** #5 An interview with IMF Egypt Mission Chief Subir Lall was the highlight of the night on the airwaves.

Egypt’s debt levels will remain safe as long as it holds the line on economic reform by remaining focused on phasing out subsidies and achieving a budget surplus, Lall told Yahdoth fi Masr’s Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 1:12). Lall praised ongoing economic reform efforts during a discussion of Egypt’s latest staff-level agreement with the IMF for the fifth tranche of its USD 12 bn loan, on which we have chapter and verse on in this morning’s Speed Round, below (watch here, runtime: 3:06 and here, runtime: 2:16 ). He told Amer that reducing sovereign debt to 93% of GDP in FY2017-18 from 103% the year before was a “huge achievement” (watch, runtime: 1:36).

Job creation is Egypt’s current challenge and the private sector has a role to play here, Lall noted (watch, runtime: 1:59).

Lall was briefly dragged into potato-gate as Amer joined his peers in a modest freakout over the price of spuds. Lall suggested the spike in potato prices is not a sign the economic sky is falling, is likely temporary and added that the IMF has been in touch with the Agriculture Ministry to learn more about the issue (watch, runtime: 1:31).

Environmental issues were the order of the day on Masaa DMC, with Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad making an appearance on the show last night to discuss issues such as the pollution caused by burning rice straw (a widespread phenomenon across rural Egypt). Foad said that there have been fewer incidents of rice straw burning recently since the ministry began to take action (watch, runtime: 5:17). Sharqiya governor Mamdouh Ghorab also phoned into the show to talk about a thick cloud of black smoke that has formed over a village in Kafr El Sheikh from burning trash (watch, runtime: 10:21).