With the unveiling of the state IPO program and the Ismail cabinet signing off on next year’s budget, we finally have something to cut through the endless coverage of the elections. We have more in depth coverage of both of these topics in the Speed Round below.

First state IPO coming in two months? Finance Minister Amr El Garhy revealed that the first of the IPOs may be offered within a couple of months, in a phone in with Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi. Exact dates have yet to be determined. El Garhy also spoke on the good health of the companies slated to list as part of the program (watch, runtime: 8:18). He added that the stakes in individual companies, which will range from 15-30%, will depend on the financial outlook of each of the 23 companies listed to take part in the program. He estimates the stake offers to bring in USD 5-6 bn in the coming 24 months (watch, runtime: 7:55).

Oil Minister Tarek El Molla also phoned in to tell Lamees that the decision to list state oil firms came on the back of the “successes” in the oil sector during 2017, most notably the start of production on Zohr (watch, runtime: 8:18).

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib’s praised the move as something that would break the chains of the state bureaucracy holding these companies down. Adib demanded further clarification from the government as to where the proceeds would be allocated in the budget, how the companies would be managed and what the guarantees are for foreign investors (watch, runtime: 6:00). Has he not heard of Enterprise?

As for the newly approved FY2018-19 state budget, El Garhy tells Lamees that revenues in the budget have been set at EGP 980 bn with expenses exceeding EGP 1.4 tn, with a budget deficit running at 8.4% of the GDP (watch, runtime: 7:55). Deputy Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Khaled Abu Bakr that the government is targeting a GDP growth rate 5.8% (watch, runtime: 14:41).

The Ismail cabinet also approved legislation allowing the government to revoke Egyptian citizenship for those convicted of belonging to a terrorist group. On Masaa DMC, constitutional expert Salah Fawzy assured that the legislation was constitutional despite the controversy and debate around it. He said that in case a person becomes stateless after their Egyptian nationality is withdrawn, they will still have the right to remain in the country but will be deprived from their rights as citizens (watch, runtime: 8:43).

The rest of the night was all coverage from the polls abroad.