Egypt’s subsidy cuts, OPEC+ to renew output deal

Electricity price hikes announced in Egypt this week are actually less aggressive than last year’s, but this will shave only a small amount off headline inflation. And with fuel price increases still to be announced, we think that the central bank will hold off from cutting interest rates until later this year. Meanwhile, there strong hints that OPEC+ will extend its oil output agreement in some form into the second half of this year supports our view that the slowdown in economic growth in the Gulf has further to run.