CAIRO -The son of Egypt's President said lateThursday that food subsidies were easing the burden of rising prices in an interview on state television . That boosted his public profile ahead of a 2011 presidential election. President Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981, has not said if he will seek a new six-year term. If he does not, most Egyptians believe the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) will name his 46-year-old son Gamal as its candidate. Both father and son have denied any plan for a family succession. Gamal Mubarak has edged into the public sphere in the past two years as head of the NDP's policy committee, touring the Arab world's most populous country to meet locals, with state media often present to document the events. "The purpose of the visits is to listen to the people to set priorities," he said in the interview late on Thursday. He defended the Government's record in shielding Egypt 's poor from volatile food prices and said the NDP would continue backing a system under which a large portion of the population receives subsidised consumer goods. The Government is sensitive to rising food prices, particularly bread. Speculation of a Gamal candidacy has grown given the increasing signs of backing for the Western-educated son of the President. On Thursday, a large banner was hoisted over one of the capital's busiest thoroughfares, bearing the words "In Gamal We Trust". The state television programme cut into scenes of the younger Mubarak visiting the Northern governorate of Beheira along with several ministers as they shared a meal with citizens during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Many business leaders might welcome a Gamal bid. They credit him with free-market reforms that began when his allies took cabinet portfolios in 2004 and which helped accelerate economic growth. However, critics of the reforms say they have only served to widen the gap between rich and poor in Egypt , a country of almost 80 million people, a fifth of whom live on less than a dollar a day according to the United Nations.
