Inflation and a resurgent EGP were in the limelight on the airwaves last night.

The strengthening of the EGP can be attributed to an influx of foreign currency at the banks, thanks to increased remittances, revenues from international bond sales, as well as a rise in exports and foreign direct investments, National Bank of Egypt Deputy Chairman Yehia Aboul Fotouh told Amr Adib on last night’s Kol Youm. Aboul Fotouh said he expects the EGP to continue strengthen as long as foreign currency reserves are on the rise (watch, runtime 3:05)

Over on Hona Al Asema, Lamees Al Hadidi spoke to MP Mohamed Elsewedy about a proposal he submitted to increase the price of crops the government purchases from farmers in response to the recent fuel price hike (we have more in the Speed Round, but you can catch thee talk here, runtime 5:33).

Lamees then moved on to talk about the Electricity Ministry, which is apparently looking to add about 10k new bill collectors to its rosters due to a staff shortage, according to what Minister Mohamed Shaker told House representatives yesterday. Unfathomable to Lamees was the fact that the ministry is not looking for new hires, but will resort instead to the police or military to provide it with the muscle needed for the job. “These are valuable job opportunities,” the host said. Ministry Spokesperson Ayman Hamza told Lamees though that those would be temporary jobs since the government is moving to replace most meters with prepaid ones that would not require collectors (watch, runtime 11:12).

On Yahduth fi Misr, Sherif Amer, was on the listing of state-owned enterprises and unemployment benefits. Cabinet spokesperson Ashraf Sultantold the host that the main drive behind the IPOs of publicly-owned companies is not to privatize but to grow capital and expand activities. He also confirmed to Amer that the government is looking into the possibility of unemployment benefits in light of the the Administrative Court’s verdict on Monday.