It’s not a good afternoon for environment news, ladies and gentlemen, with EV prices on the rise and an alarming report about e-waste, the details of which you can find in today’s For Your Commute and What’s Next sections. On the plus side, we here in emerging markets appear to be better at saving than in developed countries.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-

#1- The EGX30 slide continues: After a slight reprieve that saw the benchmark index rise less than 0.1% at yesterday’s close, the EGX30 fell by 2.0% today with a turnover of EGP 828 mn (0.1% above the 90-day average). By our count, the index has now lost around 10% of its value in less than three weeks.

As for today, local investors were net buyers. The index is down 22.5% YTD.

In the green: Oriental Weavers (+0.8%) and Eastern Company (+0.6%).

In the red: GB Auto (-11.0%), Fawry (-9.6%) and Orascom Development Egypt (-7.2%).

#2- MNT-Halan’s microfinance subsidiary Tasaheel issued securitized bonds worth USD 150 mn (c.EGP 2.8 bn), as part of a wider USD 600 mn securitization program, with CIB managing the program, according to a press release (pdf) today.

HAPPENING NOW- El Sisi is headed to the Gulf: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is landing in Oman today where he will meet Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. The trip comes as part of a GCC tour that will see him also travel to Bahrain to meet King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Ittihadiya.

ALSO- The House Economic Committee is expected today to wrap its discussions on the contentious amendments to the Competition Act (also known as the Antitrust Act), which give greater powers to the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) to regulate M&As. This follows a week of discussions that saw officials from the central bank, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), the EGX, and the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) iron out differences of opinion on the proposed amendments.

The main sticking point being ironed out: The fees the ECA would collect for looking into proposed M&A transactions. The ECA had originally proposed raising its fees to 0.025% of the total transaction value, or the value of the assets during the last full fiscal year before announcing a planned transaction, whichever is higher. It would have capped the fees at EGP 1 mn per transaction. The original law stipulates that the ECA receive EGP 10k per transaction.

What’s next? Once the committee’s done with discussions, it is expected to prepare its report on the amendments and debates, before sending them to be discussed in a House-wide plenary session.

ALSO TODAY– Our friends over at Amcham are holding their annual general meeting today at the St. Regis Cairo Hotel, where Finance Minister Mohamed Maait is addressing the gathering.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- NATO wants to beef up its military resources by a whopping 650% in what Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg describes as the “biggest overhaul of collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War.” The alliance will ramp up its high-readiness forces to well over 300k, from about 40k troops now. The story is everywhere in the foreign press, including CNBC, AFP, Reuters and the Financial Times.

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

• The Madbouly government has inked a contract to buy 180k tons of wheat from India, which should be heading our way soon, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said at a presser yesterday.
• PIF has its eyes on our tourism and aluminum sectors: The Saudi sovereign wealth fund could be snagging a “significant” stake in the new hotels company made up of several merged state hotels and in EGX-listed Egypt Aluminum (EgyptAlum).
• Etisalat Egypt becomes etisalat by e&: UAE-based telecom giant e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) has extended its corporate brand makeover to its Egyptian telecom operations, which will now be known as etisalat by e&.

FOR TOMORROW- Key stats from OPEC: The oil cartel will release its annual statistical bulletin tomorrow, according to a press release. The flagship publication provides data on the global hydrocarbons industry, with a focus on the 13 OPEC member countries. Market watchers will be paying close attention to the figures this year, given rising energy prices brought on by a major supply-demand imbalance, the ongoing energy crisis in Europe, and ever-louder calls to transition away from polluting fossil fuels.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The deadline for companies to submit bids for the redevelopment of the National Democratic Party headquarters is this Thursday, 30 June.

The government’s fuel pricing committee will likely meet to review fuel prices as part of its quarterly review sometime next week.

The national dialogue to set Egypt’s political and economic roadmap will also kick off next week. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had called for the dialogue in April. Check out our explainer on the dialogue, its agenda, participants, and targeted outcomes here.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 37°C tomorrow in the capital city before the mercury falls to 22°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.