Good morning, friends. It’s a huge day on the macro front. Data released yesterday shows prices rose last month faster than most analysts expected, adding to expectations that the Central Bank of Egypt will hike interest rates when it meets a week from tomorrow. The news came as the EBRD downgraded its expectations of how fast our corner of the world will grow — and as volatility in the global financial market continued to weigh on sentiment. Stocks in Europe and on Wall Street seesawed yesterday and startups continued to lay off staff and announce spending cutbacks. Oh, and the FT is now openly talking about “crypto-winter” with BTC down a third since the start of the year.

Amid the grimness, some optimism: A European consortium led by EBRD handed the folks at Ezdehar and their partners a very nice exit as they acquired financial services player GlobalCorp. Separately, another European consortium is stepping up to build a USD 500 mn terminal at Damietta Port. And in a move that will be cautiously cheered by manufacturers, the Sisi administration is exempting importers of raw materials and other production inputs from a requirement to use letters of credit to cover imports, a policy change dating to February that has had significant ripple effects on manufacturers and distributors alike. And in the wake of a meeting between Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and CBE Governor Tarek Amer, the central bank will reportedly sit down regularly with importers to make sure they have access to FX to import production materials.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- Inflation and the market sell-off dominate the front pages of the financial press this morning.

Market post-mortem: The front pages of the financial press are dominated by the US equity sell-off on Monday. Bloomberg reports that equity analysts are cutting price targets for S&P 500 shares by the most since the covid crash in early 2020, while the Wall Street Journal says that retail dip-buyers haven’t yet been put off by the sell-off.

Fed mea culpa: With US inflation now at 40-year highs, some Fed officials are admitting their policy response was too slow and that faith in “transitory” was misplaced, the New York Times says. “It was a complicated situation with little precedent — people make mistakes,” the former vice chair for supervision said last week.

REMINDER: US inflation figures for April are out today. Economists expect consumer price growth to slow slightly to 8.1%, from 8.5% in March.

MARKET WATCH- The sea of red in the US stock market receded yesterday but trading was no less volatile: Shares whipsawed during yesterday’s trading session as investors digested Monday’s heavy sell-off and positioned ahead of today’s inflation release. The S&P closed marginally above 4,000, up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq staged a bigger comeback from Monday’s beating, climbing 1.0%. The VIX — a measure of volatility often called the “fear index” — remained above 32.5 for the third-straight session, indicating turbulence in the market.

Asian markets are looking a bit happier this morning, with most indexes in the region solidly in the green. Futures indicate that shares in Europe and the US will rise when markets open later today.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s the second day of the EBRD’s annual meeting and business forum in Marrakech, which ends tomorrow. We wrap up all the headlines from Day 1 in this morning’s news well, below. You can read the full program here.

MARKET WATCH-

SIGN OF THE TIMES- India exported a record amount of wheat in April, stepping into the market to fill the void left by Ukraine which is unable to ship grain abroad due to the war, Reuters reports. Trade sources say that the country exported a record 1.4 mn tonnes during the month, and 7 mn tonnes during the previous fiscal, an all-time high.

Egypt is set to be one of the beneficiaries, agreeing last month to purchase wheat from India for the first time as it looks to diversify wheat imports in response to the war. Ukraine and Russia usually provide around 80% of the country’s imported wheat, making it vulnerable to any trade disruption in the region.

Export volumes could rise further this month: One trader said India could ship 1.5 mn tonnes in May to buyers in Asia and the Middle East.

Gulf says no to NOPEC: US ties with its Gulf allies aren’t getting any easier as lawmakers move closer to passing legislation that would curb the market power of the OPEC oil cartel. The so-called NOPEC bill would allow antitrust lawsuits to be brought against the alliance and its members for controlling the price of oil, an idea that was firmly rejected by the Saudi and UAE energy ministers yesterday. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told CNBC that OPEC was being wrongly blamed for surging energy prices and said that prices could surge 200-300% if the US moves to try and check its power.

Will it actually pass, though? The NOPEC bill has been kicking around for years, never being passed but always finding new support when oil prices rise. The legislation was passed last week by a US Senate committee, though it’s unclear whether it would clear a vote in the Senate or whether the Biden administration would support it. White House officials have expressed reservations about the bill, warning about the potential for blowback at a time of already high prices.

OBITUARY-

iPod (2001-2022): Apple has finally decided to discontinue making its iconic mp3 player, a device that changed the way the world listens to music and consigned Walkmans to the history books. Coming at a time when some thought Minidiscs were cool (remember those?), Apple gave us the ability to carry thousands of songs around in our pockets. Portable music no longer meant carrying around a bag of cassettes or CDs. The invention of the iPhone and rise of streaming services pushed the once-ubiquitous device into irrelevance, but as Apple said yesterday, the “spirit lives on” in its new generations of products.

Want some nostalgia? Check out these classic ads from the early 2000s (here | here).

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, including Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and other members of cabinet. The mission is being organized by AmCham and the US Chamber of Commerce.

The PSA world squash championships get underway in Cairo this Friday, 13 May. The men’s and women’s finals will be played on 22 May. There is USD 550k at stake for each of the men’s and women’s championships, making this the biggest purse on record for a squash tourney. The CIB-sponsored championships will play out at SODIC’s Club S Allegria and at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

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.

Early-stage foodtech startups have until June to apply to the second edition of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Tamkeen’s global FoodTech Challenge, with an earnings pool of USD 2 mn, according to a statement (pdf). Partners supporting the competition include Aspire, ADQ, Silal and Emirates Foundation.

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

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: With Egypt’s real estate sector strongly impacted by raw material price inflation, coupled with the recent interest rate hike and EGP devaluation, we ask industry leaders what’s being done to mitigate the fallout. They say a combination of repricing, cost cutting, and strategic talks — with the government and with one another — are helping them weather the storm, and that overall they remain confident about project deliverability and the long-term stability of the sector.