Leading the airwaves yesterday was the start of public consultations over the state’s proposed privatization policy document dominated the airwaves last night, receiving coverage from Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 19:54), Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 4:12), and El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 4:34) among others.

“The document should not be limited to the state’s exit from industries,” economist and former deputy prime minister Ziad Bahaa El Din told Kelma Akira’s Lamis El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 6:56). Bahaa El Din, who attended the first of meetings by the government with economic experts, praised the government for “opening up the subject, drafting a document and making it accessible to the public,” but called for the strategy to provide a deeper roadmap of the relationship between the state and the economy. “What is needed is a clear definition of the state’s role and regulating it and providing opportunities to the private sector to be allowed to operate in available sectors,” he said. “The closer the document is in setting the rules of the game, the better the interest for the state and private sector.”

Electricity price freeze: Yesterday’s decision by the government to pause hikes in electricity prices led conversations on talk shows, with coverage from Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 4:04), El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 2:11 ) and Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 3:29). El Hadidi wasn’t particularly thrilled about the across-the-board price freeze, arguing that only low- and medium-consumption brackets should be shielded from rising prices.

^^ We have the details on both of these stories in this morning’s news well, above.

Also getting coverage last night:

• El Sisi inaugurates dairy complex + approves EGP 10 bn loans for livestock farmers: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s inauguration of a meat and dairy production complex in Sadat City got coverage from Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:57). El Sisi approved EGP 10 bn in soft loans to support the development of livestock and improve the lives of small-scale breeders.
• Changing of the guard at Al Ahly: The football club announced yesterday that it would be parting ways with coach Pitso Mosimane by mutual consent and thanked him for his work at the club. The news comes just three months after he signed a new two-year contract with the club. Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 13:12), Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 7:16) and El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 5:04) all had coverage.