No single story caught the attention of last night’s talking heads, who brought us coverage of the recent VAT changes, a one-on-one with one of the presidential candidates, and the extension of a ceasefire in Gaza.

The new VAT law: Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi heard from Egyptian Tax Authority chief Fayez El Daba’ani about the regulatory amendments that came into effect last week that require some businesses to settle their VAT dues in FX (watch, runtime: 8:26). El Daba’ani clarified that those self-employed will also be subject to the new rules though he didn’t elaborate on how much FX they’re expected to bring in. Importers have been handed an exemption from the rules, as we note above in What We’re Tracking Today.

Election 2023: El Hekaya’s Amr Adib spoke to presidential hopeful Hazem Omar to unpack his election campaign and thoughts on the country’s economic headwinds (watch, runtime: 11:13). Omar put the currency crisis down to Egypt’s high levels of external debt and the lack of economic reform, which he said could happen “within three years” with the right expertise. When asked how he would handle the question of the Grand Egyptian Renaissance Dam and Ethiopia’s unilateral action, he said that he will resort to some sort of powerful action in case Ethiopia’s dam filling results in a major dip in the Nile’s water levels.

Gaza truce extension: After the four-day ceasefire was extended by a further two days last night, El Hadidi spoke with senior Hamas representative Osama Hamdan who blamed the lengthy truce negotiations on Israel (watch, runtime: 2:28). The efforts from Egypt and Qatar put pressure on Israel and helped get an agreement across the line, he added. We have the full story in War Watch, above.

Tags: