Economic conditions
By
Naguib Mahfouz
As the new year approaches, my principal concern, when I think about Egypt, is the economy. International circumstances in that last decade have affected economic reform in ways beyond anybody's control, slowing down the pace of progress to a worrying degree.
Take for example the first Gulf War, whose negative economic effects were compounded by the situation in Palestine and the recession that has plagued the entire world. All these factors reduced investment, tourism and Suez Canal revenues -- Egypt's three main sources of hard currency. Another factor, present since the early 1990s, is the reduction in use of foreign labour by Gulf countries, which has resulted in numerous Egyptians being made redundant there.
Of course, the fact that so many Egyptian families depended on the income of loved ones living and working in these countries in the first place reflects a certain economic failure in itself. But it was positive insofar as it promoted inter-Arab cooperation at least. Much of our success as Arabs ultimately depends on pooling efforts -- but that would be getting into the political dimension of the issue -- not the subject of our present conversation.
While there is much to worry about, I feel that if economic conditions were to improve, social, political and even cultural life would improve tremendously, so integral are economic conditions to every dimension of life. That is why my greatest hope for the New Year is that the Egyptian economic situation will improve.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy
