The Al Masry Al Youm economics columnist writing under the pseudonym Newton chastises the House of Representatives about their inability to take decisive action on the economic reform agenda. All traders have already priced their products at a 14% VAT rate, regardless of what the House decides to pass, he says. The discrepancies will only serve traders, and not the government or consumers. Parliament needs to move quickly and decisively as all delays are now becoming too costly, he adds.

Left-leaning Abdullah El Sinawi looks at the IMF loan and the political implications of economic reform in a piece for Al Shorouk. “When you’re in a crisis, no one will give you gifts. Everything has a political price,” he says, referring to efforts to raise additional USD to form a liquidity shield before devaluation of the EGP. Pressures to increase prices will have an expected social backlash reminiscent of the 1977 bread riots and Egypt needs political reform to go with the economic reform measures, he says.

The Ikhwan leadership is to blame for the massacre at Raba’a in 2013, Al Ahram columnist Farouk Goweda writes. He asks if it was wise to amass so many women and children, announce the formation of an Islamic caliphate in the heart of Cairo, and escalate the situation with proven accounts of weapons at the sit-ins. “If accountability is necessary, the Brotherhood should hold themselves accountable,” he says.

Makram Mohamed Ahmed looks outward at US politics and the presidential race in a piece for Al Ahram. Because Donald Trump “went so far out” in his attacks on his opponents, it’s become very difficult to back down and change course, he says. The Republican Party’s stance on Donald Trump is fractured further every time he does something like accuse US President Barack Obama of founding Daesh, subtly incite his supporters to armed protest if he loses, or become the first nominee in a generation to refuse to release his tax returns.