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Thursday, 23 June 2022

Last Night’s Talk Shows: Rates take center stage on a slow night

The talking heads appeared to declare an unofficial early weekend last night, with no hard news in sight. Instead, coverage focused on forecasts for today’s central bank policy meeting, with Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 8:55) and Yahduth Fe Masr (watch, runtime: 5:02) both chiming in.

Higher rates take a toll: Every 100 bps rise in rates costs the public purse some EGP 50 bn, banking expert Sahar Al Damaty told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait on Tuesday put the cost at EGP 30 bn. Al Damaty added that she expects the central bank to keep rates unchanged because it already took “preemptive steps” by upping rates by 300 bps since March, chiming with a slim majority of the analysts we surveyed in our customary poll.

Still unpacking the MbS visit: Al Hayah Al Youm, which interviewed Senate member Emad El Din Hussein on the Saudi crown prince’s stop in Cairo (watch, runtime: 7:08). Hussein pointed out the key timing of the trip, coming less than a month before the Saudi-hosted regional summit with US President Joe Biden.

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