What we’re tracking this week
LEGISLATION WATCH- March looks set to be a busy month for the House on the economic front, with legislators due to consider a basket of laws and amendments to existing legislation, including:
- The Contractor’s Compensation Act will come up for a vote in a plenary session on Monday. The measure would give the government legislative cover to compensate suppliers and contractors for FX losses incurred on state contracts after the EGP float.
- The House’s Manpower Committee will begin talks on the Labor Act tomorrow. It is already being attacked by workers who claim it would take away the right to strike from workers in critical industries including transport, pharma, and food. The bill is also believed to include a clause that would force private sector companies to institute a 7% annual raise.
- We can expect the Investment Act in a few weeks’ time, General Authority for Free Zones and Investment chief Mohamed Khodeir says. The bill is currently being reviewed by the House of Representatives’ Economic Committee, which has already given a preliminary nod to 50 of its main articles, according to Khodeir.
- The House will vote in a plenary session on the Natural Gas Act by the end of March.
- The Council of State (Maglis Al Dowla) is expected to complete its review of the Bankruptcy Act and of the executive regulations to the Civil Service Act by the end of the month, legislative committee chair Ahmed Aboul Azm tells Al Borsa. Al Masry Al Youm has more on the civil service act.