Al Masry Al Youm Chairman Abdel Moneim Saeed writes on Egypt’s ability to take action to implement reforms necessary to land USD 12 bn in IMF funding for AMAY. The IMF loan will require a change of human behaviour if it will do anything besides put Egypt further in debt, he says.

Al Watan’s Mahmoud Khalil is urging the government not pursue the IMF loan. His reasoning is twofold: The country needs a liquidity shield before it can devalue the national currency, and that the IMF is just another American tool to destabilize Egypt. While Khalil barely acknowledges that the loan would improve investment in the country, he does not factor in how the loan would help cover reserves shortfalls not to mention the USD 2-3 bn Eurobond issuance that will come with it.

Khalil fits right in: Al Watan has become a wee bit anti-American of late. Columnist Emad El Din Adib attacked what he called the hypocrisy of US policy on Syria, while Sahar Ga’ara flat-out calls US President Barack Obama a terrorist.

Al Ahram Editor Farouk Goweda pens a piece asking why a terrorist attack would target former Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, while government-affiliated Makram Mohamed Ahmed hits on the same theme in a separate piece, also for Al Ahram.