Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker will hold a press conference next week to discuss the fate of the embattled feed-in-tariff program. The presser comes after Shaker met this week with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid to discuss the state’s insistence on domestic arbitration and a condition that phase-one companies lock-in 85% of their funding from foreign sources — conditions that have effectively derailed phase one. The three are also believed to have discussed a request from phase one FiT companies to extend the deadline for financial close beyond October, Electricity Ministry sources tell Al Borsa.

Parliament to debate VAT, wheat corruption reports: The House of Representatives is widely expected to begin its debate of the Planning and Budget Committee’s report on the value-added tax (VAT) on Sunday 28 August. The next day, MPs will discuss a fact-finding report on alleged fraud in the domestic wheat harvest. The report condemns Supply Minister Khalid Hanafy and holds him ultimately responsible, though not directly implicated in the fraud. There is a strong chance that the House may begin proceedings for a no-confidence vote following the session.

Representatives of 12 Egyptian companies are expected to accompany President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on his trip to China from 4-5 September for the G20 meeting. El Sisi is expected to sign bilateral agreements worth several bn USD while in Beijing. The president make a stop in India on 1 September en route to China accompanied by a trade delegation that is expected to sign USD 100 mn in agreements with Indian companies.