Minister of Finance Hany Qadry said in a statement on Saturday that his priority would be to seek social justice through programs to support marginalized groups, with a continued reliance on free-market mechanisms.
Qadry added during a phone-in with the CBC Channel Saturday evening that the state needed to heed the use of stimulus and economic take-off to achieve stability in the medium and long terms.
"Stimulus is against the deflationary policy of the economy, and we are going to redistribute wealth in favor of the lower-income groups," Qadry said.
"There are items in the budget that do not support the poor. They are under different names to support the wealthy," he added.
"We cannot leave citizens deprived of services, while directing support to other categories," Qadry mentioned, adding that he expects a decline in the budget deficit to 11 or 12 percent due to Gulf assistance.
Qadry was sworn in Saturday as part of Ibrahim Mehleb's Cabinet.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
