(AFP Photo)
Egyptian businessmen have come together to support the faltering Egyptian economy with a donation fund to support the economy.
The bank account, numbered 306306 in all Egyptian banks, was created following the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, after massive numbers of Egyptians took to the streets protesting his first year in office.
Assem Soliman, the head of the Egyptian Center for Transparency and Anti-Corruption (ECTAC), said of the fund’s creation: “Several businessmen requested authorisation from the military to start the fund and, as a form of support, the military donated EGP 300m.”
Several Egyptian satellite channels reported the news on Friday, urging Egyptians to donate to show to support the economy, which has been caught in a downward spiral since the first revolt of 2011. The campaign aims to raise funds from Egyptians to minimise the country’s dependence on foreign aid, which has soared over the past year, which will ultimately help Egypt create a worldwide national identity, Soliman said. The amount collected in this fund will be at the disposal of the interim president Adly Mansour, or whomever he delegates, to be used to aid the Egyptian economy.
Soliman added that Egyptian actors have been discussing collecting money for the fund through an account at the syndicate. He predicted the fund “is expected to collect around EGP 10bn in the upcoming days.”
It has not yet been confirmed if the initiative is supervised by the Central Bank of Egypt or the Ministry of Finance. Ebtessam Saad, the media adviser for the Ministry of Finance, said: “No official statements have been issued by the ministry.”
