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Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Last Night’s Talk Shows: Qalyub train crash + more privatization talk

The train accident in Qalyub was one of the most talked about stories on last night’s talk shows, with Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime:2:29) and Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 7:00) both covering the story. At least two people died and 16 were wounded when a train derailed in the city yesterday.

More on the state’s privatization plans: The state’s plan to sell off an undisclosed stake in Telecom Egypt (TE) is more advanced stages than it is letting on, according to Egyptian Capital Market Association VP Ayman Sabry, who claimed in an interview on Kelma Akhira that the Finance Ministry has kicked off a roadshow to market the sale to local and regional investors (watch, runtime: 7:32). The transaction could close within days, he said. It wasn’t clear where Sabry had received the information from.

Quantity over quality: “The most important thing at the moment is speed of implementation because we need to get the ball rolling,” Sabry told show host Lamees El Hadidi. “The price isn’t the main priority but rather having transactions happening on a regular basis,” he said, referring to the state privatization program (watch, runtime: 1:37).

We have more privatization news in this morning’s news well, above.

Ahmed Moussa really doesn’t like the US: In a five-minute rant last night, the firebrand show host accused Washington of intentionally increasing poverty rates and aggravating inflationary pressures around the world (watch, runtime: 5:44). Referencing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks yesterday (more on that below), Moussa described the Fed’s aggressive monetary policy as the “US’ economic war against the entire world.”

Predictions roll in for the CBE’s upcoming policy meeting: “I see the central bank moving forward with a rate hike in its upcoming meeting,” banking expert Sahar El Damaty told Moussa (watch, runtime: 13:18), citing inflationary pressures and outflows triggered by the Fed raising rates. Inflation hit a five-year high of 25.8% in January as the impact of the ongoing depreciation of the EGP pushed food prices to accelerate at a record rate.

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