Egypt rejects a motion by Congressmen to transfer part of military aid into economic aid

Launching intensive activities in the US capital, the high level Egyptian economic delegation, which started a visit to the United States, reiterated Egypt's categorical rejection of a motion by some Congressmen to transfer part of the military assistance to Egypt into economic assistance, under the claim that Egypt has no enemies in the region.

The Egyptian delegation, including the ministers of finance and investment as well as the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said that Egypt is a significant regional power in the region adding that its responsibilities make it incumbent upon her to have a strong army that guarantees its security, stability and the stability of the region.

The US capital is currently witnessing intensive activity by the Egyptian delegation which is taking part in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, for explaining Egypt's experiment in the field of economic and political reform.

The delegation will also have a number of significant meetings with a number of US economic officials.

The Egyptian delegation will further illustrate future measures for eliminating unemployment and cutting down the volume of foreign debt.

It will also explain the status of foreign debt, the balance of payments and economic accomplishments which have been made during the past years in different sectors.

Reports from the US capital said that Finance Minister Boutros Ghali and Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin asserted that plans for developing economic and political reform are forging ahead, and that they would not be reversed.

He said that wider attention is given to improving living conditions of the poor categories.

Ghali told US "Enterprise Institute" that Egypt was on the road towards improving living conditions of the poor categories at the time when it was also pursuing efforts for boosting economic and political reform and deepening democracy.

Answering a question by AIPAC chairman on a suggestion by some Congressmen to transfer part of US military assistance to Egypt into economic one, the Minister of Finance reiterated Egypt's rejection of such a suggestion describing it as ludicrous.

He said that Egypt's military spending accounts only 2.8% of its national income, compared to other countries in the region which spend 9-12%.

The minister said that Egypt's strong army is a guarantor of stability in the region, indicating that argument that there is no strong foreign threat to Egypt's security is a fanciful and ludicrous visualization.

The minister said that Egypt is going ahead with its privatization program, improving the investment climate and combating bureaucracy and corruption.

He said that growth economic rate rose to 5% and could possibly reach 6% adding thatinflation rate dropped from 17% to 3.4%.

Ghali said that the government has achieved a substantial progress in its economic reform program as the Egyptian pound exchange rate against to the $ US rose by 10% during the past 10 months.

On his part Mahmoud Mohieddin the Minister of Investment asserted that Egypt has achieved an important accomplishment, represented in the establishment of a specialized committee for determining the rules of competition in the market, in line with a law endorsed by the People's Assembly last April.

He renewed the government's commitment to encourage small and medium size industries for improving income level.

He said that the improvement of investment climate would encourage investors to invest in small, medium and big size projects.

The Minister of Investment said that there is a tendency to establish a private capital market for circulating shares of the small and medium size industries.