Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will meet with representatives of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) to determine the profit margin of basic commodities. The prime minister has issued a decree for the formation of a committee to determine the profit margin of basic commodities in order to adjust the rates; however, the decision angered the business community which considers it to be interfering in market mechanisms. Ismail added that the meeting will include all committee members who are tasked with determining the profit margin. He said that they have emphasised more than once that there would be no compulsory pricing, and if that happens it will be temporary and for a limited number of strategic commodities. Regarding rumours that the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stipulated that Egypt must float the Egyptian pound, he said that Egypt has had an economic reform programme since mid-2014, and the programme includes a number of reforms such as subsidy cuts, the application of value-added tax, and adjustments to the exchange rate. He explained that this programme is 100% Egyptian. Ismail said that the government is working in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to resolve the US dollar crisis, and it will be resolved soon. The government was able to provide 60% of the bilateral funding that the IMF requested prior to the fund's delivering to Egypt the first instalment of the bail-out package. He added that the cabinet appreciates the FEDCOC's statement this week about ceasing buying US dollars. Ismail said that the cabinet will finalise the Investment Law by the end of November. The law includes all of the amendments that were proposed by business organisations to be presented to the parliament. The prime minister said that Egypt is safe, ruling out the possibility of disturbances or riots on 11 November. Source: Daily News Egypt
