Good afternoon, wonderful people. We’re always giddy when we can say happy THURSDAY, but this week makes us feel like we’ve earned it just a little bit more than usual.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

The automotive market is still struggling: Passenger car sales fell for the fourth consecutive month in June, dropping 35.2% y-o-y to 19,054 units sold during the month, according to the latest figures from the Automotive Information Council (AMIC). The continued decline in sales comes as the automotive industry in Egypt has been facing headwinds including changing import rules that led to car shipments being stuck at port.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Recession alarm bells ringing: The US economy contracted 0.9% in 2Q 2022, marking a slower contraction than the 1.6% recorded during the first quarter of the year, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’ quarterly report. The slight q-o-q improvement “reflected an upturn in exports and a smaller decrease in federal government spending that were partly offset by larger declines in private inventory investment and state and local government spending,” the report said. The figures — and whether two consecutive quarters of negative growth qualifies as a recession — are leading the conversation in the international business press this afternoon: Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg | CNBC | Reuters

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

• Egypt is working to resolve differences with the IMF in talks for a fresh assistance program, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a round of interviews yesterday.
• The government is still holding out hope that it could sell stakes in as many as 10 companies before the end of the year, Maait also said, insisting that a state program to divest assets through IPOs and secondary sales of already-listed companies still has legs despite ongoing market turbulence.
• It’s official: CIRA’s future flow securitization program has gotten the nod from the Financial Regulatory Authority, which has given EFG Hermes the final go-ahead to take EGX-listed education provider CIRA’s planned EGP 800 mn issuance to market.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The government’s public consultations on its state ownership policy continue on Sunday, with a workshop for representatives from the printing and packaging sector. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday see workshops on how privatization plans will affect specific industries. You can find more details on the schedule of the meetings here.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re looking at quite a hot weekend with daytime highs of 40-41°C on Friday and Saturday, and nighttime lows of 24°C, our favorite weather app tells us.