Good afternoon, friends. It’s finally time to slide into the weekend — and winter break for some kids.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

valU to spend USD 25 mn on regional + product expansion: EFG Hermes’ buy-now-pay-later platform valU expects to invest some USD 25 mn to complete its expansion to Saudi Arabia and roll out new products in early 2023, valU CEO Walid Hassouna said, according to Zawya. valU signed a sale and purchase agreement to buy a 35% stake in new Saudi consumer finance player Fas Finance earlier this year, which will pave the way for valU to enter the Saudi market. The agreement is currently pending approval from Saudi’s central bank, according to Hassouna. The company is also in talks with two unnamed companies to acquire “significant” minority stakes, as well as a third company valU is looking to acquire in full, Hassouna said.

PSA- E-invoicing deadline pushed till the end of the month: Companies have until the close of play on 31 December to register with the Tax Authority’s e-invoicing system, after the Finance Ministry pushed the deadline from today. Only 150k companies had signed up to the new system as of the end of November, well below a sought goal of 1 mn companies to register under the system.

REMEMBER- The self-employed have a later deadline: The Finance Ministry pushed the deadline for self-employed professionals — including doctors, pharmacists and lawyers — to 30 April 2023 after widespread opposition to the system.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The Bank of England enacted a 50 bps interest rate hike today, bringing its bank rate to 3.5%, according to a statement from its monetary policy committee. This marks the ninth consecutive rate hike, as the central bank tries to put a cap on spiraling inflation. The story is leading the conversation in the international business press this afternoon, with front-page coverage from the Financial Times, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC.

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

• Ministers have awarded a golden license for a USD 5.5 bn green ammonia plant in Ain Sokhna with an annual production capacity of 1 mn tons.
• Salaries above EGP 800k could be subject to a new top tax rate: The Finance Ministry is proposing amendments to the Income Tax Act that would enforce a new 27.5% wage tax rate on salaries of more than EGP 800k a year.
• The EGX has approved the temporary listing of the Damietta Container & Cargo Handling Company’s (DCHC) shares ahead of a potential IPO next year.

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FOR TOMORROW-

The IMF’s executive board will meet tomorrow to review our request for a USD 3 bn facility on which we reached a staff-level agreement in late October after adopting what the Central Bank of Egypt said is a “durably flexible” exchange rate policy.

The loan is broadly expected to be approved, but Egypt needs to continue working on expanding its social safety net, Jihad Azour, IMF Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department told CNBC Arabia.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

EGX-listed Pachin will brief shareholders on acquisition offers it has received in its ordinary general assembly next Tuesday, 20 December Dubai-based National Paints Holdings is offering to purchase 100% of Pachin for EGP 29 per share — far outbidding earlier offers from Universal Building Materials and Chemicals (Sipes) and Saybad Industrial Investment that have since been withdrawn.

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 weekend will see daytime highs of 25°C on Friday and Saturday while the mercury will fall to 15-17°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.