PM : Egypt's economy strong to withstand any economic crisis

The People's Assembly renewed confidence in the government of Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif following the statement he delivered  before the parliament Monday 15/12/2008 on the global financial crunch and the government plan to mitigate its implications on the national economy.

In a comment on the debates by the assembly members , Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif said increasing spending with the aim of confronting the crisis will not be made at the expense of citizens.

He said prices will not be increased but will come down, adding the government will maintain subsidy for commodities and services. He said the involvement of the private sector in carrying out development plan will be supported. On the other hand, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali said Monday that the final statement of account of the 2007/2008 State budget showed a decrease in budget deficit from 7.3 to 6.8 per cent and an increase in public revenues by 22.3 per cent.

Suez Canal, Egypt's third largest source of foreign revenues, contributed 26.8 billion pounds to the budget with an estimated increase of 20.6 percent from previous fiscal year, Ghali said in statements on the occasion of the start of parliamentary debates on the 2007/2008 budget balance sheet.

As for public expenditure, Ghali said it reached L.E. 282.3 billon against L.E. 222 billion in the previous fiscal year, he said.

Despite the increase of food and oil prices, the government took a package of financial measures to increase subsidy allocations to protect limited-income people, he added.

All indicators in the balance sheet testify to the big progress realized by the Egyptian economy over the past period, he added.

Source: Egypt State of Information

Tuesday, December 16, 2008