Gawdat el-Malt, chairman of the Central Auditing Agency (CAA), has fiercely attacked the government during a meeting of the Plan and Budget Committee of the People's Assembly yesterday. Replying to MP Ahmed Ezz, he said we should not compare between the U.S., European and East Asian economies and the Egyptian economy with respect to debts, budget deficit and borrowing, because those countries borrow to invest, while Egypt borrows to cover its budget deficit. He said that the government dues on July 13, 2004 when Dr. Ahmed Nazif became Prime Minister were LE 64.8 billion and that they have jumped to LE 101 billion on June 30, 2008, of which there are LE 52 billion in customs dues, LE 2. 3 billion in sales taxes, LE 2.4 billion with the local administration units, LE 1.8 billion with the services sector, LE 6.4 billion in legal fees and fines, LE 1.2 billion with economic and press institutions and LE 600 million with the registration bureau.
Malt said that the net debts on June 30, 2008 have reached LE 666.9 billion, which is 74.4% of GDP. This includes LE 487.7 billion in government debts, LE 50.1 billion in debts of institutions and LE 138.1 billion with the National Investment Bank. The head of CAA said that the per capita domestic debt until June 30, 2008 reached LE 8527 as opposed to LE 8295last year. He said the government's internal and external debts of one year are LE 58.6 billion, with 20% in handling fees. Regarding the projects carried out by the government, Malt said that they are not studied thoroughly and that they are a wasting of public funds, as the cost of some such projects may jump from LE 100 million to one billion due to amendments and imprecision. “I told Dr. Nazif so and he agreed with me,” he said. Describing all this as political crimes, Malt said: “Everyone should monitor his subordinates, and Parliament should monitor the government. As CAA is only a consultant for Parliament, it cannot refer these crimes to the Attorney General.”
