CAIRO: Egypt's new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri said that Egypt's economy is in a serious condition, as he spoke about the country's financial situation during a televised news conference on Sunday. “The economy is far worse that anyone can imagine,” he said at the conference, stressing the need for stability and security in the nation in order to maintain economic recovery. He said that austerity measures were needed to pull Egypt out of its growing budget deficit, but vowed that no new taxes would be put in place. “We want to change the budget to reduce the deficit, step by step,” he said, but did not detail what these austerity measures could look like. “Solidarity is needed to face the economic crisis and security problem for citizens to be pleased with the revolution,” he continued. He also reasserted a cabinet decision to halt negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3.2 billion loan package proposed last summer. Mumtaz al-Saeed, Egypt's newly appointed finance minister, announced that the country was not yet ready to accept the deal until the status of the nation's budget becomes more clear. The IMF predicts that Egypt's economy will grow only about 1.2 percent this year, compared to 5 percent growth in 2010. Ganzouri's newly appointed cabinet of ministers were sworn in last Wednesday, after Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling military council, granted Ganzouri presidential powers with exception of authority over the judiciary and defense. The new cabinet considers the stability of the nation their top priority, as political and social insatiability in Egypt continues through a transitional period since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak, dealing a devastating blow to foreign investment and the nation's tourism industry. The nation's foreign reserves have plummeted to $20 billion, from around $36 billion at the end of last year. However, on Saturday, Central Bank Governor Farouk Al-Okdah said that reserves are still within safe limits. Ganzouri and his cabinet were appointed at the end of November after the previous prime minister, Essam Sharaf, and his cabinet collectively resigned after a violent crackdown on anti-military protesters was sustained for nine days, leaving at least 41 dead and 3,000 injured. The military council has vowed to transfer power to a democratically elected, civilian-led government by the end of June 2012. However, anti-government protests in front of Egypt's Cabinet building in downtown Cairo are ongoing. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/lT547 Tags: featured Section: Egypt, Latest News
