Senior economist at the World Bank Hoda Youssef said that Egypt is vulnerable to external shocks and global market forces such as the global oil price and the work force abroad. She said during the Euromoney Conference that external changes do not have to be sudden to trigger a negative impact on Egypt. “Export competitiveness and foreign direct investment are the two factors that will affect Egypt. Egypt needs to work on some issues. For instance, it takes 35 days in Egypt liberalise the custom dollar while it takes other countries in the region nine days,” she said. The state shall be a regulator and maintain competitive neutrality, which means the private and public sectors face the same regulations, laws, taxes and facilities, she said, adding that Egypt would do better if the private sector is more mobilised.
