let the poor price gougers get on with their day…)

Run, baby iguana, run. It’s been dubbed “possibly the greatest scene in documentary history” and is one of the most-watched video clips on the Tweeter in ages. Writes the BBC in its teaser for its new Planet Earth II documentary series: “In this stunning and tense sequence from Planet Earth II, a newly-hatched marine iguana must make its way to the sea, but to do so it must run a gauntlet of racer snakes.” We were skeptical at first, but we’ll never doubt our tipster again. Oh, and if you have a hatred of snakes as we do? Watch where you can scream in peace. Watch holding someone’s hand to squeeze. Or don’t watch at all. It’s spine-tinglingly horrible (in the best possible way) in places. (Watch, run time: 2:09) H/t Ahmed A.

Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil approved opening investigations into dumping allegations. Complaints allege that US companies are dumping polyvinyl chloride anti-corrosives on the Egyptian market, Chinese firms are dumping urea, and Malaysia is doing the same with kitchenware, AMAY reports.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met yesterday in Beirut with newly elected Lebanese president Michel Aoun and extended an invitation from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi that could see Aoun visit Egypt, Ahram Online reports, citing a Foreign Ministry statement.

Egypt signed an MoU with New Zealand to establish a joint trade committee that will look for ways to grow bilateral trade, undersecretary of the Trade and Industry Ministry Saeed Abdullah told Al Borsa. New Zealand imports paper, jam, fresh grapes, and carpets from Egypt, he adds, while Egypt imports milk, dairy products, milk, butter, and thread from New Zealand.

In a meeting between President Abdelfattah El Sisi and Kenyan Vice President William Ruto, discussions focused on enhancing economic relations between both nations in a number of sectors, particularly in agriculture and tourism.

A delegation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement met with the head of the General Intelligence Directorate Khaled Fawzy, where the he promised that further easing of restrictions on the Gaza strip are at hand, according to a statement by Islamic Jihad picked up by AMAY.

The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will sign a funding agreement with local and international banks within two weeks’ time to finance the first phase of the EUR 2 bn Siemens 2 GW wind farm. Unnamed Electricity Ministry officials tell Al Borsa that after holding extensive meetings with the IFC, EBRD, African Development Bank, KFW, Deutsche Bank, Bank Ouda, NBD, and the NBE, the ministry expects to receive EUR 180 mn as a first installment based on preliminary agreements reached back in July. Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker also tells the newspaper that Siemens will begin construction on a blade and wind turbine factory in within the coming two months.

The Agriculture Ministry has approved increasing the price of corn and wheat purchased from Egyptian farmers, head of the Central Agricultural Cooperative Union Mamdouh Hamada told Al Mal. The ministry will purchase an ardeb of wheat from farmers for EGP 550 instead of EGP 450, and a tonne of corn for EGP 3,000 instead of EGP 2,500, he added. The ministry refused to increase the price of sugarcane, however, citing an already implemented 25% increase from EGP 400 to EGP 500, added Hamada.

Egypt’s Supply Ministry has officially hiked the industrial prices of sugar by nearly 43% from EGP 7,000 to EGP 10,000 per tonne, Al Mal reports. Unnamed officials from the state-owned Food Industries Holding Company, which supplies many food producers with their sugar, said that prices will not be fixed but will be determined by global market prices. A number of domestic food producers were distressed by the recent announcement, claiming that sugar prices have now increased for the fourth time during 2016. That and a recent shortage in sugar supplies, has cost them plenty, they said. The Ministry has also raised the prices of subsidized rice by EGP 0.75 per kilo to EGP 5.25 for consumers.

The Polish infant milk producer Nutrimilk is considering a factory in Egypt that could cover 50% of the market’s needs, Ahram Gate reports. Representatives from Nutrimilk were part of a delegation that met with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA) earlier this week. The EBA’s Executive Director Mohamed Youssef told the newspaper that a number of Polish companies expressed interest in investments in Egypt’s pharma and renewable energy sectors during their visit.

LG Egypt will begin operations at its air conditioning production line in Tenth of Ramadan in March using production inputs sourced from LG’s factory in Saudi Arabia instead of South Korea, sources told Al Borsa. The switch is meant to reduce transportation costs and allow for bigger production and exports to African markets through Egypt. The production line has a monthly capacity of 100k units and requires a monthly minimum of USD 6 mn in letters of credit, the source added. We had previously reported that LG had halted sales to domestic distributors until it can devise a new pricing strategy following the float of the EGP.

The government will subsidise strategic medications, chairman of the FEI’s Pharma Division Ahmed El Ezaby told Al Borsa. This follows the decision to float the EGP and concerns by pharma producers about losses as medications continue to be under mandatory pricing. The division estimates that there are already shortages of around 1,600 medications.

The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) has decided to grant developers in new cities additional one year extensions without imposing fines if their projects are in the final stages. Developers who have completed 86-90% of their projects may receive an additional third year extension if they pay a fine and complete utilities on their developments, AMAY reports. Developers who have finished over 90% of their projects will be granted the extension on condition that they pay outstanding fees of to the authority.

Budget airline Fly Egypt is increasing its direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Alexandria from one to three times a week starting on 20 November, The National reported. Fly Egypt will further increase flights to daily in May 2017. The airline plans to grow its fleet to 12 aircrafts from the two it currently operates.

Honda Egypt did not order a recall on 2016 Civic cars, General Manager Sherif Mahmoud told Al Mal. The Saudi Trade Ministry had ordered a recall on the model early this week for faulty parking brakes. Honda Egypt was not notified by the parent company of a recall, but will go directly to the Consumer Protection Agency to implement the process if it is notified, he added. Honda Civic cars in Egypt are imported from Turkey, he added, while the GCC imports from the US. Al Futtaim Automotive had earlier ordered a recall on six Honda models in Egypt citing faulty airbags.

Egypt is just a few days away from formally signing the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (more commonly known as the UPOV Convention), which should allow the country to import new and unique varieties of seeds, according to Agriculture Minister Essam Fayed.

The Planning Ministry is repricing the costs of projects in the FY2016-17 state budget following the following the float, said Deputy Planning Minister Nehal El Mogharbal, Al Borsa reports. The ministry will also reevaluating the costs of projects over the next two years.

MSCI rebalances Egypt small cap index: Amer Group, Arabian Cement and Qalaa Holdings are off the lit, Alexandria Mineral Oils (AMOC) joins, according to a very brief mention in a Reuters piece.