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Wednesday, 10 August 2022

THIS EVENING: KSA snaps up USD 1.3 bn-worth of stakes in four state-owned, EGX-listed companies + It’s all about inflation today

Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s a mostly good news kind of Wednesday, with the entry of Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF getting the ball rolling on its pledged USD 10 bn of investments in Egypt, while inflation figures didn’t extend their brief cool-off last month.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

KSA makes its grand entry into the state privatization program: The Saudi sovereign wealth fund acquired minority stakes in four EGX-listed companies for a total USD 1.3 bn, according to a Planning Ministry statement. The stake purchases are the first of some USD 10 bn-worth of investments that the Public Investment Fund pledged to Egypt earlier this year as part of KSA efforts to support Egypt’s external position, which has been under pressure from soaring commodity prices and capital outflows.

Inflation accelerates in July: Inflation picked up pace in July after a one-month cool-off in June, with the uptick triggered mostly by a recent hike in fuel prices. Consumer prices in urban areas rose 13.6% year-on-year in July, up from 13.2% in June, data from official statistics agency CAPMAS (pdf) showed. Overall, prices increased on a monthly basis by 1.3%, up from negative 0.1% a month earlier.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Inflation is also leading the conversation abroad, with the international business press focusing its attention on slightly lower-than-expected inflation figures coming out of the US. Inflation cooled slightly in the US in July to hit 8.5%, thanks to lower energy costs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures (pdf). Although the cooling inflation is a welcome sign for the US economy, the US Federal Reserve has signaled that it needs several consecutive months of lower inflation figures before it dials back its aggressive interest rate hike plans. The story is on the front pages of the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNBC.

Meanwhile, China’s headline CPI in July also came in lower than expected, registering 2.7% (0.2 percentage points lower than analysts’ forecasts) despite pork prices recording their highest month-on-month increase, CNBC reports, citing data by Wind Information.


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

  • Egypt will begin cutting back on electricity consumption nationwide from next week in a bid to redirect more natural gas towards exports, thus netting additional inflows of foreign currency.
  • Another Gulf wealth fund wants a piece of Mopco: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund will acquire a stake in the state-owned Misr Fertilizers Production Company (Mopco) through the EGX.
  • Kuwaiti insurer wants AIG Egypt: A unit of Kuwait’s largest ins. group has submitted a takeover bid for AIG Egypt to acquire between 75% and 100% of the company at EGP 164.15 per share.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Ghazl El Mahalla IPO: The retail portion of Ghazl El Mahalla’s mini-IPO will wrap next Sunday, 14 August.

MNHD shareholders have the final word on SODIC takeover bid: Madinet Nasr Housing and Development will hold a general assembly meeting on Tuesday, 16 August, to decide whether to allow SODIC to conduct due diligence ahead of a potential takeover.

Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt will meet to discuss interest rates next Thursday, 18 August.

National Dialogue: The board of trustees overseeing the National Dialogue will hold its next meeting on 27 August. On the agenda: Choosing the rapporteurs for all of the committees and subcommittees of the social, political and economic tracks, and preparing the agenda and topics of discussion for the dialogue.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 38°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 24°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

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