Minister of Finance Momtaz El-Saeed is soliciting public donations in an attempt to rescue the economy.
He called on Egyptians eager to support their country to donate to an “Egypt Renaissance Account”. The account is also intended to receive money illegally acquired by the ousted regime.
A former minister of finance, Samir Radwan told Daily News Egypt that the idea was not a new one and could potentially be successful. “We’ve applied a similar technique during my era… and we succeeded to gather around EGP 40 Million,” he said.
Hazem El-Beblawy, another former minister of finance, wished the initiative success, saying that in such hard times any source of funding is desirable.
However Magdy Toulba, an economist, said he expected the campaign to fail. He said that a similar initiative at the beginning of the 1980s during the reign of former President Hosni Mubarak failed to achieve its aim.
“I agree upon the concept of social participation to handle the recent crisis, but it’s not ‘a renaissance’, said Toulba. “A renaissance should be based on studies, and have direction and an obvious strategy.
“I need to know how my money can help Egyptian economy specifically, either in building schools, industrial cities or otherwise. This campaign is very vague.”
According to El-Saeed, the initiative was a response to the desire of many expatriate Egyptian businessmen to support the economy and help President Mohamed Morsy.
“The account will be put under the supervision of oversight bodies, including the Ministry of Finance and the Central Auditing Agency in particular,” El-Saeed said. “The account’s balance will be announced periodically and the funds will be used to support the economy.”
