President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s phone call with US President Donald Trump was the hot topic of the evening among the talking heads, with many viewing it as a positive step towards furthering relations.
Kol Youm’s Amr Adib said that the political relations between Egypt and the US “is seeing some relief” after slight tensions over the past few years due to the Obama administration’s perceived stance in Egypt towards the Muslim Brotherhood (watch; runtime: 15:49). Politics analyst Abdel Moneim Saeed called what we’re seeing a rapprochement built on the mutual goal of fighting terrorism (watch: runtime: 4:51).
You can always count on Hona Al Assema’s Lamees Al Hadidy to bring a more analytical approach to the table. Last night she hosted Former Arab League secretary-general Nabil Al Araby who warned against reading too much into the call. “It is hard to predict Trump’s policies,” said Al Araby (watch; runtime: 2:42). Lamees then spoke with Mohamed Hornai, member of Palestinian Fatah, who said that the Palestinian Authority is concerned about the possibility of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem (watch; runtime: 2:58).
Yahduth fi Masr’s Sherif Amer did a spotlight on CBE Governor Tarek Amer’s questioning at the House of Representatives on monetary policy, where (as expected) he was bombarded by questions on the exchange rate. Amer interviewed House Economics Committee member Amr El Gohary who said, “We agreed with the governor on the urgency of reducing imports, but were not convinced on the current monetary policy. We hoped the EGP floatation to happen in a more stable economic environment and that there were stronger social safety networks.” In other words, if ain’t broke, break it, then fix it.

On the topic of presidential pardons, sources told Amer that the second list of candidates which will receive a pardon is made up entirely of those arrested for protesting.

On Al Hayah Al Youm, secretary-general of the Social Fund for Development (SFD) Nevine Gamee’ told host Lobna Assal that 45% of the EGP 4bn in SME funding in 2016 went to outlying governorates, especially Upper Egypt. “This is a reflection of the strong demand for investment and financing over there,” Gamee’ said (watch: runtime: 3:51).