The highlight of last night’s talk shows was Finance Minister Mohamed Maait’s chat with Al Kahera Alaan’s Lamees El Hadidi for an update on Egypt’s macro indicators and the government’s outlook amid covid-19.

The government is constantly updating its forecasts for Egypt’s economic growth as developments in the global economy rapidly unfold — some of which are positive, including the better-than-expected jobs data from Canada and the US, Maait said. The minister reiterated government expectations that Egypt will close out the current fiscal year (it ends on 30 June) with 4-4.2% GDP growth, down from original expectations of 6% growth.

Expect to see GDP growth recover significantly in mid-2021, or by the beginning of FY2021-2022, the minister said. Planning Minister Hala El Said had previously said the majority of Egypt’s growth in the coming fiscal year (3.5%) will likely be concentrated in its second half, with “very low growth” expected in the first half of the government’s new fiscal year, which runs July-December of this calendar year.

Egypt is still actively looking at financing from other international institutions beyond the IMF to help plug its budget deficit, after having secured a USD 2.8 bn rapid financing instrument and reaching an initial agreement over an additional USD 5.2 bn standby agreement from the fund, Maait told Lamees.

Tap or click here to watch the full interview (runtime: 27:34).

PepsiCo is investing USD 100 mn in Egypt this year to expand its production lines, GAFI boss Mohamed Abdel Wahab told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib. The investment is part of a total USD 515 mn the company pledged to invest over four years back in 2018 (watch, runtime: 2:41).

The Education Ministry is moving exams for three Thanaweya Amma subjects to at-home exams as it looks to reduce the number of students that pour into testing rooms, Minister Tarek Shawki told Lamees (watch, runtime: 17:55).