Reuters – Egypt’s Interim president suggested on Wednesday the biggest Arab nation was open to the idea of resuming privatisation, a move that could help revive confidence in the battered economy after years of turmoil.
“There is no selling of the public sector at a cheap price,” President Adly Mansour said in a televised speech, hinting that the state could sell some of the hundreds of companies it owns.
Former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled by the army last July after mass protests against his rule, said there would be no further privatisation of state-owned firms
President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted by a popular uprising in 2011, sold off a number of state companies in an attempt to encourage growth of the private sector. But some of the deals were tainted by allegations of corruption.
Privatisation could send a positive signal to investors, who have been unnerved by chronic political turbulence and street violence since Mubarak’s fall.
The country’s economy has suffered from the instability, growing by only 2.1 percent in the last fiscal year.
This month, Mansour approved a law preventing third parties from challenging contracts made with the government.
Foreign investors are hoping presidential elections next month will ease the political upheaval. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who toppled Mursi, is expected to win easily.
He has not outlined his economic policies.
