Last Night’s Talk Shows: Commodities and food prices were the main topic of conversation on the airwaves last night, while the country’s maiden sukuk issuance continued getting attention and Masa’a DMC’s Ramy Radwan did his best to make us all feel better about the current economic situation.

Contract farming and food prices led the conversation on the talk shows last night: The government’s decision to hand farmers a guaranteed price for selling corn, soy and sunflower crops was covered across the airwaves last (check out this morning’s Also on our Radar for more details). Cabinet spokesman Nader Saad appeared on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 9:13) while an Agriculture Ministry official phoned in to Yahduth Fi Masr to explain the decision. Masaa DMC also had coverage (watch, runtime: 1:01).

At least we’re not Venezuela: That was the message delivered by Masa’a DMC’s Ramy Radwan last night, who eagerly pointed out all the countries that currently have higher inflation rates than Egypt (watch, runtime: 3:49) and noted ongoing food shortages in the UK (watch, runtime: 3:09), before mounting a defense of the Egyptian economy and the government’s handling of the situation.

Rising chicken prices were given particular attention, with Radwan talking to an industry figure about the government’s plan to increase imports (watch, runtime: 9:07) and Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa accusing producers of undermining authorities’ attempts to solve the crisis (watch, runtime: 3:13). Cabinet spokesman Saad also made an appearance on Ala Mas’ouleety, who described the decision to import chicken as a “fast solution to increase supply before Ramadan” and stressed that the FX shortage is the reason behind the problems (watch, runtime: 28:40).

Rice also got a mention: With the lifting of the price cap last week sending rice prices soaring, Radwan opted to cover yesterday’s purchase of 50k tons of imported rice and spoke to Ragab Shehata, the head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ rice division, about how imports will impact the market (watch, runtime: 6:42).

Sukuk for dummies: Egypt successfully wrapping up its maiden sukuk issuance yesterday under a three-year, USD 5 bn sukuk program got coverage, with Yahduth Fe Masr’s Sherif Amer trying to help viewers get the hang of the concept. Mohamed Hegazy, head of the Finance Ministry's debt management unit, joined Amer to discuss the issuance (watch, runtime: 5:29).

The talking heads were keen to restate the recent rise in foreign direct investment, with Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 0:34) and Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 0:28) reiterating balance of payments figures published earlier this month that showed FDI had risen to USD 3.3 bn in FY 1Q 2022-2023.