(AFP Photo)
Donors without bank accounts will now be able to directly forward money to the National Bank of Egypt into the Support Egypt fund, which bears the number 306306, according to a Sunday statement by the Central Bank of Egypt.
The fund’s account number, 306306, refers to 30 June,when massive protests led to the ouster of Mohamed Morsi,Egypt’s first elected president.
Egypt’s economy has been hit by intermittent unrest over the last two years which have pushed it into a downward spiral.
Business associations nationwide have rushed to inject donations.According to Fathy Morsy, head of Behiera’s chamber of commerce , the Behiera investors associationare set to donate EGP5m in individualtrader contributions,as the law prevents any chamber of commerce from donating without the confirmation of minister of industry and foreign trade.
“It’s very important for Egypt to be financially independent,” said deputy head of Cairo Chamber of Commerce Ali Shoukri. “I believe that we won’t resort to a confirmation from the Ministry of Trade and Industry because it’s dissolved now, so the decision of donation will be taken by the board of directors indeed.”
Meanwhile, Ahmed Al-Refaie, chairman of the board of directors for the Kafr Al-Shiekh Chamber of Commerce said the chamber is ready to donate approximatelyEGP3.5m.
He asserted that the chamber’s board ofdirectors would hold meetings Sunday to negotiate the donation, and is expected to get the confirmation of the Minister of Trade and Industry.
The board of directors of the Workers Union unveiled an EGP 2.5m donation to the rescue fund, and are urgingworkers to donate one day of their wages.
Mohamed El-Masry head of Port SaidChamber of Commerce said that the chamber will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss means of supporting the Egyptian economy.
He suggested that each trader donate independently in accordance with the law.
Hesham Mehana, head of Minya Chamber of Commerce, said his organisation was holding a number of meetings with division heads, calling on them to donate.
The head of the Young Businessmen Associationsaid that they, too, would hold a meeting this week to explore the possibility of donation.
Workers in Damietta health insurance office meanwhile launched a popular campaign at their offices and clinics to collect donations from doctors and other employees.
Although the campaign has been broadly welcomed, a previous one by the ousted regime had met with serious public disapproval.
A year ago, former Minister of Finance Momtaz Al-Said had urged citizens to support the Egyptian economy by donating to the central bank’s account number 333/333, which was supervised by the finance ministry and the Central Auditing Agency,opened by Morsi and named“Egypt’s Renaissance”.
The bank account was set to receive donations by Egyptian citizens and would have also been used to deposit illicit funds retrieved locally and from abroad.
“People harshly condemned the first campaign of 333/333,calling it humiliation,” said Magdy Toulba, an economic expert.”But now people believe that the nation is bleeding and we should do our utmost effort to heal its ailing economy”.
