Will the Central Bank of Egypt raise interest rates to combat higher prices fuelled by the Ukraine war? Noaman Khalid, associate director at Arqaam Capital, thinks so. A rise in interest rates in the CBE’s upcoming monetary policy committee meeting later this month is “a very big possibility,” he said during a phone-in with Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime 5:21). With the war’s economic consequences now expected to last more than just a few weeks, the CBE could raise interest rates “in efforts to contain local inflation imported from abroad,” Khalid said. The CBE will meet to review interest rates on 24 March.

Other analysts have flagged a 2022 hike, but this is by far the earliest call: A number of analysts told us in our most recent interest rate poll that they expect the CBE to tighten policy later in the year in response to rising inflation and higher global rates. The folks at the central bank have left rates unchanged in recent months despite forecasts for higher prices and a tighter policy environment.

The surging cost of oil and goods took center stage on our airwaves last night, with the talking heads discussing reasons behind global price increases and their ramifications on Egyptian markets, including: Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime 35:41 | 4:04), El Hekaya (watch, runtime 4:41), and Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime 7:57).

And in non-war news: Our old Thanaweya Amma system is history, Education Minister Tarek Shawki told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib in a phone-in last night (watch, runtime 4:00), responding to rumors that the old system was about to make a comeback. The old high school testing system measured the students’ memorizing skills, while the new tests measure students’ levels of understanding, he said.