FinMin takes to the airwaves: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait joined El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 31:44) last night for a 30-minute interview focused on reassuring the public about the economy following a less-than-optimistic review from Fitch Ratings, which last week became the latest rating agency to downgrade our sovereign credit rating (more on that in this morning’s Economy section, above).

It has been a tough couple of years: “The Egyptian economy has been under immense pressure since the pandemic,” Maait said, pointing to the shock caused by covid-19 and its impact on tourism, exports, and public finances. The country’s recovery from the pandemic was then derailed by the war in Ukraine, which took aim at Egypt’s food security and again disrupted the tourism industry. “We will overcome this crisis,” he told show host Amr Adib. “We are confident in the Egyptian economy … it’s just a matter of time.”

Choice words for rating agencies: The minister accused the international rating agencies of being biased against Egypt. “There is prejudice [against Egypt],” Maait said, adding that a single day could see eight new economic reports on Egypt. Each of the big three rating agencies have taken negative action on Egypt in recent months, with Fitch and Moody’s both downgrading its rating due to the intensifying economic crisis.

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