EGYPT's sweeping economic reform plan, initiated in 1986, is breathing new life into the private sector.
Working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is backing a substantial debt relief and financial package, the government is committed to removing most of its economic controls.
This means privatising large parts of the economy, creating free market mechanisms and cutting away the layers of bureaucracy that have stifled trade and investment.
This liberalisation programme includes the de-regulation of foreign trade; the de-regulation of prices to ensure competition; allowing free access to foreign exchange; setting anti-inflationary monetary and fiscal policies; legislating to liberalise, privatise and modernise the economy; reforming the taxation system and introducing a sales tax; and ending government borrowing from the central bank.
The government is planning for the privatisation of at least 85 public sector companies over the next four years.
This will be carried out in three stages, with 25 to be privatised as a first step, followed by a second batch of 25, and the rest in the third phase.
