Happy Monday, wonderful people. It’s already been a busy start to the week, and we have a sneaking suspicion we’re not going to see things slowing down much over the next few days.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Blinken talks Palestine-Israel conflict with El Sisi, Shoukry: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the escalating tensions between Palestine and Israel during a meeting earlier today with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, according to an Ittihadiya statement. Blinken — who arrived in Cairo yesterday and is likely en route to Israel as we hit dispatch on this afternoon’s issue — reiterated Washington wants to work closely with Egypt to help restore calm following several days of airstrikes from Israel and attacks from Palestinian citizens. Blinken also sat down with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry for a separate meeting to touch on Egypt-US relations, alongside developments in Sudan and Libya, Reuters reports.

Expect Blinken’s visit to drive the conversation on Egypt in the press for the next few days: Blinken’s arrival in Cairo in the midst of escalating tension between Israel and Palestine has already got a lot of ink in the foreign press, with Reuters, Haaretz and the National all giving space to Egypt’s longstanding role as a mediator between Palestine and Israel.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Adani meltdown continues: The massive sell-off of Adani Group’s shares following blistering fraud allegations has so far wiped nearly USD 72 bn off the stock market value of the Indian coal conglomerate’s flagship company, Bloomberg reports. Shares of flagship Adani Enterprises fell 2% while Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission plummeted by 20% on Monday. Billionaire Gautam Adani’s 413-page rebuttal to the fraud claims — made last week by US investment research firm Hindenburg Research, which holds short positions in Adani Group — have done little to pacify investor concerns about the corporate governance of his business. The market meltdown coincides with Adani Enterprises’ secondary offering, which was planned to fund green hydrogen projects, Enterprise Climate noted this morning.

The story is still getting front-page play in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNBC

Driving the conversation throughout the rest of the week: We’re heading into a series of interest rate hikes. Global central banks are set to bump up interest rates in the days ahead to their highest levels since the financial crisis, the Financial Times reports. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates 25 bps in its two-day monetary policy meeting tomorrow and Wednesday — pushing rates to the highest levels since September 2007, albeit at a slower pace than the 50 bps hike in its December meeting. Analysts expect the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) to hike rates by 50 bps to their highest since fall 2008.

Remember when “transient” was the word of the day? Investors are worried this means inflation is more persistent than they thought: While slowing inflation spurred hopes that central banks will slow the pace of their rate hikes and caused bond markets to rally this month, price growth is expected to remain above the Fed and ECB targets of 2% in the medium term. Inflation still stands at 6.5% in the US and 9.2% in the EU. “[It] is going to be super difficult again for the Fed to … get inflation down to that magical 2% number without putting us into a recession,” one analyst told the FT. “The credit markets are effectively pricing in a no-recession outcome. But that’s not the consensus base case that most economists are forecasting,” said another.

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** TAKE OUR JANUARY ENTERPRISE READER SURVEY and get a chance to have lunch with us: Give us your thoughts on how 2022 panned out for your business and industry, and what you’re expecting in the year ahead in our Enterprise Reader Survey.

We’re asking you to share your expectations on the EGP / USD rate in 2023, how you’re managing expenses amid the rising cost of living, where you see your industry as a whole heading, and whether you expect to make fresh investments — among a few other questions we ask our community on a regular basis. As is our custom, we’ll be sharing the results with all of you in a few weeks’ time to help you shape your view of the year.

You can take the Reader Survey here — it won’t take more than a few minutes to complete.

Want to have lunch with us? Leave your name, email, mobile number, and where you work in the box for “Is there anything else you want to tell us.” We’ll be inviting eight participating readers to breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants.

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

• CIB now owns all of Kenya’s Mayfair: EGX mainstay CIB will acquire 49% of Mayfair CIB for USD 40 mn, giving it full ownership of the Kenyan bank.
• House gives first nod to tourism bill: The House of Representatives yesterday gave its preliminary approval to a draft bill that will strip the power to form and regulate tourism chambers from the Tourism Minister and place it instead in the hands of the Egyptian Tourism Federation.
• UAE accounting startup Wafeq has raised USD 3 mn in a seed round, the company said Wednesday. The round — led by Saudi VC Raed Ventures, with participation from Wamda Capital — will help fund Wafeq’s expansion into Egypt while scaling its services in the Gulf.

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FOR TOMORROW-

Sayonara, CDs: The National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr will pull their one-year 25% certificates of deposit from the market by the end of the working day tomorrow. The high-interest CDs were introduced earlier this month ahead of the devaluation of the EGP. CIB, QNB Alahli and Banque du Caire are yet to announce when they will follow suit, though we expect all the high-yield CDs to be pulled off the market in tandem.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s interest rate week here at home… The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is likely to hike interest rates when it meets on Thursday as inflation continues to run high, according to our interest rate poll.

…And in the US: The Federal Reserve is expected to continue to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes when it holds its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

EBRD + EU + GCF are holding a green finance event tomorrow: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EU, the Green Economic Financing Facility, and the Green Climate Fund will hold a green finance event on Tuesday, 31 January at the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel.

NPH gets more time for Pachin takeover bid: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has granted a 60-day extension to Dubai-based National Paints Holdings’ (NPH) on its offer to acquire Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin), according to a statement to the EGX (pdf).

REMEMBER– NPH’s offer of EGP 29 per share for 100% of Pachin is the second highest of five bids to take over the company in recent months. Pachin had been expected to respond to NPH’s offer this month but has not yet done so. The highest bidder at EGP 30 a share, Compass Capital, recently got the nod from Pachin to do due diligence.

We’re still waiting to hear what’s happening with fuel prices this quarter: The government’s fuel pricing committee was due to meet earlier this month to set fuel prices for 1Q 2023. The government has increased prices at the pump by 23-28% since April 2021, and decided on a rare fuel oil price hike last July.

Expect prices to rise: The government has committed to changing local fuel prices in line with movements in the global markets under the USD 3 bn loan agreement with the IMF.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Winter will finally be upon us starting tomorrow. Look for the mercury to slide below 20°C for the coming two weeks, our favorite weather app suggests.