It’s only the second day of running the cabinet’s blackout schedules and the first day seems to have been a bit chaotic according to the descriptions of several of the nation’s talking heads last night, who urged the government to stick to its announced schedules. Meanwhile, Kelma Akhira host Lamees El Hadidi gave some airtime to tomorrow’s MPC meeting, while other shows covered Trade Minister Ahmed Samir’s visit to Turkey and the latest weather forecast.

But first: A change to our scheduled programming…

Lamees is off, but Al Forsa is on: El Hadidi announced last night that Kelma Akhira will be taking a month off the air while she heads for vacation. Her startup competition, Al Forsa, will continue to air as scheduled every Wednesday ( here, and here).

BLACKOUT CHAOS-

Blackout schedules are in effect: The government started operating its national electricit y grid according to the schedule announced on Monday, according to a cabinet statement.

But it doesn’t look like they’re being followed: “Very few” areas around the country experienced blackouts according to the pre-announced schedules yesterday, El Hadidi told her viewers. S ome people reported that the timings were different to those laid about by the cabinet on Monday, and others said they lasted longer than the hour promised by ministers. Other areas reported having no blackouts at all, despite being listed in the documents ( watch, runtime, 3:41).

This really didn’t go according to plan: El Barageel area saw a one-off four-hour-long blackout, residents in Aswan had their power cut for one hour every four hours, Helwan three hours at intervals, and Mohandiseen was treated to an unscheduled hour without the lights. El Hadidi urged the government to abide by the schedule for our safety and the safety of our household appliances ( watch, runtime: 3:58). Ala Mas’ouleety ( watch, runtime: 2:44) and Al Hayah Al Youm ( watch, runtime: 2:44) also had coverage.

Can we add three more governorates to the exceptions list? El Hadidi urged the cabinet to add Alexandria, Balteem, and Ras El Bar governorates to the list of governorates exempted from blackouts, explaining that the majority of locals spend their summer breaks at these governorates. The government has spared the Matrouh, Red Sea and South Sinai governorates from blackouts on the basis that they’re important to the country’s tourism sector.

Spare a thought for the people manning the government’s complaints hotline: Masa’a DMC’s Ramy Radwan tested the 121 hotline for complaints about the blackout schedules, and reminded viewers that the Electricity Ministry didn’t rule out the possibility of blackouts lasting longer than one hour due to technical issues ( watch, runtime: 8:05).

INTEREST RATES-

THE PROBLEM- Interest rate or exchange rate: The Central Bank of Egypt is unlikely to go for a rate hike in this Thursday’s meeting as it would do little to address inflation and bring in portfolio flows, given the presence of a parallel market and the deeply negative real interest rates, banking expert Tarek Metwally told El Hadidi ( watch, runtime: 5:14). Metwally explained that only after crushing the parallel market will rate hikes become a more effective tool.

TURKEY TRADE MEETING-

Ankara x Cairo: Trade Minister Ahmed Samir is in Turkey to discuss bilateral trade with his Turkish counterpart, more on this in the news well below. Ala Mas’ouleety ( watch, runtime: 3:32) and Masa’a DMC ( watch, runtime: 1:47) had coverage.

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