The economy continued to drive the conversation on the airwaves last night. Between the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting taking place on Thursday and soaring commodity prices, it was a busy night for the nation’s talking heads.

Another vote in favor of the CBE keeping rates unchanged: The central bank will likely hold rates when it meets on Thursday, economist Mohamed Fouad told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 12:37). Despite his forecast, Fouad believes the bank should hike rates between 300-500 bps when it meets to tame inflation. He also touched on the exchange rate instability, arguing that it is unlikely for the state to opt for another currency devaluation in the near future, seeing as it has taken other measures to limit USD spending and shore up its FX reserves.

^^ Analysts we spoke to for our customary poll are split on what the central bank will do on Thursday. Read the full story in the news well, above.

Pricey meat: Meat prices have risen 20% since the beginning of the year, reaching EGP 400 per kg, with further hikes expected. “This price remains unsatisfactory to butchers,” head of the butchers division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Haitham Abdelbasit told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 6:44). He pointed to a drop in the livestock count in the local market and exchange rate instability for the current surge in prices, seeing as farmers have to import their feed from abroad.

The solution: Abdelbasit believes that the government should set an income margin for farmers and livestock importers to control the final prices.

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