El Sisi’s address announcing the arrival of the first tranche of Ras El Hekma funds dominated the airwaves last night

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s address during an event celebrating differently-abled people dominated the airwaves last night, with the nation’s talking heads focussing in on the El Sisi’s announcement — and his first public comments on the Ras El Hekma agreement — that the first tranche of funds from ADQ had arrived in the nation’s coffers. Needless to say, this got pundits talking about whether now is the opportune moment to embark on a long-awaited devaluation

ADQ money rolls in: The Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ on Tuesday deposited the firsttranche of its USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma investment at the Central Bank of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said (watch,runtime: 30:06) during the event. The CBE will receive a second transfer on Friday, El Sisi said, without confirming the value of either transaction.

The two deposits should total USD 10 bn: ADQ agreed to make the first USD 15 bn paymentfor the development rights to Ras El Hekma on the North Coast within a week of signing the agreement, which was inked last Friday. Of the first payment, USD 10 bn are fresh inflows and USD 5 bn are in the form of a previous UAE deposit at the CBE. The remaining USD 20 bn — USD 6 bn of which will be from existing deposits — will be paid within two months.

To devalue, or not to devalue?“There is a chance that a devaluation will take place, but not one that is significant enough to justify traders’ suspension of sales of a lot of commodities,” economist Mostafa Badra told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 3:33). However, the influx of FX liquidity following the Ras El Hekma agreement could postpone the EGP’s devaluation for another 3 years, Badra said, adding that he expects “the movement of the exchange rateby about 5-10% over a long period that citizens won’t even feel.”

El Sisi praised the UAE’s confidence in Egypt’s economy, and was thankful for its support: “I have to thank our brothers in the UAE, especially his excellency President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed. It’s not easy at all for someone to put USD 35 bn in two months, but this is a clear form of support,” El Sisi said. “We’re talking about the largest tourism project in the Mediterranean … We’re talking about a city that’ll be continuously brimming with activity year-round,” he continued.

The president also spoke about the situation in Gaza: “We are continuing and will continue to support the Palestinian cause until we reach a Palestinian state using the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” El Sisi said. He also reiterated that Egypt did not close the Rafah crossing, and expressed his hopes of reaching a ceasefire agreement in the coming days to enable the movement of aid into the enclave.

EGP 10 bn for differently abled fund: During his speech, El Sisi also allocated EGP 10 bn to a fund set up to support differently abled people — dubbed the Differently Abled Fund.

El Sisi’s speech got coverage from Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 6:12), Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 2:25 | 3:22 | 3:06), and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 3:10 | 2:31).

ALSO ON THE AIRWAVES- Gov’t to evaluate safety procedures of transport apps following Uber kidnapping: The government will review the safety procedures and the licenses given to ride-sharing app after a girl threw herself from an Uber while on a highway to escape an attempted kidnapping, House Communications Committee head Ahmed Badawi told Yahduth Fi Misr’s Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 4:16 | 3:12). The committee will review this case during its next session, and will evaluate the safety procedures that pertain to Uber and other ride-sharing apps, Amer added.

Commodity prices will continue to fall: The head of the Chamber of Commerce’s butchers division expects that a fair price for meat to soon range between EGP 300-350 per kilo, while a member of the Chamber of Commerce’s foodstuff’s division said he expects the sugar crisis to come to an end within ten days due to the amount of sugar that’ll be added to the market during the coming period, forecasting a kilo of sugar to decrease around EGP 10 to somewhere between EGP 30-40. Yahduth Fi Misr (watch, runtime: 6:56 | 4:28).