A difference between scholars is a good thing because it paves the way for choice and explains what was difficult to understand. Yet we Egyptians get confused if the scholars differ among themselves. An example of this is when the economic group differed with the central bank over cutting down interest rates so as to resist the ramifications of the global financial crisis and the expected recession that we would not be able to endure. The economic group says that cutting the rates would encourage investment, as happened in other countries, while the bank says that the current 10% interest rate is but half of the inflation rate that has reached 21%. When I asked my friend Ahmed Galal, the distinguished economist, he said that he was happy with such difference in points of view, which is normal everywhere. Then he explained that it is a difference of task, as the primary task of any central bank is to confront inflation before addressing other issues, such as currency values or national reserves. The task of the minister of finance and the economic group, on the other hand, is to encourage the economy if it is sluggish, or maintain its balance if it is moving too rapidly. The fact is that the central bank so far did not succeed in fighting inflation. Inflation went down from 25% to 21% only due to certain global causes. The bank was not working on inflation as a priority, but was rather concerned with stabilizing the currency and building up reserves. In fact, there are doubts as to whether the bank has the adequate research tools that make it able to cope with inflation. Also the finance minister and the economic group did not work on cutting government expenditure. The government recently announced that it will spend LE 15 billion, whereas we do not know where it would get them from. There are many sources, such as the extensive government land property, the privatization of the public sector companies (without disbursing free shares) and facilitating the bureaucratic obstacles that have pushed us to no. 114 among the nations of the world in terms of investment projects. There must be many other means of encouraging the economy, provided that there is greater transparency to public opinion from the central bank or the economic group.
