Al Shindagah

POLITICS ©Shutterstock he unseated Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi left the Egyptian economy in shambles. Foreign reserves were depleted. Foreign investment dried up. Those were the darkest days literally with constant electricity blackouts. That said, since 2013, the government has without a doubt made progress. Foreign reserves are at their highest in Egypt’s history. The Egyptian Exchange has seen healthy gains. In the third quarter of 2017, tourism leapt 70 per cent higher than during the same period a year earlier. And with the largest gas field in the Mediterranean (Zohr) now operational with smaller fields poised to follow suit, the nation will be self- sufficient in energy in 2018. Cairo is making massive investments in infrastructure. An airport being constructed in Giza is set to begin service in summer 2018 as well as another north of Cairo. New cities in Alamein and Aswan are being built along with the new administrative capital. The world’s largest seawater desalination plant is underway on the Red Sea. Some 2,085 new factories have been established over 25 governorates. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects GDP growth at 4.5 per cent in the fiscal year 2017/18. However, there has been no trickle- down effect benefiting the daily lives of ordinary folk. With Egypt’s population, currently at over 100 million, expected to rise to 150 million within 30 years provided existing birth rates continue, the government is planning for the long term. The problem is that people – other T Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor • Published in the media on 22 December 2017 top Egyptians’ wish lists lower SALARIES P R I C E S &