The economics-focused columnist who goes by the pseudonym Newton penned a piece for Al Masry Al Youm to say that economic development begins with putting the right policies in place rather than focusing on implementing large projects. Not all projects can be assessed using traditional feasibility studies, he says, with an indirect nod to the Suez Canal development projects; for some, the indirect non-monetary benefits outweigh most financial costs. However, for Newton, the negotiations with the IMF are key, as they will set the economic policies for the whole country and this is a chance to liberate Egyptians from “poverty” and “despair.”

Meanwhile, AUC economics professor and author of “Whatever Happened to the Egyptians?” Galal Amin offers a hard-to-follow analogy for Al Ahram, comparing Egypt and the IMF to person who won’t stop drinking and smoking, and the latter to a physician who offers medicine he knows won’t fix the problem — and wants to sell your kidney.

Makram Mohamed Ahmed, a columnist widely seen as close to the Sisi administration, writes for Al Ahram to underscore that Tiran and Sanafir islands are not Egyptian. Ahmed cites geographical maps that he claims prove Saudi Arabia’s historic sovereignty over the two specs in the Red Sea.