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Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Postponement of businesses’ tax payment deadline tops Egypt’s talk show coverage

Last night’s talk shows were awash with coverage and commentary on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s decree pushing the tax payment deadline for businesses and providing support for the tourism and civil aviation industries.

Ittihadiya spokesman Bassam Rady took to the airwaves to give the talking heads the lowdown on the decision, which we break down in this morning’s Speed Round, below. Rady had a chat with Al Kahera Alaan’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 10:22) and El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 8:23). Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 1:29) and Min Masr’s Reham Ibrahim (watch, runtime: 5:05) also took note of the president’s decree.

An EGP 500 mn monthly stipend the state will pay day laborers in each of the coming three months will cost state coffers some EGP 1.5 bn, Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan told ‘Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa. The three-month allowance, which is part of the bundle of decisions El Sisi issued yesterday, will be disbursed to 1.5 mn workers who have registered with the ministry (watch, runtime 3:12)

Tax holidays for tourism companies and loans for airlines were specifically designed to avoid layoffs in these industries, Tourism Minister Khaled Enany told Moussa, saying that companies that still lay off workers could face penalties (watch, runtime 5:28).

The Health Ministry’s daily covid-19 update was also featured on Al Kahera Alaan (watch, runtime: 1:20), Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 1:07), and Min Masr (watch, runtime: 4:40). We have the details in What We’re Tracking Today, above.

Spotlight on the Breathe campaign: Jenan Sheta had a chat with Lamees to detail how she and her two sisters decided to launch the Breathe campaign to help acquire ventilators for Egyptian hospitals. The campaign, which is the pilot project of the Sheta sisters’ charity startup, HumanKind, has so far raised money for 30 ventilators, of which 12 have already been delivered to hospitals (watch, runtime: 8:14).

Also on the airwaves last night:

Lamees took note of the death of New Giza Chairman Mansour El Gammal (watch, runtime: 0:28). Stories in Al Masry Al Youm and Al Shorouk report that El Gammal died of acute pneumonia secondary to a covid-19 infection, while Youm7 reports only that he passed after a long illness.

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