The Supply Ministry opening the door for the registration of new beneficiaries to subsidy rolls led the conversation on last night’s talk shows, with Minister Ali El Moselhy blanketing the airwaves to discuss the move.

Allowing new additions to the country’s subsidy rolls comes as part of the government’s expansion of its social safety net, El Moselhy told Hona Al Asema. The minister explained the conditions citizens must meet to be added to the ministry’s database. Unregistered citizens born between January 2006 and December 2015 will be added to the Supply Ministry’s rosters until 31 October (watch, runtime: 13:44). The ministry expects to add at least 3-4 mn new subsidy benefactors during the registration period, and is working in parallel to continue weeding out subsidy moochers, El Moselhy told Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 12:11). Supply Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Kamal phoned into Yahduth fi Masr to say much of the same (watch, runtime: 7:43).

Tax Authority head Emad Samy recapped the state’s tax collection figures for FY2017-18 and explained the reasons behind the increase on Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 3:49 and runtime: 2:33). He also noted that the tax collection target for FY2018-19 is EGP 771 bn (watch, runtime: 2:10) and that the authority is looking to widen its tax base by collecting taxes from football players and their agents, who were previously exempt (watch, runtime: 2:30).

The state’s privatization program and public debt reduction strategy were the main topics of discussion at a meeting Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held with CBE Governor Tarek Amer and the finance, transport, and electricity ministers yesterday, Cabinet Spokesman Ashraf Sultan told Al Hayah fi Masr (watch, runtime: 6:19).

Ten foreign correspondents were granted access to the restive North Sinai region, which shows that Egypt “has nothing to hide” from the outside world, State Information Service head Diaa Rashwan told Masaa DMC. The SIS plans to arrange another round of visits for more journalists soon, Rashwan said (watch, runtime: 6:06).

The Irrigation Ministry is apparently working on incentivizing water conservation among farmers by creating a competition that will reward farmers who use the most water-conscious irrigation methods, head of the ministry’s planning department said on Hona Al Asema. The competition is being run in cooperation with the EU and is part of a wider effort to raise awareness on water conservation (watch, runtime: 4:50).

Hona Al Asema’s Dina Zahraa also had a chat with the women behind the concept of creating a visual brand for Luxor, Yasmina Saleh, Dina Fouad and Yasmin Soliman (watch, runtime: 19:45) and the athletes who participated in the African Games (watch, runtime: 30:03).