Hisham Ezz El Arab’s conversation with El Hekaya’s Amr Adib was the most noteworthy event on last night’s talk shows, with the CIB CEO discussing the recent drop in the value of the EGP against the USD and Egypt’s program with the IMF.

“The USD is performing strongly against all global currencies since the US presidential results were announced — and the EGP is no exception,” Ezz El Arab told Adib (watch, runtime: 32:37). He described the EGP’s latest drop against the USD as “natural,” and emphasized that it shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

“The exchange rate is not part of the state’s dignity, it is one of the tools used to manage the economy, and the focus should be on combating inflation,” Ezz El Arab argued. “Stability is not about fixing the exchange rate against the USD, but rather stabilizing policies. The worst thing is having unclear policies. Today, you have consistent and stable policies that will not lead to crises,” he said, adding that “what matters is liquidity in the market, not the exchange rate, whether it reaches EGP 30 or EGP 52 to the USD.”

The IMF wants a bigger role for the private sector, Ezz El Arab said, explaining that “the IMF mission that visited the country to conduct the fourth review of Egypt’s loan program had a real and fundamental issue with the state’s failure to exit the economy and the marginalizing of the private sector.” The Fund wants to raise the private sector’s contribution to the economy to 70%, the state to step away from the economy, and the reduction of the debt servicing burden.

ALSO- The ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu received airtime across the channels: “The ICC’s decision has already come into effect. There are 125 countries that Netanyahu and Gallant are prohibited from visiting, and they will be arrested immediately upon landing at any of those countries’ airports,” international criminal law professor Mohamed Elewa said in a phone call on El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 10:31).

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