Qandil: National Program for Economic Reform

The Egyptian government under Prime Minister Hisham Qandil reviewed the security, tourism and economic files in a meeting held on 12/9/2012. The government will focus on luring more investments and redressing the budget deficit, he said, expecting the budget deficit to reach LE 135 billion. Talking about increasing investments, Qandil said the government aims to achieve a growth rate of 4-4.5 percent, which requires additional investments worth LE 276 billion.Transparency and combating corruption are the most important factors to lure investments, he stressed.

Qandil said the government takes into consideration the demands of the people but with the budget deficit, it cannot bear additional demands for the time being. The entire nation should unite for the sake of Egypt, he said, adding that everyone has the right to protest, but in line with the law. As for the teachers' strike, Qandil said that they had legitimate demands that had been partially met, without imposing burdens on the State budget. During the meeting, Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal el-Din presented a report on the security situation throughout the country.

The report showed lower rates of disrupting roads and an increase in arresting the fugitive criminals along with the way the ministry was dealing with protests and sit-ins that disrupt the progress of work. As for the tourism file, Tourism Minister Hisham Za'azou announced that the tourism sector would witness a significant improvement during the coming period. For his part, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf el-Arabi noted that the economic performance during the past fiscal year showed a gradual improvement, particularly in the last quarter. He hailed the efforts exerted to promote the economic situation and upgrade the standard of living for all citizens.