Egyptian expert blames the government for economic problem

Professor of International Economy Osama Abdel Khamis said that Egypt's economy witnesses critical period, stressing the need for taking serious measures to achieve notable improvement.

He criticized the governmental approach depending on temporary solutions, saying that these solutions, including the loans from the International Monetary Fund or the aids from the Gulf States, will not lead to any improvement.

He added that Egypt's economy is like the ill person who cannot depend only on pain killers but drugs to receive treatment. He stressed the need for seizing the available sources to pave the way for ending the current budget deficit.

He stressed that the current dependence on foreign aids and loans aggravates the economic position of the country, as the government will not be able to meet its commitments to repay its loans. He blamed the current Egyptian government for its failure to create solutions to improve the economic position.

He added, in an interview with "Arabs Today", that the government should be reformed, stressing the need for choosing the new ministers on the basis of their ability to seize the current sources and to develop them to support the budget. He added that the minister who fail to achieve this objective should be excluded immediately.

Regarding the increasing poverty, he said that the government should achieve a number of objectives to end this problem, including improving the economic growth and achieving social justice.

He added that the country has a large number of investment opportunities that can preform a major role to eliminate the high rate of poverty witnessed in the country, including the natural resources, mineral wealth and tourism industry.

A major part to resolve the poverty in Egypt, he added, is to resolve the problem of unemployment, blaming the administrative authority for providing only 150 thousand job opportunities every year. He stressed that the country needs at least 500 thousand job opportunities per year.

He called the government for supporting small and medium businesses and working hard to attract foreign and Arab investments as the only ways to provide job opportunities during The coming period.