Budget priorities in the balance
Liberal-oriented MPs have berated the government for drawing up a budget that they allege espouses 'socialist' objectives in an age of liberalisation. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Foreign aid or band-aid?
Egypt should maximise its use of available foreign aid, but, with a long history as a recipient, must avoid falling into its traps, argues Talaat Abdel-Malek

New export bill thrashed
The export promotion bill just passed by the People's Assembly falls far short of the business community's expectations. Sherine Nasr writes

Privatisation blues
Since the early 1990s, the government's privatisation programme has been a key component of economic policy. Although devised to invigorate the Egyptian economy, privatisation has proved to be a mixed blessing.. --read on--