SIGN OF THE TIMES- Morgan Stanley’s wealth management clients could soon have access to three funds that enable BTC ownership, in a move that’s the first of its kind in the US, CNBC reported, citing unnamed sources in the know. The new funds grant BTC exposure to clients with “an aggressive risk tolerance,” who have a minimum of USD 2 mn-worth of assets held by the firm. Funds on offer include two from Galaxy Digital, and a third that’s a joint effort from NYDIG and FS Investments.

G7 backs plan to boost IMF support to poorer countries: G7 countries have agreed to bolster the IMF’s capital to provide post-covid relief to the developing world, the UK government — which is chairing the group this year — said in a statement following a meeting of G7 finance ministers on Friday. The plan, which will be tabled for final approval on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF spring meetings next month, involves a “sizeable” new allocation of IMF special drawing rights, the fund’s reserve currency, the statement said, without disclosing further information. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed the news, saying that the meeting was “productive.”

As much as USD 650 bn in new SDRs is in the cards, say US sources familiar with the discussions. This would be just below the USD 679 bn bn threshold that would trigger a US congressional approval requirement, Reuters and the FT suggested. The move toward a new SDR allocation was backed by the Biden administration last month after having been opposed by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. This is crucial because the US, as the IMF’s largest shareholder, has the right to veto new SDR rollouts. An SDRs allocation of this magnitude would be higher than the USD 500 bn originally proposed by the IMF earlier this year and the largest ever since USD 250 mn in new SDRs following the 2008-09 crisis.

Want more about SDRs and why they matter for EMs? We took a deeper dive into the story in our PM edition last week.

	EGX30	10,918	-1.4% (YTD: +0.7%)
	USD (CBE)	Buy 15.65	Sell 15.75
	USD at CIB	Buy 15.65	Sell 15.75
	Interest rates CBE	8.25% deposit	9.25% lending
	Tadawul	9,486	-1.2% (YTD: +9.2%)
	ADX	5,736	-0.2% (YTD: +13.7%)
	DFM	2,604	+0.1% (YTD: +4.5%)
	S&P 500	3,913	-0.1% (YTD: +4.2%)
	FTSE 100	6,709	-1.1% (YTD: +3.8%)
	Brent crude	USD 64.53	+2.0%
	Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.54	+2.2%
	Gold	USD 1,743.90	+0.5%
	BTC	USD 58,152.11	-1.3%

The EGX30 fell 1.4% on Thursday on turnover of EGP 1.0 bn (32.1% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 0.7% YTD.

In the green: Export Development Bank (+1.2%), Sodic (+0.9%) and Elsewedy Electric (+0.6%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-9.9%), CI Capital (-9.5%) and MM Group (-4.4%).