Economic experts have praised the prime minister’s decision to increase subsidies of strategic commodities from LE90 billion to LE115 billion in this fiscal year.
“We cannot let the poor pay the bill for inflation,” said Ahmed Galal, former World Bank economist and Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum. “Even if this means an increase in the state budget deficit.”
Galal called on the government to resort to loans in a wise and careful way, and to direct them to small and medium-size industries in order to combat unemployment, which now stands at 12 percent.
For his part, economics expert Khaled Abu Ismail said the decision was a pivotal step in offsetting inflation and global price increases.
Enayat al-Naggar, also an expert in economics, said the government would have to offset new loans by offering more treasury bonds.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
