Egypt Planning for liberalisation

The private sector must participate more effectively in economic planning if the nation's development goals are to be achieved, Egypt's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ahmed El-Darsh told Aziza Sami of Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview published recently.

The People's Assembly Planning and Budget Committee has this week begun its review of the government's budget and development plan for fiscal year 2001/2002.

Stressing the "social dimension," the plan aims to provide basic services related to health and education, as well as effectuate an equitable distribution of wealth, raise income levels, increase GDP to LE312.1 billion and push the growth rate up to at least 5.5 per cent annually.

The state's development plan, set by both the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Finance, in concert with other ministries, will try to keep public expenditure in check by balancing resources and expenditure, and raising national savings from the current rate of 19 to 25 per cent.

Amidst increasing liberalization, an additional challenge faced by government planners is how to lure the private sector into participating more fully in development .

The necessity of mobilizing private initiative is underscored by the fact that within the context of the five-year development plan for 2002-2007, the private sector is expected to furnish over 70 per cent of overall investments and 75 per cent of GDP. It is also to become the main provider of employment.

However, current poor investment and domestic savings levels and patterns of public expenditure cast doubts on whether the economy's resources are being directed towards generating the targeted growth rates.

A dialogue must be reinstituted between the state and the private sector to address these issues, says Minister of Planning and Economic Cooperation Ahmed El-Darsh, who, by virtue of his portfolio, oversees all agencies involved in national planning.