The Finance Ministry has settled on an exchange rate of EGP 16.00 per greenback and sees oil price at USD 55 / bbl for the FY2017-18 budget, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy told Youm7 after the cabinet economic group’s budget talks on Monday. The budget should head to the House of Representatives in the coming weeks, and the grandstanding has already begun, with Rep. Amr El Gohary describing the as-yet un-released budget as “disastrous,” Al Mal reports. A trenchant critique with deep insight we should all consider, clearly.

Meanwhile, the Supply Ministry is working with bakery owners to review what they’re paid to produce subsidized bread, with the new prices coming into effect in the upcoming fiscal year, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy tells Al Borsa. The Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s bakeries division is expected the figure to rise to EGP 176 per 100 kg of bread, up from EGP 165, according to head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ bakeries division Hassan El Mohamady. El Moselhy had said that state spending on bread subsidies will reach EGP 60 bn in the FY2017-18 state budget.