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Diplomacy and the economy dominate talk show coverage, with Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi bringing us the latest on the USD black market, while Masa’a DMC and Al Hayah Al Youm take us to Jeddah where the Arab League summit took place on Friday.
EGP gains against the greenback: The USD-EGP rate in the parallel market has dropped in recent days from 41-42 to 37-38 as of Thursday, El Hadidi said (watch, runtime: 3:59). While most analysts are citing the newly-introduced custom breaks for gold, other reports are suggesting that demand for USDs is winding down, “which I am not so excited about because it could mean stagnation,” she said. “This is a temporary move if the root of the issue is not tackled.”
It’s all psychological? The gains are largely due to psychological reasons after people realized that it has become easier for gold to enter the country, Egyptian Capital Market Association (ECMA) chairman Mohamed Maher told Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 5:41). He reiterated El Hadidi’s comments that EGP gains could be temporary if the state doesn’t work to maintain it, pointing towards the offering program. “There needs to be rapid movement [on the offering program] and movement to sell attractive assets,” he said.
An Arab League summit for the books: Friday’s Arab League summit in Jeddah was notable not just for the anticipated return of Syria to the table but also for the surprise participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This summit was different from previous ones,” Saudi political analyst and researcher Mubarak Al Atti told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 5:43).
On Syria: “All Arab issues were discussed, with a special focus on crisis-stricken nations,” Gamal Roshdy, a spokesperson for the Arab League’s secretary-general, told Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 7:55). “There was a realization that keeping Syria away from the Arab League wasn’t helping resolve its issues or resolve its consequences,” he added. The next step would be seeing the forces in Syria disappear gradually and for Syria to go back to what it used to be, Mohammad Al Ghobari, former director of the National Defense College at Nasser Military Academy, told Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 5:26). We have more in this morning’s Diplomacy section, below.
It’s week two of the National Dialogue: Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 17:10) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 6:18) both had segments on the National Dialogue looking at the last week and the next.
