What we’re tracking on 16 January 2017
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi spoke on the economy yesterday in a sit-down with state-owned media.
It’s definitely the Finance Ministry’s week in the sun between Amr El Garhy’s presser yesterday (and his interview with Lamees El Hadidy last night), the kickoff of the eurobond roadshow tomorrow and a visit from the IMF. We have more in Speed Round.
Tiran, Sanafir verdict today: The Supreme Administrative Court’s final ruling on the transfer of the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia is expected today, according to Al Wafd. The government is appealing an Administrative Court verdict that deemed the agreement void.
Four days until President Trump. The Donald will take the oath of office on Friday. Meanwhile, we’re at “that stage” in reviewing the Obama years: No less than the New York Times is leading its digital homepage at time of writing with “What Michelle Obama Wore and Why It Mattered.”
Meanwhile: The US president-elect is giving the Davos set heartburn, and it’s difficult not to smile about that. The FT’s Gideon Rachman, who ended his report from the World Economic Forum last year noting, “It is possible — if still unlikely — that when the WEF gathers this time next year, Mr Trump will be US president and the UK will have voted to leave the EU.” It has come to pass — and Xi Jinping is set to be the star of the show. If you plan to spare more than five minutes of your time to care about the WEF, read Rachman’s “Political upheaval casts cloud over Davos.” The gathering in Davos gets underway tomorrow, and you can check out the full (ridiculously long) agenda here. Put a gun to our head and we’d probably watch some or all of the following sessions:
- The future of finance (Tuesday, 9:30am CLT)
- The future of the Arab economies (Tarek Kabil looks set to speak, though we can’t understand why the blockchain guy qualifies to join the panel) (Wednesday, 2:00pm CLT)
- Global banking outlook (Thursday, 12 noon CLT)
- Protectionism: Back to the future? (At just the moment when we’re getting serious about exporting from Egypt) (Thursday, 7:00pm CLT)