Charter flights landing in Egypt will continue to receive cash subsidies from the government until the end of October after the cabinet yesterday agreed to extend incentives designed to boost tourism. The program pays out between USD 1.5k and USD 3.5k per flight to airlines and was supposed to expire at the end of April, but according to a cabinet statement ministers have agreed to extend it until 31 October.

Tourism under pressure: The government is looking for ways to support the country’s tourism industry as it deals with the loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists. The two countries together account for about 30% of inbound tourist arrivals in Egypt, making us particularly exposed to the fallout from the conflict in Ukraine. Occupancy rates in Egypt’s Red Sea resorts have reportedly fallen by almost half since the start of the year.

The Tourism Ministry is also mounting a new international ad campaign as it tries to attract visitors from other countries. The eight-week “Follow the Sun” campaign has been deployed on social media platforms, targeting people in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and the US.

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National projects won’t be delayed because of the commodity price shock, but companies won’t be fined for 2 months for late delivery: Companies that fail to meet deadlines on state infrastructure projects will be exempt from fines for two months in light of rising commodity prices caused by the Ukraine conflict and shipping disruptions. Faced with higher input costs, contractors have called on the government to delay the delivery of some lower-priority projects for three months, a measure which they say may take some of the pressure off as it allows them to hold off on buying materials at current prices.

Decent Life is an exception: The government is considering extending deadlines for the initiative in light of the global situation, and will not impose fines on contractors, according to a separate statement.