Yesterday’s unveiling of the draft budget for the coming fiscal year dominated the conversation on the airwaves last night, including on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 8:39), Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 9:29) and Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 31:07). We have the key details in this morning’s news well, above.

Zamalek residents, rejoice, as your roads could be less congested (maybe) as a result of drilling operations from the third phase of Cairo Metro Line 3. The third phase of the line — running from Ataba, passing through Zamalek to El KitKat, Imbaba and Rod Al Farag — will open to the public at the beginning of the July, and pilot operations will start next week, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 5:18). Zamalek residents have been complaining for ages now that drilling from the construction of the proposed station on the island would affect the structural soundness of old buildings and change the nature of the district — to say nothing of having snarled traffic during the buildout.

The Cairo Ring Road bus rapid transit (BRT) system will be up and running by the end of the year, El Wazir said (watch, runtime: 3:13). The system will replace microbuses as the main mode of public transport on the Ring Road, El Wazir said. The BRT system will provide an alternative means of transportation on the Ring Road and is aimed at reducing traffic on the congested freeway.

Also getting a mention:

• Gulf help eases FX pressure: The USD 5 bn provided by Saudi Arabia last month to back Egypt amid the Ukrainian crisis has eased the pressure on the EGP, Fakhry El Fiqi, head of the House Planning and Budget Committee, told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 2:02).
• Covid makes its talk show comeback: Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi discussed the emerging threats posed by the ongoing covid outbreaks in China and South Africa with Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar (watch, runtime: 10:35).
• Actors will be exempted from paying VAT for unpaid appearances on TV shows, a document from the Tax Authority to the Actors’ Syndicate showed, according to Kelma Akhira’s El-Hadidi. (watch, runtime: 1:45)