It’s an exceptionally packed issue this morning, folks, as a heavy news day on Thursday gave birth to a very busy weekend at home and abroad. Look for worthy news straight all the way down to What We’re Tracking Today.

Finance Ministry delegation headed by Minister Amr El Garhy is heading to London tomorrow to kick off Egypt’s USD 4-5 bn eurobond roadshow, Ahram Gate reports. El Garhy said yesterday that the issuance is contingent on “more stability” in global markets, but that the government hopes to push forward with it “in the next few days.”

El Garhy & Co. are on the road as global markets catch their collective breath following a wild week that saw some markets enter correction territory for a time. (A correction is when markets are down 10% from a recent high.) It was the “most turbulent week in years” for US stocks, the Wall Street Journal notes. By the end of the day Friday, the S&P 500 was down 5.2% for the week, the FTSE All-World was down 6.2%, Eurofirst 300 was off 7.2% and investors had retreated to the safety of cash, withdrawing some USD 31 bn from global equity funds last week, the Financial Times reports.

Is it the end of an era for market tranquility? The VIX is back down into the late 20s from a mid-week high of 50, but volatility is back on the menu going forward, the FT argues in its Big Read. Correspondents including former Middle East hand Robin Wigglesworth argue that concern is mounting that last week’s sell-off “is merely the first instalment of a bigger shock.”

Egypt is among the countries in the region that have “a lot of scope for doing better” in terms of spending efficiency, IMF boss Christine Lagarde said at the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai yesterday. She urged Arab countries to slash public wages and pull the plug on energy subsidies — and redirect that funding to other areas of greater priority that currently have “big efficiency gaps,” including health and education.

Separately, the IMF’s next review of Egypt’s progress on its economic reform program is scheduled to take place in April, Al Mal reports, citing remarks by El Garhy. The fund will complete its review by May or June, after which the next USD 2 bn tranche is expected to be released.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the one-year extension of the Tax Dispute Resolution Act at a plenary session today, Ahram Gate reports. MPs are also expected to vote on legislation governing the work of the National Council for Women. Also today, the committee on SMEs will be meeting to review the executive regulations to the law that established the SMEs Development Authority, the newspaper says.

The Electricity Ministry will unveil its new bill collection strategy at a press conference today, government sources told Al Borsa.The ministry will make payment and smart-meter recharge services available to citizens across the country via Egyptian Post and nine e-payment companies.

Israel and Iran are “lurching toward confrontation” after Israel stuck 12 targets in Syria yesterday (four of them in Iranian) after an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli airspace and an Israeli F-16 Fisher crashed after being fired on by Syrian anti-aircraft missiles. Bloomberg and the FT have more.

The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics have begun. Bloomberg has a medal tracker here. Germany is atop the leaderboard with two gold, followed by the Netherlands and South Korea.