Mubarak monitors economic performance, projects developments

President Mubarak held yesterday two enlarged meetings at the presidency headquarters that were attended by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, Speakers of the People's Assembly and Shura Council Fathi Sorour and Mustafa Kamal Helmy respectively and Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi.

The meetings were also attended by other ministers and senior officials including Youssef Wali, Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture and Safwat Sherif, Minister of Information.

"President Hosni Mubarak yesterday held two separate meetings to discuss the new personal statue law and review the country's economic performance," Sherif said.

Speaking to reporters , Sherif said that the basis of the new law was the rules of the Islamic Sharia (law). "President Mubarak was keen to make sure that the new law is based on the Islamic Sharia. The new law aims at achieving the stability of the family and the entire society," Sherif told reporter. He added that the draft law would be first referred to the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament) for discussion before being submitted to the People's Assembly (the lower house of parliament) for debates and approval.

Sherif said that during the second meeting, Prime Minister Ebeid presented the main guidelines of the government's policy statement he is expected to present to the Parliament next Saturday.

"President Mubarak reviewed a report on the guidelines of the government's new budget for the fiscal year 2000-2001," he said, adding that the Egyptian leader had stressed the importance of maintaining the current low budget deficit and inflation rates.

"He called for spending cuts through reducing governmental imports and depending on the locally made machines and products," Sherif said, adding that the President had also stressed the importance of moving ahead with the four giant national projects in southern Egypt, the Suez Canal zone and the Sinai Peninsula. He said, however, that the implementation of these projects should go according to the set timetables and budgets.

"President Mubarak said that no new investment projects should start before all the current projects are completed," he noted. "The President further reviewed reports on attracting investments, increasing the volume of exports, encouraging savings and maintaining the subsidies on basic products," he added.