Happy Monday, wonderful people. It’s shaping up to be a relatively eventful — and certainly an interesting — news day as we get into the full swing of budget season and Planet Startup continues to make headlines.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- Maait, El Said present state spending plans for next fiscal year at the House: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait and Planning Minister Hala El Said have just wrapped presenting the draft FY 2022-2023 state budget and sustainable development spending plan to the House of Representatives’ general assembly, according to statements (here and here).

Among the budget highlights:

• Total spending is expected to rise 15% y-o-y to EGP 2.07 tn;
• Revenues are forecasted to come in at around EGP 1.8 tn;
• Debt servicing costs are expected to be brought down to 7.6% of GDP, or around a third of the overall budget for the fiscal year.

#2- Paymob closes Egypt’s largest ever fintech series B round: Egyptian fintech startup Paymob raised USD 50 mn in a series B round, in what it says is the largest round of its type for an Egyptian fintech firm, the startup announced in a statement (pdf). The round was led by Kora Capital, PayPal’s global corporate venture arm PayPal Ventures and Clay Point.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russian President Vladimir Putin compared Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine with the fight against Nazi Germany, in his annual Victory Day speech marking Germany’s defeat in 1945. In a display of military might in Moscow’s Red Square, Putin blamed Western countries and Nato for rejecting security demands, but contrary to predictions, he did not make any declarations of victory or announce new escalation plans. Instead, he said the Russian forces’ military operations were “necessary, timely and the only right solution,” and that they entered Ukraine as “preemptive pushback” to what he claimed were Western plans for an imminent attack on eastern Ukraine. The story is front-page news in the international press: Financial Times | New York Times | Bloomberg | Washington Post

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Oil + wheat spend to rise FY 2022-2023: The Finance Ministry will set oil prices at USD 80 a barrel in the FY 2022-2023 budget, coming in at the bottom range of the USD 80-85 a barrel range signaled by Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk last month.
• Gov’t eyes 84% debt-to-GDP ratio in FY 2022-23: The Madbouly government wants to bring Egypt’s debt-to-GDP ratio down to 84% in FY 2022-2023, marking the first time the debt target for next fiscal year has been revised since the Finance Ministry in January said it hoped to bring the public debt down to below 90% of GDP.
• Rate hikes leave gov’t with at least EGP 6 bn in unexpected debt costs: The House Budget Committee has approved legislative amendments that would unlock an extra EGP 6 bn to help Egypt meet its debt repayments as interest rates rise at home and abroad.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

A huge US “GreenTech business mission” is inbound next week. More than 40 US companies will be in Egypt during 15-17 May to kick the tires on green investment and potential business partnerships in sectors ranging from energy to healthcare, agriculture, aviation, construction and water resource management. The high-level delegation will meet with members of the business community and senior government officials.

The Central Bank of Egypt will meet to review interest rates on Thursday, 19 May.

The last of this season’s earnings releases will drop by 31 May after the Financial Regulatory Authority granted listed companies a two-week deadline extension.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mild heat wave continues with the mercury rising to 32°C during the day tomorrow before falling to 17°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

***
WE’RE LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE to help us build some very cool new things. Today, we run two daily publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a monthly newsletter designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of 200k readers by telling stories that matter.

We’re looking for editors who want to run publications and teams, editors to help reporters craft stories and talented reporters. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention Patrick in your subject line.

Or hit this link for more information. It’s worth it — trust us.
***