CAIRO: The privatization process in Egypt has complied with all standards and laws, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin told parliament yesterday during a discussion of the Central Auditing Agency's report on the privatization process between the early 1990s to 2006. The government only sold seven companies in this time span, the minister continued, and none of them could be described as "big or dominant in their field. No steel and cement companies were sold, he added. The minister said that the companies, which were a burden on the government, are now contributing positvely to the national budget. He added that this contribution mainly stems from the companies' revenues not from the income generated by selling them and that the government has retained shares in these privatized companies. These seven companies which were sold, he explained, had accumulated LE 8 billion in debt and were costing the government LE 3 billion annually. Now their annual revenues have reached LE 3.9 billion. This has led to pumping LE 5.3 billion into public sector companies, which led to improving 110 companies out of a total 150. Independent MP Alaa Abdel Moniem had filed a complaint earlier that the revenues from the privatization process weren't included in the national budget. But Mohieldin, who also asked the agency to produce its report annually, said that LE 16.5 billion were included in the budget as revenues of the privatization process. National Democratic Party MP Haydar El Boghdady hailed the privatization process, which he said has generated "LE 50 billion in total. He did not elaborate on how he reached that sum. Mohieldin had also announced in the same session that the government is working on a draft law to regulate privatization and eliminate all the associated conflicts. This draft law would draw on the Moroccan privatization experience. The report that the PA's Planning and Budget Committee released about the Central Auditing Agency's report spurred heated debate between ruling NDP MPs, on the one hand and independent and opposition members on the other. Independent MP Abdel Moniem described the committee's report as "laughable for referring to the Moroccan, Saudi and Chinese experience in privatization. Muslim Brotherhood MP Ibrahim El Gaafary said the committee's report was "similar to statements made by the Ministries of Investment and Finance. He also said the committee had overlooked many of the agency's remarks. Steel mogul Ahmed Ezz, the head of the committee, said that he was insulted by the MPs' comments. Consequently, PA Speaker Fathy Sorour called on the independent and opposition MPs to stop this "sarcastic attitude, when discussing parliamentary reports. He also called on all MPs to stop provoking each other. "Parliament fears neither the government nor the opposition, Sorour said. "It only cares for people's best interest.
