A busy night on the airwaves brought us more coverage of the gold market and the government’s attempts to rein in soaring prices, as well as the rebooted building reconciliation law, which may be returning to the legislative agenda in the coming weeks.

Gold prices are back on the rise: Local gold prices jumped 9% over the weekend despite measures introduced last week aimed at tamping down on soaring prices. Prices had slipped last week on the back of the decision to allow expats to bring the precious metal into the country without paying customs duties

What the government is saying:"The main reason for that jump is that Egyptians still have a lot of liquid assets at hand … there is demand,” Nagy Farag, an advisor to the Supply Ministry, told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 3:55). The decision is yet to impact the market because not many expats have entered the country, he said, adding that he is confident that the weekend’s rally is only a temporary move.

What’s happening with building reconciliation? Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly yesterday held a meeting on the building reconciliation bill, marking “the beginning of the end of the reconciliation issue in Egypt,” Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa said (watch, runtime: 5:11). In 2-3 weeks Justice Minister Omar Marwan will present the first draft of the new bill to the cabinet.

REMEMBER- The original 2019 legislation gave owners of illegal buildings the option to pay reconciliation fees to allow them to go legit. The government has been rethinking the bill after authorities responded to only a fraction of the 2.8 mn reconciliation requests, while a lack of unified rules left various governorates implementing the rules differently. The new bill is expected to make it easier for people to pay up and establish a set of unified rules for collecting the fees. The House Housing Committee approved the new bill last year but nothing has been heard until now.

Also getting attention on the airwaves:

  • Pharma prices: Ali Ouf, head of the pharma division in the Federation of Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, downplayed recent rises in pharma prices in an interview on Kelma Akhira, telling show host Lamees El Hadidi that prices are “currently stable” (watch, runtime: 5:49).
  • El Molla on green methanol: In an interview aired on Ala Mas’ouleety, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla emphasized the need for Egypt to capitalize on shipping companies’ rising interest in green methanol by positioning itself as a key player in the industry. This comes a week after Norwegian renewables producer Scatec signed an agreement to build a USD 450 mn methanol plant in Damietta alongside local firms (watch, runtime: 4:22).
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