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April 05, 2007
Well, Golly: Egyptian Finance Comes to Town
Youssef Boutros Ghali, Egypt's Minister of Finance, will be giving his take -- perhaps a bad choice of words -- on the economy of Nile-dom right here in Potomac River City, aka Washington D.C., on Thursday, April 12 (reserve at the CATO Institute by 11 April). Full details are below the break, and here, the most important of which is "Cato Forums and luncheons are free of charge." D.C area Aqoulites are required to go, if they are below 32 and in any kind of University. Meanwhile, informed comments from all on the subject, including from our own regional finance hyperinformed but Masrophobic resident Id, are welcome.
The Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity at the Cato Institute invites you to a Policy Forum
Economic Reforms in Egypt
Featuring
Youssef Boutros Ghali
Minister of Finance, Egypt
In 2004 Egypt began introducing economic reforms intended to facilitate trade, ease doing business, and promote growth. Those reforms have included floating the Egyptian pound, slashing corporate and personal income taxes by 50 percent, customs and investment reforms, and partial privatizations. Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali will discuss Egypt’s liberalization agenda, including recent constitutional amendments affecting economic policy, and its impact on Egypt and the region.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Noon
(Luncheon to Follow)
Cato Forums and luncheons are free of charge.
To register, visit www.cato.org, e-mail events@cato.org, fax (202) 371-0841, or call (202) 789-5229 by noon, Wednesday, April 11. News media inquiries only (no registrations), please call (202) 789-5200.
If you can’t make it to the Cato Institute, watch this Forum live online at www.cato.org.
Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Posted by Matthew Hogan at April 5, 2007 08:16 PM
Filed Under: Business, Private
, EU Foreign Policy
, Economic Development
, Economic Policy
, Foreign Policy & MENA
, MENA Region General
, North Africa
, Political Development
, Society & Culture
, US Foreign Policy
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Comments
Sounds jolly interesting. Pity neither myself nor that nobody I know with an interest in Economics still resides in DC.
Posted by: Antiquated Tory at April 6, 2007 04:03 AM
Egypt, the only country where I expect cannibalism to show up in the next 100 years.
Well, only one in MENA.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at April 6, 2007 11:52 AM
Egypt, the only country where I expect cannibalism to show up in the next 100 years.
Well, only one in MENA.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at April 6, 2007 11:52 AM
Well. Could be interesting. I might even be able to justify it as part of a rather poorly-paying research assistant job I'm going to be doing.
Posted by: Tom Scudder at April 7, 2007 12:47 AM
The closest they'll come to cannabalism is the magic extra ingredient in torshy.
As for the economy, some good policy changes have happily coincided with regional and global trends i.e. the oil price boom, which has lifted FDI, remittances, Suez Canal revenues, oil and gas income and even tourism income. We've had a better approach to monetary policy, a simpler tax and tariff system, and the privatisation program has been revived as well as can be expected.
But inflation is a big problem, particularly for the Shaab who are really feeling the pinch as food prices rise very quickly. The Prime Minister saying (at Davos) that Egypt is going to ramp up the economy regardless of inflation doesn't help. Then there's still the gulf between public statement and reality (rather like the gulf on Egyptian restaurant menus between the reuben sandwich on rye bread that you hopefully ordered and the hard roast beef on stale white bread that plops onto your plate). Thus we have an independent central bank that is apparently advised by ministers not to raise interest rates despite a huge rise in inflation.
There have many interesting developments in Misr over the past few years, and it's a hundred times better now than in the 2000-2002 recession. But are oil and gas, basic industries and tourism really sufficient to employ a young population of 73 million? I hope that Egypt doesn't end up being described as 'not as bad as Iran'.
I'd be interested in what YBG's got to say though, especially in front of the CATO mob.
SJK
Posted by: SJK at April 10, 2007 10:16 AM
There's always this option:
"If you can’t make it to the Cato Institute, watch this Forum live online at www.cato.org."
Posted by: matthew hogan at April 11, 2007 08:05 PM
