What we’re tracking on September 20, 2018
We have detailed coverage on the first day of Euromoney, headlined by Finance Minister Amr El Garhy, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, and Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk.
Chief among the topics of concern was charting a way out of the nation’s FX crunch, with 55% of respondents from the conference survey sayingthey believe the EGP will reach 11.00 against the greenback, 27% saying 15.00, and 18% putting it at 9.50.
As for Egypt’s economic future: “we can’t live hostage to the tourism industry,” Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said. “And we can’t live off GCC aid forever.” Read our summary of “Euromoney Egypt — Day One” on our blog, with remarks from El Garhy (who referred to “unleashing the beast” in reference to the domestic economy) and Nasr as well as CI Capital’s Tarek Tantawi, NI Capital’s Ashraf Ghazaly, Citi’s David Cowan, AfDB’s Angus Downie, Rencap’s Ahmed Badr and our pal Patrick Werr, the veteran finance writer.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with US Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump last night at the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly meeting. The 71st UNGA debate begins today, with El Sisi scheduled to deliver a speech in the afternoon. We have extensive coverage below in Egypt in the News and Diplomacy
It’s the second and final day of both Euromoney and of the Arqaam Capital MENA Investors Conference. Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil will take the stage at Euromoney (agenda, pdf).
A Russian security delegation is scheduled to arrive in Egypt today to inspect the Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh airports, Al Masry Al Youm reports. It’s the latest round of inspections in Cairo’s bid to have Moscow restore direct flights. Russian officials were in Egypt for inspections last week, too, and apparently left unimpressed.
Just when we thought summer was coming to an end: We’re about to be hit by a three-day heat wave, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority. The authority added that temperatures nationally will be in the 33-40 degrees range, Ahram Online reports.