Gov’t almost ready to push ahead with privatization program: Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib that the committee in charge of the state’s privatization program has completed 96% of the preparations for state companies due to either sell shares or offer shares in an initial public offering before the end of the year. Banque du Caire is among the companies “on its way to IPO” as part of the second wave of the state’s privatization program, Tawfik added (watch, runtime: 7:02).

The Chamber of Commerce is bullish on gold: Adib also interviewed Ehab Wassef, deputy head of the gold division at the chamber of commerce, for his two cents on where gold prices are headed. “Gold is still a safe investment as its price is expected to rapidly rise,” Wassef said (watch, runtime: 6:05).

The PM’s directive to accelerate work on a new axis project also got some airtime: Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal took note of a directive by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly to speed up ongoing works at a two-way axis near El-Tawarei Canal linking Gesr El Suez to the Belbeis desert road (watch, runtime: 2:33).

Egypt, EBRD sign grant agreement for railway renovation: The government signed a EUR 1.5 mn agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to renovate railway locomotives and develop a railway freight system, Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal reported (watch, runtime: 4:22).

Harvard economic report receives coverage: Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hossary reported that Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly held a cabinet meeting to review the findings of a report by the Harvard Center for International Development (watch, runtime: 2:00). The report forecasts Egypt’s economy to grow at an average 6.8% clip over the coming decade due to diverse and specialized exports.