AMID heated debate between NDP members and opposition MPs, the People's Assembly (PA) approved a controversial report on privatisation programme revenues. The report was prepared by the PA's Planning and Budget Committee following a complaint filed by independent MP Alaa Abdel-Moneim who claims that the Ministry of Finance has not revealed the fate of LE24 billion in privatisation proceeds. A representative of the committee said that after studying a report by the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) on privatisation, the committee said it believed that the channels to which the revenues are directed are clear. According to the findings of the CAA report, overall receipts came at LE50.049 billion with yields of selling whole or stakes of public companies reaching LE23.6 billion in addition to LE19.4 billion from divesting state stakes in joint venture companies and banks. Revenues from selling stakes in public insurance companies in joint venture banks and companies alone added a further LE1.9 billion and the 20 per cent IPO of the Telecom Egypt, together with the sale of a number of small-sized projects in various governorates, contributed to revenues of LE5.349 billion. The CAA's first secretary Mohamed Wanees Khalil said that while LE16.6 billion in revenues were channelled to the Ministry of Finance, LE2.8 billion were deposited with the restructuring fund, to finance the restructuring of the state-owned entities while the holding companies took in LE9.4 billion directed at settling bank debts and financing early retirement programmes. Revenues also included LE17.4 billion deposited in bank accounts and LE1.5 billion treated as insurance company revenues in addition to LE71 million deposited in the accounts of various governorates at the Central Bank of Egypt and LE278 million in receipts from selling projects affiliated to municipalities currently under the supervision of related governorates. A sum of LE1.9 billion has yet to be collected from buyers. The CAA report said that while the Ministry of Finance received LE16.6 billion in receipts, this was not mirrored in a decline in the public debt or the budget deficit. The ministry has stressed that the yields were injected into budgetary revenue items as shown in the final budgets accredited by the PA. Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin stressed that the programme is managed in a way compliant with all standards and laws, stressing that from the early 1990s to 2006 only seven companies were sold, none of which can be dubbed strategic. Mohieddin said the companies had now turned from a burden on the government to positive contributors to the national budget. Shouldered by LE8 billion debts, the companies previously cost the government LE3 billion annually. "Now they post LE3.9 billion in revenues," Mohieddin said. Mohieddin asked the agency to produce its report on privatisation annually, saying the next PA session will issue new legislation covering controversial issues related to privatisation.
